Human Trafficking:  An International Challenge

By Gary A. Grappo, American Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman

In today's world, many foreign policy issues transcend relationships between any two countries, reflecting regional and international realities.  Similarly, a range of emerging international concerns go beyond traditional diplomatic and political matters, cutting to fundamental issues of individual human dignity.  Among the most pressing of these is the issue of trafficking in persons.

Facing the prospect of unemployment and poverty, a Vietnamese man left his home and family to find employment abroad.  He paid $8,000 to a government-operated labor recruitment office to secure a job promising high wages in a distant and wealthy country.  When he arrived at his destination, however, the job was not what he expected.  He worked long hours with not enough food or rest, endured threats and abuse from his managers, and, after working hours, was confined with his coworkers to a hot, crowded, and unsanitary compound.  In addition, the company that hired him to stitch garments for export never paid him.

This man had become a victim of human trafficking.  The country to which he was trafficked, I am sad to say, was the United States of America.  In June of 2005, a U.S. federal judge in Hawaii sentenced the owner of the company that employed the man – and several hundred other workers – to 40 years in prison and $1.8 million in fines.  Some of the workers were given special visas to live and work in the U.S. to help create new lives for themselves and their families; others were assisted in returning home.

Every year, thousands of men and women around the world become victims of human trafficking.  They may leave their homes willingly, but by fraud, deception, or coercion end up working in exploitative conditions as laborers, household help, or even prostitutes.  A worker may not even realize that he or she has become a victim of trafficking, needing the job or the money badly enough to tolerate often horrible circumstances.  That is why it is important for all of us – government officials, employers, and concerned citizens – to know and recognize the warning signs of human trafficking. 

The moment a person is stripped of real choice or consent in the type or conditions of employment, he or she is in danger of becoming a victim of trafficking.

Stopping the crime of trafficking in persons requires an international and collaborative effort that involves both countries that send their nationals for work abroad and those that serve as transit and destination points for victims.  The United States is by no means immune from this crime.  The promise of the American Dream and the possibility of economic gain will continue to lure many thousands of victims, like the Vietnamese man in the story above, into exploitative working conditions on U.S. soil. 

However, the U.S. has marshaled the resources of its police, immigration agencies, social services, and courts to try and stop trafficking.  Facing the issue ourselves, we are working with other countries around the world, including in the Middle East, asking them to continue and redouble their efforts to do the same. 

Together, we must put an end to human trafficking.