The threat of human trafficking post-Yolanda

After the tragedy of Typhoon Yolanda, the citizens of Leyte, Samar and other islands are faced with another threat: the fear of being trafficked.   Human trafficking has been called a crime within a crime and this has never been truer than now, post-Yolanda. Survivors grab at whatever chance offered to them to work abroad, in danger of forced labor. Women and children are especially vulnerable, as there are reports of girls and young women taken from the ruins of their homes and sold into sexual slavery, while a number of children are still missing.   “Under the pretext of saving the children, traffickers can abduct them and sell them as ‘brides’ to pedophiles or earn hundreds of thousands of pounds or euros by providing these children for illegal adoption and even worse, sexual abuse and exploitation,” Fr. Shay Cullen, a well-known missionary to the Philippines, shared.   The Philippine government has warned survivors to watch out for illegal recruiters and traffickers, some of who have been reported to be lurking in evacuation centers. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) warned Yolanda survivors coming to Metro Manila to be vigilant, and they, along with the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) have set up a booth within Villamor Airbase to receive inquiries and reports on suspected trafficking and illegal recruitment that might occur.   According to the country narrative for the Philippines in the 2013 US Trafficking in Persons Report last June, “Trafficking of men, women, and children within the country also remains a significant problem. People are trafficked from rural areas to urban centers including Manila, Cebu, the city of Angeles, and increasingly cities in Mindanao, as well as within other urban areas and tourist destinations such as Boracay, Olongapo, Puerta Galera, and Surigao” (U.S. Department of State, p. 300).   Citizens are starting to become more aware of this danger. December 12 marks the International Day Against Trafficking, and in response to this growing threat, the Philippine Inter-Faith Movement Against Human Trafficking (PIMAHT), an assembly of the three largest church councils in the country, is taking steps to raise awareness and combat trafficking from a grassroots level by organizing prayer rallies in Manila, Cebu and Davao in conjunction with IACAT.   Nancy Lindborg, the USAID’s assistant administrator for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, said “To protect the children of the central Philippines during this time of heightened vulnerability, the government of the Philippines and the international community will need to make every effort… to ensure and strengthen local and national protective services.”   Whether in the Philippines or outside of it, everyone can help in the fight against human trafficking. The US State Department gives 20 ways you can help fight human trafficking.   Sources: Human trafficking a worry post-Yolanda http://www.rappler.com/nation/45180-human-trafficking-worry-post-yolanda   Gov’t warns Yolanda survivors vs human traffickers, illegal recruiters http://www.philstar.com/nation/2013/12/04/1264092/govt-warns-yolanda-survivors-vs-human-traffickers-illegal-recruiters   Anti-human trafficking task force to be created in typhoon-wrecked Eastern Visayas http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/337302/pinoyabroad/news/anti-human-trafficking-task-force-to-be-created-in-typhoon-wrecked-eastern-visayas   The Lost Orphans of Yolanda http://www.preda.org/en/newsitems/the-lost-orphans-of-yolanda-2/   Trafficking in Persons Report 2013 http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2013/