Special Representative promotes OSCE’s victim-centred approach to combating human trafficking with Vatican, Italian officials

ROME, 12 November 2015 – The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Madina Jarbussynova, promoted the OSCE’s victim-centred and human-rights based approach to combating human trafficking in crisis situations during her visit to Rome on 11-12 November 2015.

“The ongoing humanitarian crises in and around the OSCE region pose significant challenges, as human beings are much more vulnerable to traffickers and exploitation during times of political instability, breakdown in the rule of law, conflict and forced migration,” Ambassador Jarbussynova said. “In such a context, which also affects economic migrants, religious confessions can play an important role in providing assistance to potential victims at the grass roots level.”

The Special Representative exchanged views with the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on the current humanitarian situation in Europe and discussed ways in which the Holy See and the OSCE could join forces to combat human trafficking. She also met with Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, to explore joint actions against trafficking in human beings.

During her meeting with the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini, the Special Representative highlighted the growing difficulties that the competent authorities encounter in drawing a clear line between migrant smuggling, human trafficking and movements of people seeking better lives or fleeing instability and persecution. “The reality is that the phenomena of migration and human trafficking are deeply intertwined, and the progressive tightening of states’ immigration policies has increased the vulnerability of both migrants and refugees to exploitative practices,” said Jarbussynova.

The Special Representative also addressed the Human Rights Committee of the Italian Parliament to promote the OSCE’s victim-centred and human rights-based approach to combating human trafficking in crisis situations. She emphasized that: “despite the massive challenges posed by mixed migration flows, it is the human being on the move whose rights and needs must be respected, who should be at the centre of our discourse.”

Jarbussynova briefed Italian deputies about the OSCE’s extensive efforts to raise awareness about human trafficking in Ukraine as well as her focus on the Mediterranean region, where the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has reported 3,440 dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea so far this year.

The Special Representative announced plans to visit the recently established EU Hotspot in southern Italy next year, adding that she was working with her Italian partners to create an innovative capacity-building programme to comprehensively address human trafficking. She also discussed this issue in a separate meeting with the General Commander of the Carabienieri, Tullio del Sette.