Thank you, distinguished Vice President, Excellencies, distinguished representatives, delegates and observers, thank you for the opportunity to present to you today my report to the Human Rights Council, which examines trafficking in persons and the intersections with refugee protection, internal displacement and statelessness.
Displacement internally or across borders, as we know, heightens risks of trafficking in persons and engages the responsibilities of States to prevent trafficking and to ensure effective protection of victims and persons at risk of trafficking, as well as to ensure effective prevention.
Globally, 180 a 108 million people were forcibly displaced at the end of 2022.
Children account for 40% of all forcibly displaced people.
Existing vulnerabilities to exploitation linked to discrimination, weak child protection systems, limited access to social protection, poverty and inequality, and failures in Rule of law application are exacerbated in situations of displacement and statelessness.
In addition, we know that family fragmentation and stress, loss of livelihoods and support networks, displacement into insecure disaster relief camps and heightened physical and socio economic precarity all contribute to increased risks of trafficking, particularly of children in the context of forced displacement.
Expanding safe regular migration opportunities.
Providing resettlement opportunities, rights based family reunification and other complementary pathways for the admission of persons with international protection needs, as well as ensuring effective access to asylum, are essential to preventing trafficking in persons and to ensuring protection of victims.
I highlight the call in the Global Compact for Refugees for more shared responsibility and pathways for the admission of persons with international protection needs to be made available on a more systematic, sustainable and gender responsive basis.
I'm particularly concerned at the adoption of legislation and policy measures with the stated aim of preventing trafficking in persons which seek to restrict access to international protection and which fail to comply with international law.
Limiting access to asylum and other forms of international protection is likely to increase the risks of trafficking in persons by forcing people into risky, precarious situations.
The increasing use of accelerated refugee status determination procedures, transfer of refugee status determination procedures to third countries and the phenomenon of pushbacks following interceptions at sea or at land borders undermine States abilities to fulfil their obligations to identify, assist and protect victims of trafficking and to comply with the principle of non reforming.
I want to highlight the significant contribution to refugee protection being made by countries hosting **** numbers of refugees against the background of increased stress on host communities hosting **** numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons.
Numerous protection challenges arise, including trafficking in persons, especially of children, and I note significant developments in the work of the Global Protection Cluster in strengthening action to combat trafficking in persons through increased prioritisation of such work in humanitarian and protection settings.
Trafficking and trafficking related protection risks, including for purposes of sexual exploitation, child and forced labour, child and forced marriage, and recruitment and use of children have been identified in many protection clusters and in humanitarian settings.
Trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation as a form of sexual violence and conflict continues to be widely reported where there is a presence of non State armed groups or criminal groups who are often linked to armed groups in conflict and post conflict and transition settings.
In conflict settings we see patterns of increased risks of trafficking alongside other protection risks such as denial of humanitarian access or attacks on schools.
Despite such recognised risks, in many humanitarian settings and protection clusters, there are limited dedicated staff or programmes on prevention of trafficking or protection of trafficked persons.
In many humanitarian protection settings, there's limited awareness of our capacity to respond to risks of trafficking, despite significant work that may be ongoing within the same country, within the same state, in criminal justice or border management programmes.
The specific risks faced by refugees may be missing, for example, from national action plans on trafficking in prisons or trafficking in persons by armed groups is not always addressed in women, Peace and security Action plans or in peace building measures.
We continue to see gaps in prevention and failures of protection, particularly relating to wider range of the purposes of exploitation such as child enforced labour, illegal adoptions, child enforced marriage and domestic servitude.
Refugees in displaced communities frequently become targets for trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation in particular, and sadly we see this in refugee camps, among refugees in urban settings and in IDP settings.
Many of the states that are hosting the highest numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons have limited capacity to assist and protect trafficked persons or to prevent trafficking in persons, and we see that measures to prevent trafficking are not consistently integrated into wider humanitarian settings.
There are gaps in relation to the provision of training or referral pathways or the provision of resources to support those referral pathways where they do exist.
Group determination of refugee status on a prima facie basis is an important measure to ensure access to international protection and should be supported by measures to assist and protect refugees who are victims of trafficking or at risk of trafficking.
Maintaining refugees in a protracted situation without refugee status, without rights to work, to freedom of movement or to access to education or financial services may encourage and facilitate trafficking in persons.
Where the rights of refugees to freedom of movement, to work, to access education or training are limited, the risks of exploitation increase.
And I highlight the good faith duty of cooperation and responsibility sharing at the core of the 1951 Convention, 1967 Protocol, reinforced by the fundamental principles of humanity and international solidarity underpinning the Global Refugee Compact.
Measures to shift and transfer responsibility to third countries for the reception of asylum seekers and determination of asylum claims raised many serious human rights concerns and questions of compatibility with international law.
I note that the positive obligations on States to identify and protect victims of trafficking and persons at risk of trafficking arise also in the context of interceptions at sea and in the context of duties to rescue persons in distress at sea, and I highlight the obligation on States to ensure that victims of trafficking are given an effective opportunity to claim asylum and not penalise for their mode of entry into the State.
I want to highlight in particular concerns in relation to trafficking of children as a serious violation of human rights and one that constitutes persecution, and I want to highlight in particular the risks faced by unaccompanied and separated children and the failures that we see to recognise child refugees as children with rights to protection without discrimination.
Many gaps in protection arise from failures to appoint guardians or to ensure safe accommodation and protection or pathways to protection, including access to asylum and rights based family reunification.
And I am concerned that many adolescent refugee children are often not given equal protection by States and there I stress the obligations arising under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
With regard to non discrimination on statelessness, I highlight increased risks of trafficking linked to the precarious legal status of a person deprived of their right to a nationality and the consequential violations resulting from limited access to documentation, education, employment, social protection and restrictions, and freedom of movement.
The heightened risks of trafficking of children who are stateless is particularly urgent in light of the solidarity and responsibility sharing objectives of the Global Compact for Refugees.
I call upon States to make concrete contributions to a multi stakeholder pledge on prevention of trafficking in persons at the Global Refugee Forum in December 2023 and I encourage States to pledge on expanding concrete solutions for displaced people, ensuring effective access to asylum, increasing resettlement commitments and expanding complementary pathways for family reunification, education and work.
Hence, mitigating risks of exploitation through trafficking while fleeing persecution and recognising due diligence obligations of prevention of trafficking.
I want to turn now to my report on the country visit to South Sudan which took place in December last year.
I'm very grateful to the Government of South Sudan for its willingness to facilitate my visit and for the constructive dialogue and engagement on human rights and trafficking in persons.
The continuing risks of conflict related trafficking were highlighted during the visit, as were the risks and prevalence of trafficking occurring in the context of poverty, continuing conflict and violence, gender inequality and climate change.
I am particularly concerned at the prevalence of trafficking in children and the continued **** numbers of abductions leading to trafficking for purposes of child marriage, child labour recruitment and use by armed forces, armed groups and exploitation and criminal activities.
The adoption of the Comprehensive Action Plan to end and prevent all grave violations against children was a very positive measures, but there is a need for further action to prevent conflict related trafficking in children, including abductions for purposes of exploitation, recruitment and use and sexual violence.
I'm concerned also at the prevalence of systemic gender inequality and widespread sexual and gender based violence which contribute to impunity for trafficking in persons for all purposes of exploitation.
And I highlight the very limited assistance and protection available to trafficked persons and the need for urgent action to ensure that safe accommodation and access to assistance, including reproductive and sexual healthcare, psychosocial assistance, education, training and employment opportunities are made available.
I commend and highlight the positive measures taken by South Sudan to welcome and host significant numbers of refugees and protect the rights of refugees.
Significant challenges arise in ensuring the prevention of trafficking in persons among refugees in South Sudan and in providing protection, and these challenges have now increased significantly.
Given the arrival of refugees from Sudan, further urgent support is needed from the international community and UN entities and I recommend that the State continues to support and expand youth peace and security and peace building measures and to integrate action to combat trafficking in prisons into women Peace and security action plans.
Turning now to my report in the country visit to Bangladesh.
Again, I want to thank the Government of Bangladesh for their hosting of the visit and constructive engagement.
I highlight the leading role played by Bangladesh in promoting the objectives of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and hosting of almost 1,000,000 Rohingya refugees, and I stress the urgent need for continued international support.
I am concerned at the limited attention given to internal trafficking of persons within Bangladesh, including in particular for purposes of sexual exploitation, child marriage, child labour and forced and forced labour.
I highlighting also the actions being taken to prevent trafficking in persons in the context of labour migration and highlight the need for greater regulation and measures to combat impunity with regard to trafficking, particularly involving recruitment agencies and intermediaries and greater attention needed to the gender dimensions of labour migration to expand safe regular migration opportunities for women.
Uh to conclude, I want to highlight again the situation of Rohingya refugees.
Umm I had the opportunity to visit Cox's Bazaar, uh and there I commend the work that has been done by the host community and also by international agencies and non governmental organisations.
But I note that many women headed households in particular are, are vulnerable to risks of trafficking.
I heard reports of girls as young as 12 years old being trafficked to Malaysia for purposes of child marriage, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and of boys and young men particularly at risk of trafficking for purposes of forced labour.
I recommend that the Government of Bangladesh take measures to reduce statelessness, to ensure that all children have the right from birth to acquire a nationality and expand universal access to birth registration, and to end restrictions on movement of Rohingya refugees to grant them refugee status and pathways to citizenship.
And I recommend that the international community continue to provide and expand support.
