UNIAP | no-trafficking.org | Initiatives: Cross-Cultural Linkages

Activity Summary

Specific activities that UNIAP will continue to carry out related to the Cross-Regional Linkages project include:

Data mining will use local and international information sources available to seek updated answers to the following questions: What is the human trafficking situation in the country? Who is being trafficked to or from Asia and elsewhere? Where do trafficked persons come from and how are they exploited? What is the scale of human trafficking? Who is addressing the problem? How is the problem being addressed? How many trafficking victims are repatriated each year back to their home countries? What is happening to the traffickers? What needs to be done?

Providing advocacy to target local communities, local policymakers, local media, or whomever the Linkages team determines to be the most appropriate target audience to learn more about human trafficking in general, and about the data mining results specifically.

Providing immediate networking, and sustained support to grassroots organizations serving these underserved populations throughout Europe, and to bring about a more coherent long-term response among government and international partners, (implementation will be similar to the Support to Underserved Victim Populations initiative, but with an urgent need to seek and network with partners in Europe in a way that can benefit the efforts of our local victim protection partners in the GMS).

Cross-Regional Linkages

UNIAP currently plays a coordinating and technical support role to a wide range of government and non-government partners in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. Yet trafficking of persons from the GMS doesn’t stay within these boundaries – reported cases of severe exploitation of people from the GMS further abroad have been rising significantly. Whether due to increased attention to the crime and understanding of it, or actually an increase in activity, there are few organizations with the scope to work in such a broad capacity.

How do we address the issue of trafficking from the GMS to other countries outside of the GMS?

UNIAP and other partners receive requests for assistance on these types of cross-regional cases regularly, due to the fact that there are few organizations with the remit (or potential remit) to provide support to cases across regions. Working with relevant partners, we provide urgent and ad hoc coordination and support where possible, and encourage development of systematic channels of support,

The cross-regional linkages project seeks to make such work less ad hoc, to provide immediate information, networking, and sustained support to grassroots organizations serving these underserved populations, and to bring about a more coherent long-term response among government and international partners. Implementation is similar to the Support to Underserved Victim Populations initiative, but with an urgent need to seek and network with partners beyond the GMS in a way that can benefit the efforts of our local victim protection partners within the GMS.