Human trafficking is a big problem around the world but the federal government has been pointing out that it is a huge Canadian problem as well. The Canadian federal government announced a major campaign on spotting human trafficking.  

In the wake of the 492 arriving Tamil migrants last month in Canada, the government is examining human smuggling which sometimes turns to trafficking. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews calls human trafficking modern-day slavery. He said that Canadians value human right, dignity and as many people are new-comers to Canada this should be an issue to look at. The federal government is raising national awareness about human trafficking. The government aims in a campaign called "Blue Blindfold" at informing the public of the prevalence of human trafficking in Canada and how to identify and report suspicious cases.

According to a new private member's bill, there is the thought of a minimum prison penalty of five years for people found guilty of trafficking in humans in Canada. Human trafficking is not an unknown issue in Canada and trafficked people are usually women and children from Asia but in many cases they also are Canadians. The human trafficking deals with the illegal movement of people across international borders for payment and people are forced to work in the sex trade or are involved in other forms of forced labour. Vic Toews confirmed: "Most are women and children and their cases often go unnoticed and unreported due to threats from offenders, language barriers or mistrust of authorities."

Human trafficking will be the government's priority in the coming months and Minister Toews also added: "By exposing the reality of this terrible crime to the light of day, Canadians can better recognize and report evidence of criminal activity." However, it is not always easy to detect the victims of human trafficking and those people do not speak English or work in the environments where they are threatened to not say anything against their forced labour. Even if they are willing to speak up in front of some people, it is hard to imagine that clients of sex trade workers will be willing to investigate whether a girl working there is there legally or against her will.

Stopping human trafficking, as well as human smuggling, will be very difficult and it will need the whole country to work together against those who seek profit through exploiting desperate migrants.

Jana Paskova

Photo: ISIFA