Social Humanitarian & Cultural Committee
Human Trafficking
Federal Republic of Somalia
Olivia Benedict
Forest Hills Eastern High School
Human trafficking is a complex issue that is running rampant in our world today. It uses a combination of force and fraud to lure victims into a nearly inescapable trap. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that there are 40.3 million human trafficking victims globally, which includes both adults and children from all countries. 81% of these people are trapped in forced labor and the other 19% in sex trafficking. 75% of people being trafficked are women and girls. The criminal economy of human trafficking is dubbed ‘modern slavery’ by the global community, which could not communicate a clearer message to all who are affected. This is an illegal enterprise that makes over $150 million per year and sways the lives of all who are involved. Human trafficking weaves itself into Somalia’s borders and endangers our citizens.
Somalia is currently working to fix its own internal human trafficking issues. Somalia’s constitution criminalizes “labor trafficking and some forms of sex trafficking,” according to the United Nations (UN) refugee agency. Somalia’s official government, the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), spends most of our restricted resources protecting buildings from terrorist attacks in the capital city, leaving limited influence over anything else. Because of our confined reach of power, our sphere of influence barely surpasses the capital city. The rest of the country is split between terrorist-controlled areas and self-declared states. UN officials documented over 2,100 children being used to fight in the Somalian military as well as in the al-Shabaab’s armed forces in early 2017. Because of those statistics, we implemented a screening plan of action to end the use of children in the military, which did find children in the armed forces and returned them home. In November of 2017, one of the self-declared states in Somalia worked with us to produce more a more updated method of how to fight trafficking. Despite Somalia’s struggling political situation, we are taking strides to prevent trafficking.
Somalia believes that implementing stronger laws and policies against Human Trafficking is the safest and most effective way to solve this issue. In 2016, for example, we issued a special task-force of people that began to research the best ways to identify and prevent human trafficking. We would support further efforts in finding those solutions. The UN is raising awareness by providing extensive resources on how to detect, prevent, and protect the public against trafficking. These include detailed reports that shine a light on the real statistics of this issue. In 2000, the UN General Assembly ratified a protocol document that outlined the measures that should be taken against Human Trafficking. Somalia was not able to partake in the creation or ratification of this document because of our unstable government structure and no set constitution at the time, though we agree with the point that it makes. Furthermore, Somalia would like to request assistance from other countries to help enforce our own laws against trafficking. Human Trafficking has no place in Somalia, nor anywhere else, and must be stopped immediately.
- Olivia Benedict
