CIFAL Jeju Contributing to Counter Human Trafficking in Asia-Pacific
13 June 2016, Jeju, Republic of Korea – CIFAL Jeju convened a four-day workshop on "Enhancing a Victim-Centered Approach: Identification, Assistance and Protection of Trafficking Victims in the Asia-Pacific Region” in collaboration with Regional Support Office of the Bali Process (RSO). This training event gathered nineteen government officials (central, state and local), and civil society workers from different countries in the Asia-Pacific region from 13 to 16 June at Jeju International Training Center (JITC).
Countries represented in the workshop included Cambodia, Mongolia, Maldives, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Kiribati, Thailand, and Timor-Leste. The event served as a platform to build capacities on tackling the transnational crimes such as trafficking in person in the Asia-Pacific region, an area most prone to irregular migration, by explaining the importance of the UN Protocol in combating and preventing the exploitation. This was the fifth joint workshop with RSO of the Bali Process on the victim-centered approach since 2014 and both CIFAL Jeju and RSO agreed to have continued cooperation with it in the coming years to increase awareness on human security in the region.
The workshop was led by ten experts on trafficking in persons and irregular migrations: Ms. Ji Lien Ooi from IOM Malaysia; Ms. Anna Olsen from ILO, Thailand; Ms. Sylwia Gawronska from RSO of Bali Process; Ms. Jane Williamson from UNHCR Seoul; Ms. Alfie Gordo from Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW), Thailand; Ms. Hera Shanaj from Australia-Asia Program to Combat Trafficking in Persons (AAPTIP), Thailand; Ms. Joyce Kim from Durebang (My Sister’s Place), Korea; Ms. Boram Jang from IOM Seoul; Ms. Spica Tutuhatunewa from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia; and Mr. Sebastian Boll from UN-ACT, Thailand.
The lecture focused on key topics including the current trends in trafficking in persons; identification, assistance and protection of victims; 3P’s approach; forced labour and labour migration; refugee protection; prosecutions of traffickers; monitoring and evaluation of anti-trafficking interventions. The lecture incorporated exercises to train the participants how to apply practical knowledge and tools into the hands-on cases.
The workshop provide an opportunity for the participants to learn and experience the unique culture and natural beauty of Jeju by visiting the “Jeju Haenyeo(female divers) Museum” and “Sepjikoji” the coastal walking trail. Particularly this training workshop was appeared in a local newspaper, “Jeju Sori”. The article highlighted the CIFAL Jeju as a Hub for knowledge-sharing in the Asia-Pacific region.