A UNITED Nations (UN) expert on human trafficking will visit the Philippines for a fact-finding mission this week amid increasing cases of trafficking of Filipino women in war-torn Syria and other Arab countries.
UN Special Rapporteur Joy Ngozi Ezeilo from November 5 to 9 will examine the situation of trafficked persons and check on the government efforts to address the lingering problem.
"I hope to hear and learn views of trafficked persons and other stakeholders to ensure a human rights-based approach to combat trafficking in persons, as part of my mandate to promote the respect for the human rights of trafficked persons," Ezeilo said in a UN statement issued over the weekend.
The independent expert was mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to advocate the prevention of trafficking in persons in all its forms and to encourage measures to uphold and protect the human rights of victims.
Ezeilo is also meeting with government officials and civil-society organizations (CSOs) on measures to combat all forms of human trafficking in the country. The UN rights expert will hold an ocular visit on several ports in Manila and Zamboanga that are being used as jump-off points of trafficked Filipinos, mostly women and children, who end up as child prostitutes and forced laborers in Malaysia.
The Visayan Forum (VF), a non- government organization that assist victims of trafficking of persons, estimates that around 200,000 Filipinos are being trafficked every year. At the sidelines of her official visit, the special rapporteur will also visit Cebu to meet with CSOs.
The UN special rapporteur's findings and recommendations will be presented in a report at a forthcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
