Source: Kyodo News
Experts from member countries of the Association of Southeast Nations began Thursday a two-day meeting in the Philippine capital to draft a binding mechanism and a plan of action to combat the problem of human trafficking.
Philippine Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar said participants from the regional bloc, of which only Myanmar did not send a delegate, aim to produce a working draft of the proposed ASEAN Convention on Trafficking in Persons, which is the legally binding framework, and a Regional Plan of Action to complement the former.
Salazar told reporters after the opening ceremony of the meeting, which is the third since 2011, that they hope to have both the ASEAN Convention and the RPA in place on or before the time the ASEAN Economic Community is established in 2015.
Saying that victims of human trafficking, mainly for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation, are estimated to be in millions, and that "the ascent of trafficking in persons" has become "the most expansive form of transnational crime in this day and age," Salazar urged the meeting participants to be "unfazed and undaunted as we dissect the features and issues of the Convention and the Plan of Action."
"The partnership requires that we open our door to one another in the effort to synchronize our methods and processes of law enforcement and adjudication. The spirit of cooperation and collaboration allows for that," Salazar said in his keynote address at the meeting.
Philippine Undersecretary Felizardo Serapio, head of the country's Center on Transnational Crime, said the ASEAN Convention may include criminalization of trafficking in persons, protection of victims, and regional cooperation and mutual legal assistance on investigation and prosecution.
"The regional convention will promote and consolidate regional cooperation and initiatives to combat, prevent and suppress trafficking in persons, particularly women and children. It will also serve as the regional framework to enhance regional efforts to protect and assist the victims of trafficking and other similar forms of exploitation," he said.
The Regional Plan of Action, on the other hand, "will be a strong impetus to enhance regional cooperation and coordination on this issue."
"One without the other will already be beneficial, but it would not be as robust an effort compared to when both are determinedly pursued by all," Serapio said.
Salazar said the meeting's output will be submitted to the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting in Vietnam in June this year, and hopefully, will subsequently be elevated to the ministerial level.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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