“Trafficking in human beings is one of the most abnormal crimes of today’s world: it is the slavery of the 21st century”. The point was made by Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi as he opened the seminar on “Co-operation to Prevent Trafficking in Human Beings in the Mediterranean Region”, organised by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) with the collaboration of the Foreign Ministry. The event was held at the Chamber of Deputies in Rome. “The loss of lives as unseaworthy boats laden with migrants sink, and the images of thousands of desperate men and women, are scored into the consciousness of the Italian people. This unacceptable and inhumane conduct fills us with anger and revulsion”, stated Terzi. “Human trafficking is also a threat to our security, and to prevent and combat it we need to have sophisticated instruments at our disposal”.
Combating trafficking cannot be left solely to the states most affected
As he noted the numerous steps taken by the OSCE, the EU, the UN and the Council of Europe to combat trafficking, Minister Terzi remarked on the importance of “recognising the limits of the action taken thus far, with international convictions for trafficking still too few in number”. We need to ensure that the instruments put in place by the international community “translate into a strong regional dimension by placing the Mediterranean at the centre of the international strategy to combat trafficking. Managing a phenomenon of this complexity cannot be left solely to the states most directly affected in view of their geographical position”. The conclusion, underscored the Minister, is that “we have a greater need of cooperation in security matters: more OSCE, more Europe”.
Rights and development are the focus of Italy’s efforts
“Italian diplomacy has focused its efforts on the vital link between migration, development and rights because we cannot labour under the illusion that the crime of human trafficking can be eliminated solely through repression. We also need to understand and prevent its deeper causes”, underscored Terzi. The Secretary General of the OSCE, Lamberto Zannier, spoke on similar lines. He stressed the “close interconnection between rights, security and stability” and the importance of “coordinated strategies and policies” to foster people’s re-integration in their societies and combat the trafficking in human beings.
Renewing the OSCE structure
Turning to the OSCE itself, Terzi pointed out that “Italy feels that the structure needs to be renewed, in its nature and the instruments it adopts […] because at present rigid and contrasting positions are weakening its political drive”. Underscoring the fact that the OSCE budget had only been approved yesterday [7 February 2013], the Foreign Minister explained that “to regain its lost impetus the OSCE must focus on those elements that have worked well in the past and adapt them to today’s new needs”. Factors such as “the link between Euro-Atlantic security and the Mediterranean and the relationship between security and human rights”.
In conclusion, Minister Terzi underscored that the OSCE “must open up more to parliaments, to civil society, to NGOs, to the academic community”. He hoped that the organisation’s fledgling centre for academic cooperation in the Mediterranean would “help transfer knowledge, best practice and regulatory models to the countries of the southern shore”, the better to combat the trafficking in human beings.
