Comprehensive and Coordinated Approach to Combat Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is the practice of people being tricked, lured, coerced or otherwise removed from their home or country, and then forced to work with no or low payment or on terms which are highly exploitative. Human trafficking has become a modern migration challenge, demanding a strong, comprehensive and coherent response from governments and the international community at large. Recent developments reveal that trafficking in human beings constitute a major form of organized crime, while the total scale of incomes of trafficking can be compared with illegal incomes of drugs and weapons.

Of late, the EU-Africa High-Level Summit on Migration and Mobility took place in Valletta, Malta, with Heads of State and Government from Africa and EU countries attending. On the occasion, Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn expressed his government's maximum efforts to address the root causes of migration. He said the government of Ethiopia is intensifying effort to fight illegal migration and human trafficking through legislative and administrative measures.

During the Summit, it was agreed a long list of very concrete actions to be implemented by the end of 2016, including the setting up a joint European and African team in Niger to tackle people smuggling and increasing the number of visas available to students and researchers. A trust fund intended to foster stability and contribute to better migration management is also proposed to promote economic opportunities, security and development in the 23 African countries.

Given the complex nature of migration problems, featuring severe human rights violations with a direct impact on refugees and asylum-seekers, an effective intercontinental strategy to combat this phenomenon is imperative. The cooperation between Africa and Europe on this issue can best be leveraged to ensure an effective response to trafficking.

Providing the challenges of human trafficking, governments around the world have implemented stricter laws and far-reaching legal strategies. In Ethiopia trafficking is becoming a big issue after hundreds of Ethiopians lost their lives, got abused and exploited physically and mentally. The government adopted a comprehensive legislative framework to combat and prevent human trafficking and to promote safe labour migration. Ethiopia's approach to solve this problem includes addressing unemployment of youth and women.

Ethiopia works in the areas of counter trafficking, illegal migration, combating migrant smuggling. The government of Ethiopia, according to the Prime Minister, is working hard to address the root causes through pro-poor policies aimed at creating employment opportunities. He said the government is supporting thousands of small and micro enterprises with millions of members so as to unleash the entrepreneurial potential of youth and women. However, the need to bolster the country's law in fight against this scourge is compelling and urgent.

It is still imperative to establish a platform for global dialogue with the broader community fighting human trafficking. Ethiopia needs more intervention strategies and strong measures against criminals human trafficking. One of the most powerful intervention tool should be effective utilization of the media. The media is a powerful intervention tool for the dissemination of information and raising awareness of the community with regard to the impacts of trafficking and down from family to the national level and the sufferings and maltreatment of migrated citizens and the nature of work in the overseas countries.

The joint declaration of EU-Africa High-Level Summit on Migration and Mobility is step closer to address the mutual challenges faced by Europe and Africa over migration and mobility. Strengthening partnerships and coordination will reinforce the cohesiveness, and effectiveness of African and European strategy to combat human trafficking. The involvement of victims and survivors, intergovernmental and non‐governmental organizations, workers' and employers' organizations and the private sector is also critically important to ensure a truly comprehensive and coordinated approach to combat human trafficking.