The Philippines: poverty caused by the Government fosters human trafficking

If you have been following the recent news on human trafficking in the Philippines, you probably have noticed the Government's intensified efforts to curve human trafficking. Since the U.S. State Department published the Trafficking in Person report in 2010 and placed the Philippines on Tire 2 Watch List, the Filipino government has diligently shown its attempts to fight against human trafficking in prosecution and victim rescue. At least, the news reports suggest that it has. But, another report suggests that the Government has intensified its anti-human trafficking effort solely not to lose its eligibility for the U.S. aid in the near future. If it works to advance victims' rights, the Filipino government's primary motive behind its anti-huamn trafficking effort would not be such a big of deal. But, because of its wrong focus on the anti-human trafficking efforts, the Filipino government has persistently failed to address the real cause behind the human trafficking in the country for decades.

WHAT THE REPORT SAYS ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT'S EFFORT

The following is the summary of the news articles on anti-human trafficking effort by the Filipino government:

January 20, 2011:

The authority wants to clear up its record showing that some of public servants are involved in human trafficking. The newly appointed representative of the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration stated that his department will fully support investigation as soon as investigations show up.

February 9, 2011:

The court has made the first conviction of labor trafficking case. A woman is convicted of recruiting victims for housemaids in Malaysia without compensation. The victims testified that they worked for 9 months for their Malaysian employers but were not paid at all. According to the report, there have been total 38 conviction of human trafficking case, out of which 37 cases involved sex trafficking.

February 25, 2011:

Trafficking conviction doubled in eight months under the current administration, according to the report. So far, the Filipino court made convictions in 39 cases.

March 19, 2011:

The government launches a hotline for human trafficking victims. The hotlines will be available for 24 hours to the victims in Manila City and providences in emergency situations.

March 24, 2011:

The local government in Talcoban City announced that it would strengthen its effort to fight against human trafficking. According to the Philippines government report, the campaign is launched to protect Filipino migrants from human traffickers warning the traffickers of dire consequences of their crimes. In 2010 alone, the authority says that 11 out of 19 victims were served in the region.

According to the reports above, the government seems to be doing pretty well on surging through its fight against human trafficking by prosecuting traffickers and rescuing victims.

THE REAL PROBLEM LIES ELSEWHERE

Sadly, according to a local nonprofit group, the reality of human trafficking and sexual exploitation of children are still very much rampant in the country. In Angeles City, for instance, a nonprofit group reports that some police and government officials are predators themselves that foster commercial sexual exploitation of children. Also, parents blatantly sell their children for prostitution to foreign tourists for financial gain because they have a very limited means to meet their daily needs. What's more, one advocate argues that many police and government officials are in denial of ongoing exploitation of victims regardless of the prevalence throughout the city. Another report moreover points out that local Filipino men accounts for greater demand for child prostitution than foreign tourists. But, no report so far has shown the evidence that the police has neither investigate nor crackdown on local Filipino men exploiting children with commercial sex.

THE GOVERNMENT AND POVERTY

Whether they are talking about international, domestic, labor, or sex trafficking of Filipinos, many people agree that poverty is one of the primary causes behind human trafficking in the country. As mentioned above, poverty is the reason why many parents prostitute their children as well as it is the reason why many victims leave the country and fall into the hands of traffickers abroad. But, poverty in the Philippines has never been proliferated itself on its own. Rather, in the case of the Philippines, the Government's economic mismanagement and corruption have consistently and precisely been the reasons why many Filipino have become poor and remained in poverty. Yet, the administration's anti-human trafficking efforts only superficially focused on the prosecution of traffickers and foreign sex tourists and neglected to address the root cause of human trafficking and child commercial sexual exploitation.

POLICY FAILURES BY THE FILIPINO GOVERNMENT

Asian Development Bank, an international entity for development in South Asia region explains government policy failures that have fostered poverty in the Philippines as follows:

Because of the [Filipino] Government’s fundamental limitations in human, financial, and physical resources, aggravated by excessive red tape (an excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making), graft (Unscrupulous use of one's position to derive profit or advantages; extortion.) , and corruption, ( the Government has generally been unable to properly run the country). It has failed to ensure the efficient delivery of necessary public services, and has not brought about the economic development and widespread prosperity the country deserves [emphasis added].

THE U.S. AIDS FOR NONPROFITS, NOT THE GOVERNMENT

In a country like the Phlippines, where corruption is proven to be rampant by an international organization, foreign aids will highly unlikely be put into good use to fighting against human trafficking particularly when it is directly handed to the Government itself. Besides, had the Filipino Government had been willing to fight trafficking for victims' sake, it would have already done so long before the TIP 2010 report was generated. Also, the victims would not have had reasons to leave the country nor would they have been sold to the traffickers by their family members to begin with. What's more, the local police and government officials turning a blind eye to the victims shows that the government is really not interested in the justice for the victims therefore, their effort will unlikely address the real issues. Hence, donors are rather encouraged to hand the aids to the local nonprofits working directly with the victims in the Philippines than the Filipino government.

Government and culture, not poverty, cause human trafficking

Earlier this week, one organization made a bold statement that poverty causes human trafficking. The theory is based on the strong correlation between a country's GDP and human trafficking. According to the report, "every $1000 increase in a country's GDP makes the country nearly 10 percent more likely to be a destination for international human trafficking victims." Is poverty the root cause of human trafficking? Or, is it a byproduct of the third factor that also causes human trafficking?

OTHER CASE STUDIES SHOW OTHERWISE

A number of studies on different countries' case suggests that poverty is more than likely a co-existing factor to human trafficking, not the root cause of human trafficking.

Case #1: Myanmar

Take a look at this impoverished country of source, which pushes out many human trafficking victims to its South Asian neighbors. On the surface level, one can argue that poverty pushes many migrant workers to leave Myanmar while traffickers are waiting to prey them on in anyway on the other side of the country's borderline. According to no where else to go, an in-depth report by a nonprofit, the military regime's economic mismanagement and high tax are two driving factors for the Burmese victims to flee the country. The research also states that the victims are hesitant to report cases against police corruption involving human trafficking because the close connection between the military regime and the many NGO representatives would only bring the victims themselves under the accusation of taking part in the human trafficking ring. Therefore, many victims' reports remain unreported. The Burmese military regime, according to the report, is also in charge of a large percentage of aids and social welfare programs. Therefore, government is the reason for any traffickers to flee the country as well as a hindrance to their victim assistance.

Case #2: Kenya

The human trafficking in Kenya, in particular, those of Maasai girls, is another example that caused by government corruption and mismanagement. While some analyst even attempted to blame climate changes in the past, the fact is clear that the draught and climate change has been fact of life for Maasai people. Regardless of the draught and poverty, however, history shows that Maasai found their way of self-sustaining life-style. And, they had good life within the community until the British government stepped in with economic mismanagement and corruption. According to a research, corruption involving blood relationship and personal ambition played significant factors behind mismanagement of the subdivision of the land introduced by the British. Only a few rich people have benefited from the system at the expense of exploiting the rest of the poor Maasai people. In addition, according toone report by Heritage Organization, a policy think thank based in D.C., corruption is highly pervasive in Kenya as the country ranks 147th out of 179 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Index in 2008. Further, the lax property rights and extensive corruption limits the country's overall economic freedom. ( For further information on history of Maasai community in regards to human trafficking click here).

Case #3: South Korea & China

South Korea and China are members of OECD countries. South Korea's GDP, according to World Bank, reached $832.5 billion and China's GDP was 4.985 trillion in 2009. Both countries' GDPs in 2009 were conspicuously higher than that of Switzerland ($491.92) and Demark in the same year. In case of China, its GDP is much higher than Italy ($2.1 trillion), UK($2.18), and even France ($2.65) and even Germany($3.33). Yet, both China and South Korea have been the main sources of sex trafficking victims in the U.S. In particular, according to the Attorney General's office in 2006 report, South Korean women made up 23.5% of human trafficking victims in the U.S., which was the highest percentage of victims among the reported cases followed by Thailand (11.7%) and Mexico (9.6%). Likewise, according to the Coalition Against Trafficking of Women, 5000 Chinese women were prostituted in Los Angles in 2007. In the same year, BBC news reported that Chinese women were being trafficked into the United States in New York and North Carolina. BBC also stated that these women were held in $40,000 debt bondage.

If the analysis that poverty causes human trafficking based on the correlation between a country's GDP and human trafficking data is true, neither Chinese women nor South Korean women would not be enslaved in the US. Rather, one will witness more number of sex trafficking victims from UK, Switzerland, Demark, Italy, and France than those from China in the U.S.

One thing is clear that regardless of their high GDP, both China and South Korea do not have policies supporting women's rights as much as many western countries with the similar economic development status. For instance, in South Korea, it is much more difficult for a woman to take out bank loan than it is for her male counterpart. What's more, today's report on a South Korean celebrity who committed suicide after being forced into prostitution and others for her successful career shows the glimpse of the reality for South Korean women.

CONCLUDING THOUGHT

Above examples show that poverty is a co-existing factor to human trafficking, not a root cause. It is true that many migrants from poor countries flee their countries in order to escape poverty for better job opportunities abroad. It is also true that they often are preyed by human trafficking in one way or the other. However, this does not mean that poverty itself is causing victims to be trafficked. Rather, government's economic mismanagement, corruption, lack of policies on women's rights, and the culture that embraces and even promotes sexual and labor exploitation are to blame the ongoing atrocity of human trafficking around the world.