Drug dealers making billions from trafficking in women, says UN

DRUG barons worldwide are turning to trafficking women and generating billions in profits, a UN conference in Dublin was told yesterday.

Sean Hand, Human Resources chief with the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF), said there were about 95 million migrant women worldwide, constituting almost half of all international migrant workers.

Millions of female migrants are experiencing the dark side of such migration, including enslavement, exploitation and abuse as domestic workers.

Human trafficking is now the third largest and most lucrative illicit business after illegal arms and drug-dealing, according to Mr Hand.

He described the trafficking of women as a form of 21st century slavery and called for greater co-operation between governments to bring the traffickers to justice.

Mr Hand was speaking at the launch of a report entitled The State of World Population 2006, which examines problems arising from the migration of large numbers of women.

He said there was enormous abuse of domestic workers throughout the world, with many having their passports withheld while millions also faced enslavement.

Research, said Mr Hand, showed that migrant women earn less than men yet send home up to 72% of their earnings.

Foreign Affairs Minister of State Conor Lenihan warned that drug dealers were using established and sophisticated drug networks for the more lucrative activity of trafficking in women.

Mr Lenihan noted that this country has a “pressing” need for migrant workers, including demand for some 90,000 this year alone, due to economic growth.

Legislation aimed at streamlining the entry of such workers would be introduced, he said, within the next few months.