TIP Laws-Policies: Regional

Laws and Policies: Regional Frameworks around Trafficking in Persons

ASEAN and Trafficking in Persons
The Greater Mekong Sub-region and Trafficking in Persons

Recognising that regional and national criminal justice response to trafficking in persons are mutually reinforcing, in the past few years, there has been significant regional policy development on trafficking. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), a major regional organisation comprised of ten Southeast Asian Member States, provides the key framework for policy development on trafficking in persons in South East Asia. ASEAN has addressed the issue of trafficking in persons in policy documents since placing trafficking crime on its agenda in the early 1990s. The Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT) is a sub-regional initiative among the six Greater Mekong sub-region countries. Formed in 2004, the COMMIT partner countries have agreed on a policy framework and work plan for progressing the response to trafficking in persons at the national and sub-regional levels.

ASEAN and Trafficking in Persons

At a regional level, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its Member States have affirmed their commitment to preventing and combating trafficking in persons crime and have taken an increasingly active role in support of regional mechanisms in the past several years. Recent initiatives, including a declaration on trafficking in persons and detailed guidelines for criminal justice practitioners, asseverate the importance of victim-centred and rights based approaches to combating trafficking and support measures for building stronger and more effective regional and international cooperation in the area of trafficking in persons. Significant progress is indicated by the following key developments, some of which are considered in more detail below:

The ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) identified trafficking as a priority area for action in 2004;
The ASEAN Association of Chiefs of Police (ASEANAPOL) identified trafficking as a priority for cross-border and regional cooperation in 2004;
An ASEAN Ministers Meeting adopted a Declaration on Trafficking in 2004 that identifies the need for a strong, victim-centred criminal justice response;
SOMTC established an Ad-hoc Working Group on Trafficking in Persons in 2006. This group developed a Work Plan to implement the 2004 ASEAN Declaration on Trafficking. The Work Plan was endorsed by SOMTC in 2007;
SOMTC and the ASEAN Secretariat published a regional study on ASEAN Responses to Trafficking in Persons in 2006, and an Update and Supplement to this Study in 2008;
Leaders of ASEAN Member States adopted a Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of Migrant Workers in 2007 and established a Committee to oversee implementation of the commitments set out in the Declaration;
SOMTC endorsed ASEAN Practitioner Guidelines on Effective Criminal Justice Responses to Trafficking in Persons in 2007.

The key commitments of ASEAN Member States regarding trafficking in persons are currently contained in the following instruments:

ASEAN Declaration against Trafficking in Persons, Particularly Women and Children (2004)
– the Declaration lays the groundwork for a regional approach to preventing and combating trafficking in persons. Member Countries reaffirmed their commitment to improving regional coordination and cooperation among immigration and law enforcement personnel, while respecting and safeguarding the dignity and human rights of victims of trafficking. Key commitments in the declaration include the following:

Establishing a regional focal network to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, particularly women and children;
Adopting measures to prevent the fraudulent use of passports, official travel documents, identity documents and other documents;
Undertaking regular exchanges of views and information on relevant migratory flows, trends and patterns;
Strengthening border control and monitoring mechanisms,
Enacting applicable and necessary legislation;
Intensifying cooperation among immigration and other law enforcement authorities;
Distinguishing between the victims of trafficking and the perpetrators;
Ensuring the victims are treated humanely, and provided with essential medical and other assistance including prompt repatriation;
Undertaking actions to respect and safeguard the dignity and human rights of victims of trafficking;
Undertaking coercive measures against those engaged in trafficking in persons, and offering the widest possible assistance to punish these activities; and
Taking measures to strengthen regional and international cooperation to prevent and combat trafficking in persons.

Work Plan to Implement the 2004 ASEAN Declaration against Trafficking in Persons, Particularly Women and Children¹ - commits SOMTC and other parts of ASEAN to a broad programme of activities in four areas:

Regional and international cooperation;
Law enforcement cooperation in the investigation of trafficking cases;
Prosecution and adjudication of trafficking cases; and
Victim protection and support.

The Work Plan encourages Member States to develop common standards to prevent and combat trafficking in persons and to strengthen their criminal justice responses within and between ASEAN Member States.

ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (2007) – identifies a number of key principles relating to migrant workers as well as commitments on the part of receiving States, sending states and the ASEAN community as a whole. Also in 2007, ASEAN Foreign Ministers established the ASEAN Committee on the Implementation of this Declaration. This Committee is responsible for ensuring the effective implementation of the commitments made under the Declaration and facilitating the development of an ASEAN instrument on the protection and promotion of the rights of migrant workers.

Criminal Justice Responses to Trafficking in Persons: ASEAN Practitioner Guidelines (2007) – provide detailed guidance to criminal justice practitioners on international cooperation as it relates to trafficking in persons cases. These guidelines cover the major areas of investigatory / prosecutorial / judicial responses to TIP including evidentiary issues, mutual legal assistance and extradition.
These Practitioner Guidelines have been translated into the following languages: Burmese, Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Thai, and Vietnamese.

ASEAN Practitioner Guidelines first page image

Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters among like-minded ASEAN Member Countries (2004) – improves working relationships between security and law enforcement agencies to enhance the regional response to transnational crime. The MLAT establishes procedures for requesting and providing assistance in the collection of evidence for criminal investigations and proceedings.

Treaty Status:

ASEAN Member State	Date of Ratification (R) / Signature (s)	ASEAN Member State	Date of Ratification (R) / Signature (s)
Brunei Darussalam	15 Feb 2006 (R)	Myanmar	22 January 2009 (R)
Cambodia	8 April 2010 (R)	Philippines	12 December 2008 (R)
Indonesia	4 June 2008 (R)	Singapore	28 April 2005 (R)
Lao PDR	20 June 2007 (R)	Thailand	17 Jan 2006 (s)
Malaysia	1 June 2005 (R)	Vietnam	25 Oct 2005 (R)

This Treaty enters into force for each Party ratifying it on the date that each Party deposits its instrument of ratification. See article 31, paragraph 1 of the Treaty. Secretariat for the Treaty (click here) and status notifications (click here).

ASEAN Declaration on Transnational Crime (1997) – emphasizes the importance of a unified regional approach to combating transnational crime. The Declaration affirms the agreement of all ASEAN Member States to take ‘firm and stern measures’ to combat transnational crime, including the trafficking of women and children. Member Countries agreed to the following measures to combat transnational crime:

To strengthen cooperation at the regional level;
To expand the scope of their efforts;
To convene an ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime, as the Peak ASEAN body to coordinate activities on transnational crime; and
To hold discussions with other Member Countries about bilateral and regional agreements on issues such as mutual legal assistance.

ASEAN Vision 2020 (1997) – revitalizes the commitment of ASEAN Member States to regional cooperation and sets the broad framework for ASEAN action into the new millennium. ASEAN Member States agreed to work together in a range of areas, including the maintenance of regional peace and security through addressing transnational crime and the trafficking of women and children.

^ Back to top
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

The Greater Mekong Sub-region and Trafficking in Persons

The Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT) is a Government-led sub-regional initiative involving the six countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, China, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The COMMIT process provides a basis for a strengthened these countries to collaborate their efforts to combat trafficking in persons. The objectives of the COMMIT Process are:

To promote and strengthen systems and arrangements of inter-country and regional cooperation against human trafficking;
To establish a holistic regional response, covering all aspects of the trafficking problem and ensuring that concern for the victim is at the centre of all interventions;
To identify and adapt successful models in one country to others as appropriate; and
To enhance national capacities to address human trafficking in order to facilitate each country’s engagement at the regional level, building on existing strengths in each country.^²

A major outcome of this initiative is the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation against Trafficking in Persons in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (signed by all six GMS-COMMIT countries in October 2004). The MoU is a guiding document for victim-centred and rights-based approaches to combating trafficking. It outlines principles and commits parties to actions in the following areas:

Policy and cooperation;
Legal frameworks, law enforcement and justice;
Protection, recovery and reintegration;
Preventive measures; and
Mechanisms for its implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Two Plans of Action have been developed to implement the MoU (SPA I 2005-2007 and SPA II 2008-2010). These action plans outline national, bilateral and sub-regional level areas of action, including initiatives to improve criminal justice responses to trafficking crime.

For more information on the COMMIT initiative, refer to the COMMIT section of the United Nations Inter-Agency Project to Combat Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (UNIAP). UNIAP acts as Secretariat to COMMIT.

^ Back to top
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

1. The Work Plan is attached to the Update and Supplement to the ASEAN Responses to Trafficking in persons Study as Appendix 5 (to view click here).
2. COMMIT Sub-Regional Plan of Action (SPA II 2008-2010) Final Version Agreed at COMMIT SOM 5 / IMM 2, December 2007, Beijing, China, available at http://www.no-trafficking.org/commit.html

ARTIP | ASIA REGIONAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS PROJECT

SECURING JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS AND ENDING IMPUNITY FOR TRAFFICKERS

Trafficking in Persons and the Criminal Justice Sector


The Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons Project is an Australian Government, AusAID initiative.		The Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons Project is managed by Cardno Emerging Markets (Australia).

ARTIP | ASIA REGIONAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS PROJECT SECURING JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS AND ENDING IMPUNITY FOR TRAFFICKERS

Trafficking in Persons and the Criminal Justice Sector

ARTIP | ASIA REGIONAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS PROJECT

SECURING JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS AND ENDING IMPUNITY FOR TRAFFICKERS