 Bill to combat human trafficking needs to be effective: JCP Inoue A bill to revise laws to prohibit human trafficking and protect its victims will be discussed in the current Diet session. Akahata of March 11 reported an interview with House of Councilors member and Judicial Affairs Committee member Inoue Satoshi (JCP) regarding the legislation. Major buyer of foreign slave labor "Human trafficking" means selling and buying people or sending them abroad for prostitution or forced labor, or organ transplants, regardless of whether it is based on victims' consent or not. Women and children are serious victims of human trafficking. At issue in Japan is the existence of many foreign women who were coaxed to come to Japan with jobs as bait and are actually forced to work in the sex industry, apparently to repay money they "borrowed" for air fares and other expenses. The covers the business use for these women are varied, but they differ from general migrant workers from abroad in that these women are forced to work in the sex industry, robbed of all freedoms. Japan is now notorious in the world as a major human trafficker. The International Labor Organization (ILO) representative office in Japan criticized human trade as slavery revived in the modern times. The office is making an investigative survey focused on trading of foreign women in Japan. For example, a Columbian woman of 20 came to Japan because she was told that she could get a job at a computer shop in Japan. At the airport, she was met by a Columbian broker and a Japanese man who called himself her "husband." The "husband", a member of a gangster group, forced her into prostitution, telling her to pay back 3 million yen that she allegedly owed him for airfare and other expenses. She pretended to be ill, and under the guise of going to a pharmacy, sought asylum at the Columbian Embassy. A survey conducted last February by the Justice Ministry Immigration Bureau shows that 53 "violators" of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law were highly likely to have been victims of "human trafficking." This is only the tip of the iceberg. 'Human trafficking' is criminal, penalty must be put on perpetrators In recent years, many countries have taken measures against "human trafficking," recognizing it as part of international organized crime activities. Japan is being pressured to ratify the U.N. "Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children," which took effect in 2003. The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has also made recommendations to the Japanese government to strengthen the measures on "trafficking in persons." The government last December announced an action program concerning "human trafficking" with the aim of preventing and eliminating "human trafficking," and protecting victims of such crime. Based on the action program, the government seeks to revise two main laws during the present Diet session. One is the criminal law. This law now exempts perpetrators of "human trafficking" from criminal punishment, but will be changed to punish them by legally regarding "human trafficking" as criminal. It is a matter of course to give severe punishment to perpetrators such as brokers and traders, who are currently unregulated. The other measure on the agenda is the revision of the Immigration Control Law. Most human-trafficking victims are undocumented immigrants or workers and forced to leave the country. They are treated as criminals and prohibited from entering Japan for five years. The revision of the Immigration Control Law is aimed at protecting victims and giving them the right to stay in Japan. If they are legally allowed to stay in Japan, they will be able to receive welfare assistance and other social services. The government also plans to work with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to assist the victims in going back to their countries. Weak system to support victims The Japanese Communist Party has urged the government to improve laws and measures to protect human-trafficking victims. Last June, JCP House of Councilors members jointly submitted a list of questions to the government to this effect. The proposed revision of the Law to Ban Human Trafficking may be a step forward, but falls short of improving public systems to protect victims, including shelters for victims. The government should clearly state in the law that human-trafficking victims have the right to be protected. It needs to take full-scale measures, such as providing professional staff. Human trafficking is the worst form of human rights violation. The JCP Diet members will continue to demand government efforts to abolish human trafficking. (end) |