On the International Day Against Human Trafficking

Maat calls for the need to develop international and regional mechanisms to curb the phenomenon

On the occasion of the International Day against Human Trafficking, which falls on July 30 of each year, Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights, It calls for the necessity of concerted international efforts to combat the phenomenon of human trafficking, deter human traffickers, and eliminate the root causes of this phenomenon, which has become the most important challenge facing respect for human rights in the world.

The United Nations defines human trafficking as "a crime of exploitation of women, children and men for various purposes, including forced labor and prostitution." The protocol supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime defined it as stipulating that “trafficking in persons means recruiting, transporting, harboring or receiving persons by using or threatening to use force for purposes of exploitation”.

Maat Foundation points out that the Arab region, specifically the areas of armed conflict in Syria, Libya and Yemen, is experiencing widespread manifestations of trafficking in women and children by armed organizations, as many reports indicate that many cases of crimes related to the inclusion of children and women in armed conflict have been documented. And their use in illegal acts and forcing them into inhumane practices ...

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Global Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons, and it urged governments around the world to take coordinated and coherent measures to defeat this social scourge. The plan urges the inclusion of combating human trafficking in the United Nations programs extensively in order to promote human development and support security around the world. One of the unanimous issues in the United Nations plan was the establishment of the United Nations Trust Fund to donate to victims of human trafficking, especially women and children.

The Maat Foundation believes that the phenomenon of human trafficking is a form of international organized crime and represents slavery in the modern era. Where victims of human trafficking are lured by deception or coercion and trafficked between countries and regions, they are deprived of their independence and freedom of movement and choice, and are subjected to various forms of physical and psychological abuse. Hence, the Foundation calls for the need to develop international mechanisms to curb this phenomenon, and to strengthen national and regional capacities in this direction.