Trafficking includes coercion, force, deception and the violation of human rights. Trafficking involves an intermediary who obtains profit from the deception. For example, women who are deceived into thinking they will work as waitresses in foreign countries, who upon arrival find themselves caught up in prostitution. ICCR held a workshop with representatives of the International Organization on Migration and of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to see what could be done about trafficking. Some believe that trafficking in humans will soon be more lucrative than the drug trade.
Traffickers also prey on vulnerable persons in refugee camps and orphanages.
Government responses have been to work on measures for prevention, protection and prosecution. The International Organization on Migration, IOM, assists governments primarily with the first two areas by information campaigns and reintegration projects. For example, IOM, through its NGO network in the Mekong region of China, provides skills training, counseling and income generation projects for women who wish to return home. Prosecution is a necessary deterrent, as are laws to punish the trafficker and protect the victim. When trafficking occurs in the context of organized crime, such an endorsement presents an unacceptable safety risk to victims.