Human trafficking by sea : a threat to maritime security

Abstract

Human trafficking by sea is a type of maritime security which nowadays is becoming a more important threat. It is a crime which in its very nature remains unseen, its presence cannot be denied. More formally, it means transferring people from one country to another using coercion, violence and force in order to exploit them for labour and prostitution purposes. Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly women and children, have been reported to be victims of trafficking every year by traffickers who have revived the flagrant phenomenon of modern slavery. The act of trafficking in human beings by sea is generally operated by ships of all kinds: including fishing boats, registered ships or ferries which in Europe trails from Northern Africa and the South of Italy. In 2015, Italy received about 154,000 irregular arrivals by sea, who are highly vulnerable to trafficking, more than half of which sought asylum. This research paper shall address the adequacy of the international legal framework to fight this crime. The scope of this Dissertation is to analyse human trafficking by sea as a threat to maritime security on an international and local plane, and how the relevant jurisdictions are catered for. This topic deals with sensitive ethical issues and the human rights of those people who become 'slaves' to human trafficking by sea. Local and foreign laws associated with such offences shall be analysed in the following chapters, such as the provisions in the Criminal Code, Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta on human trafficking in particular, as well as the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, 2000. Local judgements will also be analysed with emphasis on the local scenario as may be seen in Chapters Four and Five of this Dissertation. The type of methodology used was focused primarily on desk work where several books, judgements and newspaper articles were researched and analysed. Such research was carried out at the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) library, University of Malta library, and the University of Malta Law library.