OSCE conference on human trafficking opens in Rhodes
http://zeus.hri.org/news/greek/ana/2004/04-09-30.ana.html
Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 04-09-30
ATHENS NEWS AGENCY: The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is holding a parliamentary conference on the island of Rhodes, focusing on human trafficking. Parliament President Anna Psarouda-Benaki inaugurated the OSCE conference which opened on Wednesday and is being hosted by the Greek Parliament
Speaking of human trafficking, Psarouda-Benaki said: "it is imperative on all levels that we accelerate our efforts in addressing the problem - on a legal, ethical and political level." "The traditional slave trade has evolved into a modern business of the financial exploitation of people and constitutes a continuous threat for democratic societies. Especially after the collapse of socialist countries and their transition to a free economy, in Central and Eastern Europe, but also in other regions of the world, the lack of employment opportunities and the decline of quality of life has marginalised a large part of their population.
Market liberalisation has led to unstable mechanisms of economic growth," Psarouda-Benaki said.
In order to effectively eradicate illegal trafficking, which is on the rise (according to UN data, 4 million people around the world are victims, with 500,000 entering Western Europe annually), Psarouda-Benaki says that prevention through development policy, democratisation, social reform and a change of mentality in the countries of origin is the answer in order to eliminate the causes that create this phenomenon.
Additionally, "the welfare state must identify and handle the consequences of violence and must provide help and support to the victims so that they can break out of their exploitative environment and become reintegrated in society through educational and training programmes," she said
Finally, Psarouda-Benaki called for review of countries' immigration policies, reinforcing the austerity of the legislative framework and the control mechanisms of the host country
Head of the Greek delegation and first Vice President of the OSCE parliamentary conference Panos Kammenos said that western, affluent countries and their parliamentary representatives have not yet understood the scale and gravity of the problem, and therefore have yet to declare war against it
According to Kammenos, the illegal trafficking of people is first and foremost "an issue of the violation of the fundamental rights of the victims, such as their freedom and dignity - and even their life in the case when their torturers decide that their slaves are no longer useful." However, human trafficking also poses a threat to the countries of origin (which are usually in the process of transitioning to western, liberal political and economic structures with weak institutions and non-developed economies) since their modernisation and democratisation is clearly threatened by the activity of crime rings
In closing, Kammenos emphasised that "We must openly declare our intention to fight human trafficking and make it the focus of political activity in every country (...). We must also make the media aware, by informing them and presenting the problem in its true dimensions, while making it clear that we are not talking about a simple matter of illegal activity, tax evasion or prostitution, but something much more serious."