The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Winrock International held a ceremony in Vientiane on Monday to commemorate the International Day against Human Trafficking – Jul 30.
The purpose of this event was for Lao youth to know and understand the risks and impacts of human trafficking, and how to protect themselves so that they do not become victims of the modern day slavery.
In addition, the students had the opportunity to meet with civil society organizations who can provide them information and the law related to human trafficking access, education choice of practice, sexual violence, ect.
Youth who are underprivileged or reside in distant locations are more likely to become victims of human trafficking. Raising awareness is, therefore, more vital for youth because they are the driving force for Laos’ development.
The International Anti-Trafficking Day (TIP Day) is observed on July 30 to raise public awareness about the need of combating and decreasing the risks associated with human trafficking.
Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Leepao Yang and Mr Cullen Hughes, USAID Laos Active Country Representative, open the ceremony together with more than 200 participants from the government, civil society, NGOs and relevant sectors attended.
Mr Leepao Yang thanks the United States and USAID for strong support in Laos’ efforts to counter trafficking in persons. He said: “The Laos is a country affected by human trafficking although our authorities had closed various international checkpoints to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in 2022, human trafficking criminals continue to emerge and take on new and more complex form, such as deceiving victims into selling labour or forced labour, farcing sexual services, hiring pregnant women, and live broadcasting of male and female nudity and sexual intercourse on social media”
Mr Hughes highlighted the strong partnership between the United States and Laos “ Supporting the government of Laos to end human trafficking is a priority for the United States, USAID is proud to assist Laos’ efforts to combat human trafficking, as well as Laos’ continued growth as a strong , affluent, and independent nation”.
The USAID CTIP project supports the government of Laos to strengthen its response to human trafficking cases, reduce the vulnerability of women, children and marginalized people to trafficking and improve trafficking victims’ access to service and safe economic opportunities.
Mr Vanpadith Chanthavong, Deputy Director of the Department of Anti Human Trafficking of the Ministry of Public Security said: human trafficking is the third largest crime industry in the world after arms and drug trafficking. As for the Lao PDR, human trafficking tends to victimise people in remote areas, especially the poor, as this vulnerable group is likely to seek jobs overseas and some are tricked into forced labour, labour exploitation.
Source: Lao News Agency