Europe Modern-day-slavery on the OSCE agenda

Project : Regional Office 1 Jul 2011 | child labour child trafficking domestic servitude

Vienna, June 21st 2011: A two-day conference organized by the Office of the OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator on the fight against trafficking in human beings, Ms. Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, took place in the Hofburg Palace gathering representatives of OSCE participating States and observers, International Governmental and Civil Society Organisations. The conference, organized annually by the Special representative focused its 2011 edition on Trafficking in Human Beings for the purpose of Labour exploitation. The discussions included participation by representatives of trade unions and employers organizations, as part of the effort to broaden the membership of the Alliance of Experts against Trafficking in Human Beings – one of the priorities of Ms Giammarinaro when she took office.

The debates were fruitful and reminded States of their obligations under international and European law as well as offered insights into innovative methods to enhance the fight against trafficking for labour exploitation.

In her concluding statement, Ms Giammarinaro stressed that “the lack of social justice was certainly the overarching trigger that made trafficking in human beings possible” and closed the conference with 5 key recommendations:

• Address Trafficking in Human Beings across a wider array of exploitation purposes

• Strengthen the criminal justice system

• Complement it with other measures such as labour inspections so as to address cases that do not necessarily amount to trafficking in human beings

• Promote policy coherence among all sectors, from migration to criminal justice and social assistance

• Bring together all actors active in the field of trafficking in human beings, including government, NGOs, business organizations and trade unions

A side event was also organized by the “Groupe des Ambassadeurs Francophones” entitled “Organized begging: A form of child exploitation”. Terre des hommes representatives were invited as key note speakers and stressed the importance of the reinforcement of child protection systems as well as the necessity to have a child rights approach underpinning any actions aiming at combating trafficking in children. [PC]

For more information see OSCE’s website.