Issue 64 - The Pilgrim - September 2017 - The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Southwark

The Pilgrim September 2017
Feature
unemployment and economic
poverty have continued to push
many outside the shores of the
African continent. Alongside other
desperate economic refugees from
sub-Saharan Africa, they embark on
the dangerous journey through the
desert and the Mediterranean Sea in
search of the illusive “European
Dream.”
While some educated Nigerians
might usually find it easier to obtain
visas and work permits abroad, this
was not the case with the less
educated class who are in the
majority. At the early stages of the
phenomenon of mass migration, it
was possible for women and girls to
find work in tomato fields and
factories that did not require skilled
labour.
Traffickers saw an opportunity to
make profits and moved in. From
the 1990s onwards, more Nigerian
women and girls arrived Europe in
greater numbers both voluntarily
and otherwise, and their first of
point arrival was often Italy.
To the dismay of many, they found
themselves on arrival to have
entrapped in the complex web of
sexual exploitation in form of
enforced prostitution. Some of them
who were in debt incurred in the
course of procuring travel
documents had no choice but to
succumb to the shameful demands
of their “creditors.”
Unfortunately, some of the earlier
victims have now in turn become
traffickers helping to complete the
inglorious chain of the trafficking in
women which often ends in the
sexual exploitation and enslavement
of today’s victims.
At present, scores of enterprises
in Edo State have invested in human
trafficking that includes both men
and women. The lure of material
wealth is irresistible for the wouldbe
victims which makes it
particularly difficult to eradicate.
I wish that I could say that
human trafficking is a thing of the
past in Nigeria. Unfortunately, that
is not the case although it is not a
peculiar Nigerian problem because
the Nigerian human traffickers
collude with other traffickers in
Europe and elsewhere.
According to the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime, victims
can be found in 106 countries.
Closely connected to human
Bishop Pat was among
those who attended the
Santa Marta Group
meeting in Rome last year.
trafficking is the issue of people
smuggling. This has taken on new
dimensions in recent years,
especially in the Mediterranean
region.
There is no doubt that organised
criminal networks are taking
financial advantage of the
humanitarian in many parts of the
world. It is a well-known truism
that human trafficking thrives
where the rule of law is weak or
non-existent.
Human trafficking takes many
forms. For instance, the incessant
violence in Northern Nigerian
perpetuated by the Boko Haram
Islamic extremists has brought
about the subjugation of some
women and girls as sex slaves to
satisfy the sexual fantasies of the
militants.
They even boast about it by
declaring that slavery is legal in
Islamic laws. In other parts of
Nigeria, kidnapping in order to
extract financial ransom is another
criminal activity undertaken by
traffickers.
It is not uncommon for criminal
gangs to kidnap unsuspecting
children and subject into forced
labour when a ransom is not
forthcoming and in some extreme
cases, certain parts of their body or
organs taken either for ritual or for
sale. Children from poor families
are sent to work in domestic
servitude in big cities
Human trafficking is a highlyorganised
enterprise and a lucrative
venture that generates about $150
billion annually. It is also the second
highest profitable form of
transnational crime after drug
trafficking. And because it is
transacted under cover, away from
public scrutiny, the victims of
human trafficking are often used
and reused by their unscrupulous
captors.
The Walk Free Foundation
estimates that there are about 45.8
million people around the world in
slavery today. The Home Office in
2013 estimated that there were
between 10,000 and 13,000
potential victims of modern slavery
in the UK. Human Trafficking
respects no national borders as both
victims and traffickers may be of
any nationality.
Human trafficking has a direct
effect on the physical and mental
well-being of victims. During the
initial trafficking, victims are
coerced and deceived usually
through the exploitation of their
precarious circumstances. Once
entrapped, victims most of the
times are forced into unsanitary and
stressful conditions.
They receive little or no
healthcare or basic services. Their
movement becomes restricted and
their personal identification
documents are seized from them.
Put differently, they literally cease
to exist because their humanity is
denied them.
Escaping from slavery is
extremely difficult and dangerous
since it puts the victim into a great
danger of personal risk. Human
trafficking has a double-edge effect
on the victims because if they are
eventually rescued, integration
back into society and
rehabilitation are tedious. The
sense of shame, stigma, threat of
retribution and trauma
experienced during enslavement
tend to accompany the victims for
the rest of their lives.
You can join us in our fight to
stop human trafficking and end
modern-day sex slavery through
engaging in any of our four areas
of action: prevention,
protection, prosecution and
partnership. You can also support
us through your commitment to
pray for the victims; Through
your advocacy in terms of raising
awareness and supporting efforts
to demand for policy reforms by
government.
For more information on
human trafficking, visit
www.modernslaveryhelpline.org
or www.santamartagroup.com
The Santa Marta Group
The Santa Marta Group was
established by the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference for England
and Wales. It first met in Rome
during April 2014 when police
chiefs and Catholic bishops
came to together, in the
presence of Pope Francis, to
sign an historic declaration,
committing themselves to a
partnership to eliminate human
trafficking.
Named after the home of Pope
Francis, in which the members
stayed, the Santa Marta Group
now has members in over 30
countries.
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