3071-The political economy of new slavery

David Ould 69
most effectively. Cases of ‘best practice’ in terms of protecting victims’
rights exist where there is genuine understanding and goodwill on the
part of the authorities involved. The United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights summarized such a framework in her Recommended
Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking
submitted to the UN Economic and Social Council in July 2002 (United
Nations Economic and Social Council, 2002). The report recognizes the
primacy of human rights, the need to prevent trafficking, the need to
protect and assist victims of trafficking and to punish the traffickers
and sets out guidelines for government action. It also recommends that
governments should present information on the measures they have
taken to the appropriate UN human rights treaty monitoring bodies
including: the Human Rights Committee; the Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights; the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women; the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination; the Committee against Torture; and the Committee on
the Rights of the Child. Such reports would provide regular information
on progress against trafficking around the world and also allow NGOs
the opportunity to comment on the reports of their own governments.
In 2001 the EU, taking a lead from the UN, began the process of
reflecting the new protocol in its law and practice, and in July 2002 the
EU Council adopted a framework decision on Combating Trafficking in
Human Beings (European Commission, 2000). The framework decision sets
out to introduce a common definition of what constitutes ‘trafficking
in human beings’ in all 15 countries and to ensure some common
minimum punishment for those convicted of trafficking. Discouragingly,
it says next to nothing about protecting or assisting victims of
trafficking or slavery. The European Commission justified the absence
of provisions to protect the rights of trafficking victims by suggesting
that these would come afterwards, in a separate directive (EU Council
Directive, 2002). Such a directive was published in February 2002
concerning the granting of short-term residence permits for victims of
trafficking who agree to co-operate with the competent authorities. This
proposes that illegal migrants who are victims of trafficking should be
given a 30-day reflection period to decide whether they will co-operate
with the authorities, and during this period should be given accommodation,
welfare and medical support. At the end of this period those
who agree to co-operate, who have severed all links with the traffickers
and whose presence is considered useful by the authorities should be
given short-term residence permits (initially six months). Although the
provision of a period of reflection delay is a welcome development, the