In today's world with diminishing borders, security has become a burning issue for almost every nation and region. Massive numbers of labourers are crossing their frontiers for better opportunities, and with them, a myriad of problems.

Human trafficking is one of the fiery security issues and an epidemic that entangles the lives of no less than 12.3 million at any given time (ILO estimates).

According to the ILO, the global profits from trafficked forced labour amounts to $31.6 billion. The MENA region alone accounts for $1.5 billion (World Migration Report, 2005).

Women and girls make up approx 80 percent of transnational victims, and up to 50 percent of transnational victims are under eighteen.

At the recent Doha conference on human trafficking, experts agreed that the Middle East is not a trafficking hotspot. Yet they believed, the region has long way to go to rid its territories of all forms of exploitation.

Qatar Today spoke to Prof Mohamed Mattar, Research Professor and Executive Director, the Protection Project, Johns Hopkins University; Dr Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Professor of Political Sociology, the Arab Democracy Foundation; Dr Nihal Fahmy, Regional Consultant, UN Office on Drugs and Crime; and Dr Ziab Al Badaina, Al Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan.

Titled 'Human Trafficking: Between Theory and Practice,;' the conference was organised by the National Office for Combating Trafficking in Humans and Qatar University, in cooperation with the UNESCO.

Over 200 participants attended the event, including experts from Arab and international universities; military faculties;human rights groups and civil society organisations.

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transport, sale or purchase of individuals through force, fraud or other coercive means for economic gain.

It comprises forced labour, bonded labour, forced child labour, and sexual servitude at any given time.

The US State Department (2007) reports that 800,000 to 900,000 individuals are trafficked across international borders yearly, with approximately 100,000 more trafficked inside national borders.

Lucrative Business
Feeding on national and regional unrests, human trafficking is a billion dollar business. It draws heavily on the tremendous imbalances in wealth and power.

Dr Ziab Al Badaina, from Al Hussein Bin Talal University said, "Human trafficking is a billion dollar business that feeds on social, political and economic instability - wars, conflicts, poverty, social injustice, corruption, lack of education/job opportunities; profitability..."

According to the ILO, the global profits from trafficked forced labour is $31.6 billion. The MENA region accounts for $1.5 billion (World Migration Report, 2005).

Al Badaina said, "It is the third biggest trade worldwide; following the weapons and drugs trade. Victims are estimated 1-2 millions, including 150, 000 from South Asia, and around 225,000 from South East Asia."

Recipient Region
Prof Mohamed Mattar, Johns Hopkins University, said, trafficking assumes several forms worldwide, varying from region to region.

"The Gulf, for example, is a recipient of foreign labourers. In this region, the most prevalent example of human trafficking is 'housemaids'. Of course, home service is not itself a trafficking, unless associated with exploitation - if the employer retains workers' papers; if the sponsorship law is applied on the worker; if the salary/wage is not paid as agreed..."

Mattar believes other forms of trafficking exist in the region, including sexual exploitation, "but not that prevalent."

Mattar urged for more procedures to secure workers' rights.

What we call for is applying the teachings of our religion and our Arab traditions, to prevent such violations. He prompted Qatar government to sign the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons.

The Protocol, which took effect in December 2003, has been signed by 117 states and ratified by 110.

It requires ratifying states to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, and provide assistance to victims.

Imbalances Lie Behind
Dr Saad Eddin Ibrahim, from the Arab Democracy Foundation, pointed at the global imbalances in wealth and power.

"Human trafficking draws on the tremendous imbalances in wealth and power, regionally and internationally. Citizens of the third world - the poorest and least organised - get exploited and trafficked in different ways, in the first and second world."

"It is all about demand and supply - a demand generated by the will of some people to illegally satisfy their needs and lusts, and supply dictated by the need for money, jobs, freedoms..."

Dr Saad Eddin said imbalances do exist in the Middle East, stimulating demand and supply.

"The Middle East has very rich areas and very poor spots.

"And given the international demand on the Arab riches, trafficking is run in the region, not only by locals, but outsiders too.

"People from the former socialist world, including Eastern Europe, Middle Europe, the Asian continent and other areas, find markets in the Arab world."

Gender Restrictions
Dr Saad Eddin notes that the huge riches of the region, together with the immense social restrictions on the relationship between the sexes, resulted in a relative deprivation Ð sexual, emotional, mental...

"If these freedoms are restricted, you will search for them by illegal means. Human trafficking is as any trade - unless you have or produce the good or service locally, you will search external resources.

"Human trafficking rates go down in countries where freedoms are less restricted Ð Scandinavian countries, Western Europe, the US, Canada. It still exists everywhere; the difference will be in its volume."

Gulf Family at Risk
Dr Nihal, Regional Consultant, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said trafficking in human beings is a threat to the public security in any given society.

"Wherever trafficking exists, societal security cannot stand out. How can you imagine social security with street children, gangs kidnapping girls, workforce in poor living conditions?"

Dr Nihal thought human trafficking is a menace to the entire family system. "It diminishes the family pillars, and leads into several social diseases - including spinsterhood."

Lack of Data
Dr Nihal highlighted the need for focused research. "Though the fight against human trafficking is now a priority for several governments, there is lack of accurate information on volume of the phenomenon in the region."

Reiterating that, Professor Mattar said, "We do not have accurate figures due to the fact, home service is the most dominant in the Gulf, and houses have their own privacy."

However, he highlighted the need for a local report on the status of trafficking in the region.

"The National Office for Combating Trafficking in Humans needs to issue an annual report, proposing solutions for such a widespread issue. We should not shy away from it; it exists everywhere worldwide. And in this case, we would not depend on the US report."

The US Secretary of State submits an annual report to Congress, covering the severe forms of trafficking in persons.

The report ranks 164 countries into one of four categories (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List and Tier 3) based on their compliance with the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking.

According to a statement issued at the close of the conference, delegates called for an agreement within the framework of the Arab League 'to combat human trafficking in all its forms'.

They called for "a network to exchange information and expertise," and the inclusion in school and university curricula of material on fighting the phenomenon.

They urged the Gulf Cooperation Council Oil-Producers-Buying-Spree (GCC) to take the lead in boosting "coordination and cooperation among member states to enhance measures to fight human trafficking"