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NTS Bulletin

NTS Bulletin July 2010 (Issue 2)
Issues:
Note: Please click on the respective titles or headers for the full report.

Disclaimer: All links and news reports are correct at the time of publication.

MAIN HIGHLIGHT

Transnational organised crime and its ever-growing threat

The 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP), compiled by the US Department of State, marks the 10th anniversary of progress in the fight against modern slavery. Key points from the report are:

  • There were 12.3 million adults and children in forced labour, bonded labour and forced prostitution around the world; 56 per cent of these victims were women and girls.
  • Globally, the trade was worth USD 32 billion annually to traffickers.
  • There were 49,105 victims identified worldwide, a 59 per cent increase over the previous reporting year (2008).
  • Prevalence of trafficking victims in the world was 1.8 per 1,000 inhabitants (in Asia and the Pacific, it was 3 per 1,000).
  • There were 4,166 successful trafficking prosecutions in 2009, a 40 per cent increase over 2008.
  • The number of countries that have yet to convict a trafficker under laws in compliance with the Palermo Protocol is 62.
  • The number of countries without laws, policies, or regulations to prevent victims’ deportation is 104.
  • Twenty-three countries received upgraded rankings in the 2010 TIP Report; 19 countries received downgraded rankings.
  • Two countries, the United States and Kiribati, are ranked for the first time in the 2010 TIP Report.

Meanwhile, the United Nations, in its new report The Globalization of Crime, underscored the urgency of combating organised crime. The report examines major trafficking flows of drugs, firearms, counterfeit products, stolen natural resources, people trafficked for sex or forced labour and smuggled migrants. It found that organised crime is gaining in global reach, and pose a greater threat to peace, development and even national sovereignty. The report also highlights the inadequacies of national responses to transnational crime, calling for global responses based on the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime which was adopted in the Italian city of Palermo a decade ago.

Additional Info:

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MIGRATION

News & Commentaries

Selected Publications

This paper explores major developments in the study of emotions, and how they can be relevant to the study of migration, in particular to the study of interaction within transnational families and between migrants and members of local communities. The author examines how emotions influence migrant wellbeing and their relations with their host communities and home countries, and explores the relationship between emotions and migrant politics.

This paper looks at the experiences of Japanese migrant women in Ireland through the narratives of two Japanese mothers. The focus is on their perceptions of ‘home’ and their emotional processes in the context of their life transition. The author opines that as they go through changes in social roles, obligations and expectations, they participate in ‘feeling rules’ to frame the lived experiences in which their relationships with their new country and home country are renewed. Another aspect highlighted by the author is their experiences of emotional resonance or dissonance with others, and how these affect their sense of belonging/non-belonging in different places.

In this report, the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières notes the growth of migration and human trafficking flows to Europe through Greece. From August 2009 to May 2010, the organisation assessed the conditions of migrants in detention centres throughout Greece to raise awareness and express concerns about the impact of the current detention system on the mental health and wellbeing of migrants and asylum seekers arriving in Greece.

In the wake of Libya’s decision to close the UNHCR office within its borders on 8 June 2010, The Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies produced an overview of migration developments in Libya from sociopolitical, legal and demographic-economic perspectives.

Events & Announcements

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INTERNAL AND CROSS-BORDER CONFLICT

News & Commentaries

Latest Publications

This is the first report to put forward evidence suggesting that CIA medical personnel engaged in illegal experimentation after 9/11 in addition to the previously disclosed crime of torture. The report describes how their practices could violate accepted standards of medical ethics and domestic and international law, and could in some cases constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The report calls for an investigation into, and accountability for, possible human experimentation in the post-9/11 period, and makes a number of concrete recommendations to ensure that healthcare professionals fully comply with ethical and legal norms in the future.

According to this study, the rising number of terrorist plots in the United States with links to Pakistan – most recently the failed car-bombing in New York City – is partly a result of an unsuccessful strategy by Pakistan and the US to weaken the range of militant groups operating in Pakistan. The study examines counterinsurgency efforts in Pakistan and finds that militant groups persist in the nation because Pakistani leaders continue to provide support to some groups and have not yet developed an effective counterinsurgency strategy that protects the local population. The study observes that the long-term objective of developing a comprehensive counterinsurgency strategy – including addressing deficiencies in local police forces, providing aid and assistance to displaced civilians, expanding development efforts, and creating new legal structures and improved governance – must take precedence over efforts to eliminate militant groups if Pakistan is to end the militant threat.

According to the latest issue of the International Crisis Group’s monthly bulletin, four actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and none improved in June 2010. In Kyrgyzstan large-scale violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south of the country resulted in the death of over 200 people while displacing hundreds of thousands. The area is now calm and a constitutional referendum on 27 June was conducted peacefully. In Turkey, Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) insurgents intensified their attacks in the country after calling off their 14-month unilateral ceasefire in early June, prompting a land and air offensive by the Turkish military against PKK bases in northern Iraq. In Burundi, presidential elections took place amid escalating violence, with several people killed in a series of grenade attacks and shootings over the month. June also saw rising tensions in neighbouring Rwanda ahead of presidential elections planned for August.

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HUMAN TRAFFICKING

News & Commentaries

Latest Publications

Despite the fact that migrant smuggling has attracted media and political attention over the last two decades, there has not been any comprehensive analysis of the state of expert knowledge. The purpose of this thematic review therefore is to survey existing sources and research papers on migrant smuggling and provide a gap analysis of existing knowledge from a global perspective. The review is structured in thematic chapters which also address the issue at a regional level. Conceptual challenges, scope of migrant smuggling, profiles of smuggled migrants and of migrant smugglers, their relationships, the organisational structures of smuggling networks, modus operandi and smuggling fee as well as the human and social cost of migrant smuggling are addressed in this review.

Forced labour is a well-known phenomenon in agriculture in the United States; and labour brokers are key actors in the system, both for documented and undocumented workers. This report focuses explicitly on the H-2 programme, which has been criticised by worker advocates for the lack of adequate protections for work, health, and housing; legalising the payment of sub-minimum wages; and – because workers are, for practical purposes, bound to work for one or more employers – entrapping workers at specified worksites for the duration of their stay in the United States.The report offers findings from research on the US agricultural sector as a whole, as well as four in-depth case studies. The four cases were selected to capture the primary broker mechanisms present in US agriculture; while at the same time providing diversity of geographic location, type of goods produced, visa status, and origin of workers.

Events & Announcements

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WATER SECURITY

News & Commentaries

Latest Publications

This report presents the case for bulk water exports, taking the view that misconceptions about water supply and water quality have inhibited a fact-based consideration of the economic and public health benefits that could result from water export, not only for Canadians, but also for water-starved people around the world. It also provides an overview of global water supplies and Canada's hydrology, including current patterns of water use, as well as a review of the laws and regulations that govern the resource. Water diversions and transfers, both past and present, are summarised, as are the benefits of and challenges to water exports.

With more of the world's population projected to live in urban areas, the life and death of cities has become a key factor in urban development considerations. This book advances the concept and framework of a ‘living city’ and explicates the attributes deemed to be increasingly critical to the reinvigoration and sustainable growth of cities. The book also seeks to document and compare Singapore's development as a ‘living city’ with that of other Asian and world cities. Through contributions by researchers and practitioners across different disciplines, the book looks at the development choices that cities can make and draws on case studies to show how innovative cities have a comparative advantage.

Events & Announcements

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TRANSNATIONAL CRIME

News & Commentaries

Latest Publications

In recent years, transnational crime and human trafficking have become much more global in comparison to the regional level on which they once operated. This volume, comprising essays from contributors based in Europe, the US and Asia, examines transnational crime, human trafficking and its implications for human security from both Western and Asian perspectives. It provides an overview of organised crime and human trafficking in the contemporary world, examining current trends and recent developments. It also contrasts the experience and perception of these problems in Asia with that of Western countries, analysing the distinctive Japanese perspective on globalisation, human security and transnational crime. The policy responses of key states and international institutions – both Asian and Western, including Germany, Canada, the United States, the European Union, Japan, Korea and Thailand – are also examined.

This book takes a detailed look at anti-money laundering policies and legislative frameworks in a number of jurisdictions and considers how successful these jurisdictions have been in implementing international measures to combat money laundering. Looking at the instruments and proposals put in place by a number of institutions including the United Nations (UN), the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the European Union (EU), the book begins by reclassifying and expanding the traditional global anti-laundering policy to include aspects such as having a national money laundering strategy in place, the implementation of international instruments and the role of government and regulatory agencies. The book then offers a comparative analytical review of the anti-money laundering policies adopted in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia and considers to what extent they have followed and implemented the identified global anti-money laundering policy.

Events & Announcements

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Use of this article:

You are free to publish this article in its entirety or only in part in your newspapers, wire services, internet-based information networks and newsletters and you are also free to use the information in your radio-TV discussions or as a basis for discussion in different fora. We would, however, appreciate it if you could let us know when and where the article was used.

About the Centre:

The Centre for NTS Studies of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, was inaugurated by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan in May 2008. The Centre maintains research in the fields of Climate Change, Energy Security, Health Security, as well as Internal and Cross Border Conflict. It produces policy-relevant analyses aimed at furthering awareness and building capacity to address NTS issues and challenges in the Asia Pacific region and beyond. The Centre also provides a platform for scholars and policymakers within and outside Asia to discuss and analyse NTS issues in the region.

In 2009, the Centre was chosen by the MacArthur Foundation as a lead institution for the MacArthur Asia Security Initiative, to develop policy research capacity and recommend policies on the critical security challenges facing the Asia-Pacific.

The Centre is also a founding member and the Secretariat for the Consortium of Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies in Asia (NTS-Asia). More information on the Centre can be found at www.rsis.edu.sg/nts


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