Two years ago “Larry” was working in Henganofi in Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. He, and the nine other people on his gang, were digging for gold with the promise of receiving a Land Cruiser each as payment.

It was, as is common in the region, a verbal agreement based on good faith and trust in the contractor. After three months of intense hard work from sunrise to sundown, they had dug a 20 metre deep tunnel and had filled two large boxes with gold nuggets. The contractor took the gold, paid the workers ten kina each (US$3.70), and promptly vanished. 

Larry’s case came up recently during an anti-trafficking campaign in Eastern Highlands, run by IOM. Larry was a victim of trafficking because he underwent forced labour and the following three elements were met: the act (recruitment), means of recruitment (deception) and forced labour (exploitation).

What does IOM do when a case of human trafficking is identified? It provides advice, support and strengthens the capacity of policy makers, law enforcement agencies judicial bodies and NGOs to identify trafficking cases, act on them, and prevent people from becoming a victim of human trafficking.

IOM as part of its outreach and capacity building program regularly conducts training in specialized areas like human trafficking to reach civil society, specialized agencies, policy makers and judicial bodies to identify people at risk, and support and raise the capacity of the different organizations involved in this field.

The campaign and workshop was co-organized with the Salvation Army where Joe Saferius, Technical Cooperation Assistant at the IOM Vulnerable Migrants Assistance Unit presented the IOM component on human trafficking and people smuggling.

“One of the main purposes of these exercises is to explain what human trafficking means, said Joe. “It’s the recruitment, transportation, transferring, harboring or receipt of persons by threat, force, coercion, deception or the giving and receiving of payments or benefits to have control over another person for the purpose of exploitation including prostitution, sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude, slavery and other similar practices”.

Victims of trafficking are protected by law. In 2013 the Parliament of Papua New Guinea passed the “Criminal Code Amendment Act” and on 30 June 2014 the Parliament gazetted the “Trafficking in Persons and People Smuggling” legislation, the first counter-trafficking legislation making smuggling and trafficking in persons a criminal offence in the country and creating a legal base to protect victims.

Also read IOM's interview with Joe Saferius

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Beatriz Muñoz Girardengo, IOM Papua New Guinea