Global agreement on migration can deliver a blow to traffickers of human misery and suffering
Yury Fedotov says an international effort is necessary to enshrine expectations on the treatment of migrants and refugees, as well as to break down criminal organisations who trade in people
“When I refused to sell my body, they sold me to another brothel.” This is the heart-rending testimony of a 13-year-old Nepalese girl named Skye, trafficked by relatives to India. Skye’s story ends better than most.
Together with her sister, Skye escaped from the brothel, returned to school and now works for the Nepalese organisation that rescued her: the globally renowned Shakti Samuha. But, for every survivor like Skye, thousands suffer in silence, gagged by the threat of violence and blackmail.
How did it come to this in the early 21st century? Large numbers of victims are trapped in a hopeless circle of migrant smuggling and trafficking. The petrol fuelling these crimes is instability and insecurity.