Vatican
City, 31 October 2013 (VIS) - “Trafficking in human beings: modern
slavery. Destitute peoples and the message of Jesus Christ” is the
title of the seminar which, following a wish expressed by Pope
Francis, has been organised by the Pontifical Academies of Sciences
and of the Social Sciences, together with the FIAMC (the World
Federation of Catholic Medical Associations). The seminar, which will
take place from 2 to 3 November in the Vatican's Casina Pio IV, will
be attended by twenty-two participants from various countries and
international organisations, including the Nigerian Joy Ngozi Ezeilo,
United Nations special rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons,
especially women and children, and the Spanish doctor Professor Jose
Antonio Lorente, scientific director of the Centro Pfizer – Junta
de Andalucia Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO) of
the University of Granada, Spain.
The
workshop aims “to establish the real state of this phenomenon and
an agenda to combat this heinous crime. For example, the natural
sciences today can provide new tools that can be used against this
new form of slavery, such as a digital registry to compare the DNA of
unidentified missing children (including cases of illegal adoption)
with that of their family members who have reported their
disappearance”, writes Bishop Marcelo Sanchez-Sorondo, chancellor
of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and of the Social Sciences.
“No
one can deny that 'the trade in human persons constitutes a shocking
offence against human dignity and a grave violation of fundamental
human rights', and is an accelerator of criminal profits in this new
century. The Second Vatican Council itself observed that 'slavery,
prostitution, the selling of women and children, and disgraceful
working conditions where people are treated as instruments of gain
rather than free and responsible persons' are 'infamies' which
'poison human society' … and constitute 'a supreme dishonour to the
Creator'”.
According
to the recent UNODC Report on Trafficking, “the International
Labour Organisation estimated that between 2002 and 2010 '20.9
million people were victims of forced labour globally. This estimate
also includes victims of human trafficking for labour and sexual
exploitation, 60% of whom are girls. Human organ trafficking reaches
almost 1% of that figure, thus affecting around 20,000 people who are
forced or deceived into giving up an organ, such as the liver,
kidney, pancreas, cornea, lung and even the heart”.
“Some
observers speculate that, within ten years, human trafficking will
surpass drugs and weapons trafficking to become the most profitable
criminal activity in the world”, reiterated Bishop Sanchez-Sorondo.
“International sex trafficking is not limited to poor and
undeveloped areas of the world – it is a problem in virtually every
region of the globe. Countries with large (often legal) sex
industries create the demand for trafficked women and girls, while
countries where traffickers can easily recruit provide the supply.
Generally, economically depressed countries provide the easiest
recruitment for trafficking”.
He
concluded by recalling that, during the canonisation of the Mexican
saint, Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, Pope Francis said that the work the
saint carried out with the poor, the abandoned, the sick and the
marginalised, “taught us this behaviour: not to feel ashamed, not
to fear, not to find 'touching Christ's flesh' repugnant. … Pope
Francis' words are a clear reaction, following Jesus Christ's
message, to this new form of contemporary slavery which constitutes
an abhorrent violation of the dignity and rights of human beings”.
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