The situation
Southeast Asia has in recent months experienced an unprecedented heatwave prompting states of emergency in certain parts of Vietnam due to extreme drought, school suspensions in the Philippines, and over 60 lives lost from heatstroke in Thailand.
These occurrences are not isolated events – rather they are part of an ongoing trend towards permanent shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, known as climate change.
There is a growing body of evidence linking climate change and population movements. We know that displacement due to extreme weather patterns or natural disasters intersects with, and often exacerbates, other vulnerabilities such as poverty, gender discrimination and social exclusion — factors all known to contribute to vulnerability to trafficking and exploitation.
For example, a study on the impacts of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines found that rates of trafficking in persons increased in the aftermath of the disaster, with women-headed households, widows, and children, disproportionately affected.
With natural disasters on the rise due to climatic changes and increasing numbers of people displaced as a result – the intersection of climate change and trafficking in persons needs urgent attention and response.
On 27 May 2024, ASEAN-ACT brought together climate and counter trafficking experts in the region for a webinar to discuss the intersection between climate change and human trafficking.
The speakers
Winrock International’s Program, Research and Knowledge Management Advisor Ibrahim Ahmad presented on community-based research in Bangladesh, which involved speaking directly with households about the kinds of climatic events they have experienced and the impact this has had on their livelihoods and dwelling patterns.
Ibrahim emphasised that households can be driven to take risks including unsafe migration journeys due to climate change and weather-related shocks. This challenges the commonly held view that people on the move lack awareness about the risks of migration.
Evidence suggests that even when people are aware of risks, they often have no choice but to migrate in search of decent work and a better life. This is especially true of populations whose earning capacity is suddenly cut or gradually decreased due to climate events.
Ibrahim highlighted several initiatives underway to increase community resilience to both climate change and trafficking in persons including:
- mobilising communities to respond locally to adapt to climate change
- working directly with local governments on contextually appropriate solutions, and
- increasing individual and collective capacity to change professions or re-skill as sectors and industries shrink or expand.
Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development Social Welfare Officer Grace Blando provided a clear example of how a major natural disaster in the Philippines increased vulnerability to all forms of trafficking including for sex, labour, and organ removal.
Grace explained that when people have experienced a disaster or crisis where they reside – there is a natural instinct to flee in search of a safer place. The ‘flight’ response is a very common and normal trauma response, and this is something that we need to understand when designing programming and interventions to reduce vulnerability after a natural disaster.
Her presentation highlighted how those disasters impact nations as a whole, not just the specific locations where the disaster occurs. Following a disaster, people will migrate both within and beyond national borders, so we need to ensure that social protection and others supports are available – both to those who move and those who are left behind.
As the final speaker at this webinar, Chair of the ASEAN Disability Forum Lim Puay Tiak advocated for an inclusive and whole-of-society response to both climate change and counter trafficking.
He highlighted the critical role played by the ASEAN Disability Forum in influencing policies, norms and standards across the ASEAN region including the ASEAN Enabling Masterplan and working with bodies such as the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) to ensure persons with disabilities are included in disaster preparedness and response.
Climate change affects everyone, but not everyone is impacted equally. Both rapid and slow onset crises impact the vulnerability of certain groups to trafficking in persons, particularly those who are already marginalized, such as women and children and persons with disabilities.
Both climate change and trafficking in persons are extremely complex problems that require multi-sectoral and inter-disciplinary approaches.
In expanding counter trafficking policies and programming beyond the traditional security frame, we are acknowledging its complexity, the range of root causes underpinning it, and the need for a whole-of-society approach.