On Illegal Migration – Human trafficking or a plain case of migration?

Source: This post on Illegal Migration has been created based on the article “Human trafficking or a plain case of migration?” published in “Live Mint” on 26^th December 2023.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 1 Indian Society – Globalization.

News: The article discusses the current status of human trafficking in the world and the implications of preventing migration. It also argues that voluntary illegal migration should not be considered as trafficking.

Recently, French authorities detained a Nicaragua-bound aircraft, and put its passengers to questioning before letting it take-off. As reported, the chartered flight from Dubai, UAE had 303 individuals, mostly Indians— including 11 unaccompanied minors.

This detention by French authorities raises the issue of the phenomenon of voluntary illegal migration being confused with human trafficking.

What is the current status of human trafficking?

According to the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2022, published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, while human trafficking saw a dip in reported cases during the COVID pandemic, the numbers remain alarming.

In 2020, the global count of victims of sexual trafficking was 3.7 per million population, similar to the figures for forced labour.

Why is migration required?

Migration barriers typically distort labour markets. For instance, some areas may experience labor shortages while others have an oversupply of workers.

Rich countries often need workers from elsewhere to fill vacancies and labour crunch. However, many of them erect certain barriers due to concerns over cultural diversity.

What are the implications of preventing migration?

This prevention of migration worsens wage gaps.

It also prevents the implementation of a genuinely unified or shared market (for instance, the European Union), despite the advantages that market theory suggests such a system would bring.

It has not helped us globalize well. Globalization has been able to dissolve borders for capital and trade, but not for people.

Question for practice:

It is time that globalisation leads to a freer movement of not just goods and capital, but people as well. Analyse.