E-LING CHIU

While the National Police Agency (NPA) of Taiwan has reported that it is taking action on recent cases of human trafficking in Cambodia, in fact both countries have fallen short on promises to take this problem seriously. And yet as early in 2015, the ASEAN Convention against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (ACTIP) was signed by all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Phnom Penh.
In the lead-up to assuming the chairmanship of ASEAN for 2022, Prime Minister Hun Sen declared in October 2021 that Cambodia would steer the bloc’s collective efforts to fight transnational crime and to ensure peace, security, and prosperity. This July, Cambodia hosted the 22nd ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (the 22nd SOMTC).
Meanwhile in Taiwan, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act provides that those convicted of this crime could be sentenced to imprisonment of seven years. Taiwan has been rated at Tier 1 for battling human trafficking in the US State Department’s 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP report). However, Cambodia was rated at Tier 3, among the worst in the report.
After reports of Taiwanese people becoming victims of trafficking, legislators hold press conferences, the Control Yuan launches investigations, the Executive Yuan urges inter-ministerial collaboration, and the Criminal Investigation Bureau launches special initiatives dedicated to tackling the trafficking of Taiwanese citizens.
However, efficient legal remedies for the existing victims and their families remains a problem. Evidence of such crimes, and the alleged criminals themselves, are all in other countries and under foreign jurisdictions. Since Taiwan is excluded from Interpol and doesn’t have agreements with countries in the region, it is not an easy task to bring justice to the victims and get them home safely, or hold the criminals accountable.
Both the Taiwanese and Cambodian governments should work together to investigate instances of human trafficking, rather than passively allowing criminals to exploit judicial loopholes.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, ASEAN countries are hotspots for human trafficking. It is unacceptable that countries in this region do not do more to instigate countermeasures to such problems. These crimes amount to modern slavery, and should be taken seriously by the governments in the region.
When asked about foreigners being trafficked into Cambodia, government officials tried to shift blame, and claim that critics did not understand the “technical” nature of such cases. However, it is precisely because of the technical complexity of transnational scams and the involvement of multiple jurisdictions that it is necessary for countries to eliminate prejudice and work together.
In addition to labor and sexual abuse, human trafficking severely damages one’s dignity and fundamental rights. It creates trauma for the victims and their families. Blaming the victim doesn’t help. Instead of jumping on the bandwagon of stigmatization, it should be recognized that cross-border job seekers are situated in an economically vulnerable structure.
According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey released by the General Accounting Office last October (2021) in Taiwan, the Covid-19 epidemic has worsened the uneven distribution of income, the gap between the highest and lowest household income is the highest in eight years.
As we know from media reports, it estimated that about 2,000 Taiwanese human-trafficking victims are still in Cambodia. It is crucial that the governments of Taiwan and Cambodia establish clear mechanisms for preventions and for judicial remedies.
When Cambodian officials responded to the US TIP report, they said they were working very hard to combat human trafficking, having cracked 359 cases last year, and they would never ignore the issue.
Amnesty International expects the Cambodian government to cooperate with neighboring countries and help the victims receive justice and return home as soon as possible.

E-Ling Chiu is executive director of Amnesty International Taiwan.