On 15 July 2020, the United Nations special rapporteur on trafficking in persons delivered her annual report to the UN Human Rights Council. Her report amplified numerous other calls for a shift in focus away from law enforcement and towards human rights and the protection of victims. More strikingly, her report also noted that a new international instrument may be required, since the Palermo protocol may not be sufficient or effective when it comes to realising these human rights goals. While this call is still presented in diplomatic language it isn’t that hard to read between the lines: the current anti-trafficking system isn’t working.
This piece takes this welcome intervention as its point of departure. It suggests that the Palermo protocol is irredeemably compromised and must be dismantled, rather than reformed. We instead need to strengthen existing international instruments focusing upon workers’ and migrants’ rights and protections. Any new instrument which is developed needs to avoid the trap of making crime fighting a primary goal.
Since its adoption in November 2000, the Palermo protocol has attracted widespread support. It has received an impressive number of ratifications by UN member states, provided a foundation for innumerable national and international NGOs, and helped to place ‘human trafficking’ at the centre of political conversations across the globe. It has been described by Stephen Biegun, the US deputy secretary of state, as proof of the tremendous achievements that can be realised when the international community comes together to combat human rights abuses and promote the rule of law.
