Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia

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Abstract

            Background: Human trafficking has become an international problem. Two-thirds number of 36 million victims of human trafficking are from Asia, a high number of human trafficking is in Southeast Asia. Question: The high rates of human trafficking certainly have reasons, so the question is what causes of human trafficking in Southeast Asia and what recommendations to reduce the high rate of human trafficking? Result: causes of human trafficking are economics condition, socio-cultural, policy and enforcement. The recommendations to reduce human trafficking are create effective policies and empowerment and make a facilitation of education.

Introduction                    

Human trafficking is an activity of human trading on purposes sexual abuse, forced labor, harvesting organs, criminal and the other form of exploitation. Human trafficking currently has become an international problem. It is estimated that nearly one-third of the global trafficking trade, or about 200-225,000 women and children, are trafficked annually from South-East Asia. However, most of this trafficking occurs within the South-East Asian region. About 60 per cent of the trafficking which occurs is to major regional cities in South-East Asia and about 40 per cent to the rest of the world. The global slavery index (GSI) in 2014 records that there are around 36 million victims of human trafficking in the world; two-thirds of them are from Asia.  According to the GSI, Indonesia, India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand are become top 10 countries with the highest number of trafficking victims in the world. In Southeast Asia, human trafficking mixed with two forms, such as sexual exploitation and forced labor.  Occurrences of human trafficking in Southeast Asia certainly have reasons; there are universal factors such as Economics condition, socio-cultural, policy and enforcement.

Contents

• Causes

Poverty is a massive problem in Asia. In Mayor Countries, 80 to 90 percent of poor people live in rural areas. In 2005 according to Asia Development Bank report, Laos, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia belonging the poor countries in Asia Region. Potential victims of human trafficking are come from high population growth countries with high rate poverty. The poor doesn’t have any money for education, so their orientation obtains a lot of money for a better economics condition. They are subsequently deceived by manipulative false promises of employment and education opportunities in addition to get a better life condition. In reality, the traffickers do not follow their promises.

 The victims are forced to do other work like prostitution or hard labor and didn’t get any pay. There is a phenomenon that some children are sold to traders by their parents because they don’t have any money to raise their children. They think by doing that, their children will have a better life. Poverty makes most women agree to married a moneylender, subsequently they are sold to a prostitution mafia.  The poverty and low education make the poor gullible, because their trapped in an economics condition.

Socio-culture has contribution in causes human trafficking in Southeast Asia, because people behavior based on their point of view. Many socio-cultures in Southeast Asia State have a point of view that able to cause human trafficking. For instance; the lower value of women and child than man, early age marriage, polygamy, divorcement, and opinion that city is better than village, success person based on their wealth, and differentiation of society into social levels. 

Low value of women and child instead of man make some men think that they can harvest advantages of them. The early marriage and polygamy make a high rate of divorcement, the value of virginity decrease and increase poverty. Early age marriage without maturity of money and mental, push divorcement and irresponsible husband. When it happens, women bear their responsibility of their children. Immature marriage and polygamy makes people forced to earn much money for their family. 

That situation makes people willing to do anything to support their family and easy deceived with fake promises from human trafficking trader. Migration from village to city, desire to get rich quickly and social recognition make people easily deceived with fake promises too. It’s not a new phenomenon that socio-culture impact the human trafficking.

 High corruption and weakness of law enforcement give an opportunity for human trafficking. Few officers in migration become a mafia of human trafficking, they get paid from trader to make a false migration passport for the victim or give an access for trader to entry their country without passing migration. Messy record of population growth measure gives a chance of human trafficking, government who doesn’t know their people will find it hard to find their people. 

The long process and light punishment for traders didn’t make any regret to trader of human trafficking. Victims who migrations with a fake document without any knowledge will feel scared to report it. They are afraid to involve in such a huge problem with the officer and can be considered to be deported. 

Sometimes, officer takes easy for human trafficking problem and the process of law become so long. It makes victims didn’t believe in law and continue their job under pressure. Lack of transparency in officers who solve human trafficking problem makes victims forced; the traders have a connection and take a chance with the system of law, so victims have a few opportunities to come out from human trafficking problems. 

Corruption makes law system becomes expensive; the ones who have money will win the court. Victims don’t have any money to hire an educative lawyer or prove that they are victims, the process become so long and absorb much money. That situation makes victims give up reporting human trafficking problem and gives an opportunity for traders to continue their sin.

• Recommendation

Government should make effective policies and empowerment for human trafficking by working together with all nations in Southeast Asia, so it will be easy to catch the criminal and give them a fair punishment. All nation in Southeast Asia works together to make some system and policy which mutually agreement and held together about how to treat victims and perpetrator, make a report post, and discuss about human trafficking problem between related countries. 

Effective policy and empowerment can be done by simplify the reports system for victims, so when the victims report, law process and empowerment can be done quick and justice. All nations in Southeast Asia should give a severe punishment to officer who help trader in human trafficking case and receive bribe from them. Migration officers should tighten their migration process; check all documents and their purposes when someone wants to go to another country or another city. Government should give a protection for victims and their report by give them a competitive lawyer to defend them and give a psychologist for recover their mental. 

Education for all nations in Southeast Asia need to be expanded, all people have to receive an education, either formal school or informal school. Government can make free education for their entire citizen; give soft and hard skill education for the poor; and job training for people in productive age that never got any education. 

School or social community can make a seminar for children and adult about how to refuse human trafficking, how to report a human trafficking case to the police, what is human trafficking and what form is it, and the other education about human trafficking problem.

 People who live in village that have a high rate of young marriage should get education about what their bear in marriage, give them an education about maturity of finance and mental, and persuade them to wait their marriage until their mature age.  People in Southeast Asia should be educated about divorcement, for example about  who’s got the disadvantages about their divorcement or what kind of responsibility that there bear by taking that risk. By education, the high rate of poverty and human trafficking can be reduced.

Conclusion

Human trafficking is a big problem in Southeast Asia, there are many causes of human trafficking like poverty, socio cultural problem, and law problem. To solve human trafficking problem, the recommendations are to make an effective policy and empowerment and make a facilities of education. By doing the recommendation, it can reduce the human trafficking problem in Southeast Asia.

All nations in Southeast Asia contribution and double check document in migration will make a difficult access of human trafficking for traders. The severe punishment for officers who received bribe from human trafficker give them fear to help the trader. Report system for the victims make a fast law process of human trafficking, so the traders will be hard to do there crime, it make the trader think twice to do their crime in Southeast Asia, because of their effective policy that Southeast Asia made.    

Education can decrease poverty and make people have an opportunity to live better; they can have a worthy job with a worthy salary as well. Educated people will not easy to be deceived by a manipulative promise, for example for working in another country without clear documents and explanations; working in unofficial company without any contract; or signed a fake contract.

Education can also decrease a young age marriage, low number of young age marriage can decrease poverty and number of human trafficking victims Young age marriage nowadays is irrelevant in globalization era, because marriage need more maturity of money and mental. When someone has an education, they will likely to be open minded about the fact in society and think twice to decide for married. 

Young people can bear their own life and chase their dream, so they will not be trapped with a manipulative promise and trap them into a prostitution and hard worker. Education gives women an opportunity to success, because in globalization era, there is no gender gap anymore, young women can also work and be successful with their education, so it can decrease women trafficking for prostitution in Southeast Asia.