Laos - Laos urged for law to combat human trafficking

Human trafficking and violence against women is a problem throughout the region, and while there is some legislation designed to combat the issue, protection under Lao law is inadequate.

President of the National Assembly's Law Committee, Professor Davone Vangvichit, made the observation at a workshop on the "Assessment of National Anti-Human Trafficking Legislation", that began in Vientiane yesterday.

Professor Davone said the problem is that Laos doesn't have a law specifically dedicated to human trafficking, and there is a lack of awareness about the issue in many communities.

The workshop will provide an opportunity for government officials in charge of developing a new anti-human trafficking law to learn best practices through other countries' experiences. It will also give development partners a better understanding of the legislative process in Laos and the government's plan to assess current legislation.

Last year, 49 people were charged with human trafficking and so far 31 people have been taken to court over the matter. The actual scale of the problem remains unknown, but there have been recent instances of young Lao women becoming victims of human trafficking after being promised legitimate employment in Thailand.

Professor Davone said that currently Lao law has 34 articles in three pieces of legislation that offer some protection against human trafficking: the Law on Development and Protection of Women, the Law on the Protection of the Rights of Children, and Article 134 of the Penal Law.

Meanwhile violence against women and children is prohibited in 54 articles contained in the Law on Development and Protection of Women and the Law on the Protection of the Rights of Children.

Laos ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime in 2003 alongside the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

Officer-in-Charge at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Lao PDR Country Office, Fumio Ito, was in attendance at the meeting.

"We understand that the Lao government now plans to draft a comprehensive anti-human trafficking law as an effective tool for prevention, prosecution and protection,” he said.

UNODC has been helping the Lao government to strengthen its legal and judicial capacity to combat human trafficking, Ito said. The office undertook a project to strengthen legal and law enforcement institutions to prevent and combat human trafficking, which ran from 2006 until the end of 2009.

"We also started a successor project on ‘Strengthening Criminal Justice Responses to Human Trafficking in Laos' last year, which is currently underway,” Ito said.

As part of the effort, assistance will be provided to the Lao government to draft a comprehensive anti-human trafficking law and associated decrees, as well as draw up guidelines regarding the application of the law for social workers operating in the field.

Khonesavanh Latsaphao

Vientiane Times

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