### Column 3. Efforts to Fight Human Trafficking

## (1) Action Plan for Human Trafficking Countermeasures 2009

With the recognition that society demands a swift and effective response to the great threat to human rights posed by human trafficking undertaken by international criminal organizations, the Government established the Action Plan for Human Trafficking Countermeasures in December 2004. Widespread and comprehensive countermeasures are being forwarded from the perspective of preventing/exterminating trafficking and protecting trafficking victims. These countermeasures showed tremendous results, reducing the amount of confirmed trafficking cases among other outcomes. However, based on the situation of trafficking in Japan in recent years, including evidence that human traffickers are becoming better at hiding their work and the great interest of the international community in the situation in Japan, the Action Plan for Human Trafficking Countermeasures 2009 was formulated in December of the same year.

In line with this plan, the police will continue to clear human trafficking cases and cooperate with concerned organizations and groups to discover and appropriately protect victims.

## (2) State of Human Trafficking Case Clearances

The police are linking up with the Immigration Bureau and other organizations to strengthen efforts at Japan’s borders against malevolent employers and traders, protect victims as early as possible, and work to understand the situation of human trafficking in Japan. In addition, the police are conducting close information exchanges with relevant embassies and the public organizations that support victims.

In 2009, 28 cases of human trafficking were cleared in Japan, a decrease of eight cases (22.2%) from the previous year. Additionally, the number of persons arrested was 24, a decrease of nine (27.3%) from 2008. Looking at a breakdown of this figure, 18 of those arrested were business owners, and six were traders.

The police protected 17 people who had been the victims of human trafficking in 2009. The most common nationalities of victims were Thai (eight people) and Filipino (four people). These two groups accounted for 70.6% of all victims freed. Regarding the visa status of victims, most held either short-term stay visas (six people) or had entered the country illegally (five people). These two statuses were held by 73.3% of all victims.

## (3) Operation of an Anonymous Hotline

Given that it is unlikely victims will come forward about human trafficking and that the crime is so easy to hide, since October 1, 2007 the NPA entrusted a public organization to establish an anonymous hotline on crimes involving human trafficking and children’s welfare $ ^{1} $ . The hotline pays rewards for information leading to the clearing of a case.

Since July 1, 2009, in addition to phone calls, the hotline began to accept information through the Internet. As of the end of 2009, 73 notifications had been received related to human trafficking, and 485 notifications had been received relating to children’s welfare. This information collectively led to the clearing of 12 cases.

Note 1: Cases related to children’s welfare exclude those involving underage drinking or smoking, and refer rather to forced indecent acts (limited to those in which the child is the victim), abductions of minors, and attempts to lure minors into committing crime.