The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and IOM today
launched a major report on human trafficking in Cambodia,
Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

The report, "ASEAN and Trafficking in Persons: Using Data as a
Tool to Combat Trafficking in Persons", outlines best practices for
data collection in a field where accurate statistics are nearly
impossible to compile due to the clandestine and criminal nature of
the industry.

The study, which was launched at the ASEAN Senior Officials
Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) in Vientiane today, outlines
and compares how each country is coping with the challenge and
identifies gaps and weaknesses in national systems that still allow
victims to fall through the gaps and help traffickers to evade
prosecution.

The authors make recommendations including adoption of best
practices, improved communication between agencies, improved
information management systems and better training for officials
involved in data collection.

The report, which was funded by the United States government,
"will help to arm decision-makers with effective tools they need to
make important decisions about how to combat trafficking," says
ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong.

 

Experts agree that human trafficking in Asia remains a major
challenge for governments, international organizations and NGOs.
Between April 2005 and October 2006, IOM Indonesia's Recovery
Centres for Trafficking Victims located in three police hospitals
treated a total of 1,650 victims, of whom 26 per cent were
children. 

"Estimates suggest that there are between 1.4 and 2.1 million
Indonesian women working abroad. We know that many are working in
abusive situations, but we need far better data to identify how
many are in fact victims of trafficking," says IOM Indonesia
counter trafficking specialist Kristen Dadey.

"In Cambodia there is a huge amount of data about human
trafficking, but it's currently dispersed between as many as 80
government departments and other agencies working in the field. We
need a more coherent approach if we are really going to make a
difference," says IOM Cambodia counter trafficking expert John
McGeoghan.

The report is available at "paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://www.iom.int">www.iom.int

For more information please contact:

Lance Bonneau

IOM Bangkok

Tel: +66 2 343 9300

E-mail: "mailto:lbonneau@iom.int">lbonneau@iom.int