UK CONSUMERS TO HELP END HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Erle Frayne D. Argonza
Gracious day from the Pearl of the Orient!
12.3 Millions of laborers work under severe, forced labor conditions at any given time today. Such conditions are akin to the involuntary servitude of the colonial heydays of Western imperialism. Come think of it, the slave trade hasn’t really ended, it only mutated into a new form.
During the halcyon days of the British Empire, no less than over 20,000 ships owned by British traders were plying the seas just for one key purpose: to trade slaves sourced from Africa. The same slave traders, working behind the British East India Company, paid every intellectual prostitute that they can tap in order to propound and popularize laissez faire as a doctrine that, in reality, defended the interests of the same slave traders. Free trade means the unhampered, unregulated, uncontrolled trading of human chattel by greedy and inhumane British slave traders.
Today, that situation of the Empire’s dirty business is reversing towards a humanitarian bent. British consumers are now being urged to support the campaign against human trafficking, which seems to be a karmic payment for the sins of commission of their not-so-ancient compatriots.
Below is a report from the IOM about the anti-human trafficking campaign.
[Philippines, 18 November 2011]
Source: http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/media/press-briefing-notes/pbnEU/cache/offonce/lang/en?entryId=30788
IOM Campaign Urges UK Consumers to Buy Responsibly to Help End Human Trafficking
Posted on Friday, 14-10-2011
United Kingdom - Eliminating the demand for trafficked and exploited labour is critical if efforts to end human trafficking are to be successful, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM) ahead of Anti-Slavery Day in the UK.
Launching its "Buy Responsibly" campaign in London on 18 October 2011 (http://www.buyresponsibly.org/), IOM is urging consumers in particular to play a greater role in ending human trafficking in the UK and across the world.
Encouraging the public to question "What's Behind the Things We Buy?" the campaign, designed together with Saatchi & Saatchi in Geneva, hopes to mobilise consumer power in dramatically changing consumer habits in the UK.
Estimates put the number of people in forced or bonded labour and sexual servitude in the world at 12.3 million at any given time. Although public focus has largely been on the issue of trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation, greater incidences are emerging of trafficking for labour exploitation involving all ages and both sexes.
Despite best efforts by all those involved in countering human trafficking, indications are that it is at least as widespread today as it was ten years ago.
In the UK, there is a slow but growing realisation that slavery is present in the UK itself and not limited to distant shores.
"A change in mindset and practices among consumers and businesses needs to occur," Swing adds. "Consumers in the UK who are increasingly demanding fair trade have the power to end labour exploitation by buying responsibly and getting businesses to rethink how they operate. It's also in the interest of business to ensure that supply chains are free of trafficked or exploited labour," says Swing.
The IOM campaign, part of a global effort to address the demand side of human trafficking for labour exploitation, has already been launched in Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands.
The IOM campaign, part of a global effort to address the demand side of human trafficking for labour exploitation, has already been launched in Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands.
For the UK launch on 18 October, IOM and NGOs, including the Human Trafficking Foundation, Anti-Slavery International, Barnardo's and Stop the Traffik, will be in Trafalgar Square, in the heart of London.
A 5x4 metre upside-down giant shopping trolley imprisoning people representing trafficked migrant workers, an image of the campaign, will be on site in Trafalgar Square. The public will be encouraged to stop and ask what it can practically do to make a difference.
The Buy Responsibly launch is one of the many awareness raising events being held in London and across the UK by NGOs as part of Anti-Slavery Week.
BROADCASTERS – The Buy Responsibly TV spot is available for use and download
Please go to:
http://www.quicklink.tv/IOM/download.asp?Clip_ID=1246
http://www.quicklink.tv/IOM/download.asp?Clip_ID=1244
For further information on the Buy Responsibly campaign, please visit: http://www.buyresponsibly.org/
For further information on IOM and its Counter-Trafficking Work, please visit: www.iom.int
For any media or interview requests, please contact:
Jean Philippe Chauzy
Tel: +41 79 285 4366
E-mail: jpchauzy@iom.int
or
Jemini Pandya
Tel: +41 79 217 3374
E-mail: jpandya@iom.int
For any further information on the launch itself, please contact:
Chiara Gnoli:
Tel: +44 20 7811 6053
E-mail: cgnoli@iom.int
or
Chris Gaul:
Tel: +44 207 7811 6077
E-mail: cgaul@iom.int
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