Immoral and criminal: that’s the harsh condemnation expressed by the Irish bishops on the trafficking of human beings. In a statement dated 18 June the Bishops’ Conference of Ireland declares “it is the duty of Christians to care for the victims of this traffic. The recruitment, transfer and sale of vulnerable persons, women, children and men, is a gross violation of human rights”. “Through various forms of coercion – say the Irish bishops – the victims of this traffic are kept segregated from their kidnappers and kept in appalling conditions, without any possibility of escaping. Human life is reduced in this way to merchandise”. It is calculated that 2.4 million people are forced to suffer “this criminal racket”. To tackle the phenomenon within the frontiers of Ireland, point out the bishops, “a work group formed of religious and missionary societies has already been set up, with the aim of raising the awareness of the Government to the need to introduce appropriate laws and provide assistance to these victims. We do not wish to see our country – concludes the statement – fail to meet its moral obligations and political responsibilities in this field”. The bishops further appeal to the government to ratify as soon as possible the protocols, conventions and directives that provide the means to counter the trafficking of human beings at the European level”.
