Human trafficking is increasing during pandemic - Photo:bigstock.com
On the World Day against Trafficking in Persons on July 30, Caritas Internationalis and COATNET urged governments to intensify efforts to identify victims of trafficking and exploitation, the number of which is worryingly increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Caritas Internationalis’ secretary general, Aloysius John, says that: “Focused attention to the pandemic must not prevent us from taking care of the people most vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation. This is what local Caritas and COATNET member organisations are doing all over the world, along with other civil society organisations, providing much-needed safety nets for victims of trafficking and exploitation, even during the pandemic, and accompany them in their difficulties, offering material, medical, legal and psychological help.”
The Catholic confederation, with 162-member organisations, and the Christian anti-trafficking network say the global pandemic has focused governments’ attention towards health, but at the same time not sufficient attention was paid on the collateral damage of the ongoing pandemic especially on migrants and informal workers, who are now more exposed to trafficking and exploitation. Caritas Internationalis and COATNET also call for urgent and targeted measures to support workers in informal sectors such as domestic work, agricultural and construction work, where most vulnerable workers (i.e. undocumented migrants) can be found.
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