Thursday, June 22nd, 2006
Protecting Victims of Trafficking in Persons
Dialogue between Japan and the Philippines
In an effort to resolve the human trafficking issue in Asia, about 40 members of NGOs and government officials working in Japan and the Philippines connected via the GDLN on June 22, 2006 for a cross-border dialogue on victim protection and Japan’s role as a destination country. Organized by the Asia Foundation, the event was the first in a series of dialogues scheduled for this year to foster a better understanding of the mechanism of victim protection, repatriation and rehabilitation.
The dialogue brought together a unique panel of service providers and case managers not only in Tokyo, but on the post-repatriation side in Manila as well, taking advantage of videoconferencing to facilitate information exchange at both the local and international levels.
Opening the session at the TDLC, “Japan and the Philippines have differing perspectives on the trafficking issue”, said Ms. Keiko Tamai, Japan Program Director at the Asia Foundation’s Tokyo Office. “Today’s discussion will enable us to bridge this gap, so that we can come back to this table in the future and develop a common agenda for action”. Ms. Maribel Buenaobra from the Asia Foundation’s Manila Office moderated in Manila.
Participants engaged in intense debate over various issues, such as whether recent steps taken by the Japanese government to limit the number of visas for entertainers was an effective means to address the issue. Some suggested the need for initiatives to complement legal action, including setting up a forum where aid workers in Japan can collaborate with their counterparts in the Philippines to ensure that victims are able to return and settle safely.
The two sites also had an opportunity to review relevant issues among themselves and present a summary for further discussion. In Tokyo, participants agreed that both Non-governmental and Governmental organizations in Japan and the Philippines needed to define their roles and improve collaboration. Discussions in Manila spanned a broad range of issues including criteria for victim identification, Japanese labor law coverage for guest workers and Filipino-Japanese children.
Through this series, the Asia Foundation hopes to promote networking and jointly identify areas for improvement including specific action items and responsible actors. It also hopes to develop a system to monitor the welfare of Filipina and other trafficking victims after they have repatriated.
“There are a number of different groups battling human trafficking, but in order for them to be effective they need to share the same information and statistics” says the Foundation. “International conferences like this one, attended by both NGOs and government officials, provide a forum for discovering what topics require further communication”.
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