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World Day Against Trafficking in Persons – Kuala Lumpur

July 30, 2017

INTER-FAITH JOINT DECLARATION AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING

By Wilhelmina Mowe

On 30 July, 2017 in conjunction with World Day against Trafficking in Persons, the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur gathered 10 religious leaders to sign an Inter-Faith Joint Declaration against Human Trafficking.  The event was organised in collaboration with the Conference of Religious Major Superiors Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei.

The historic event was also witnessed by Cardinal Soter Fernandez and Archbishop Emeritus Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam.

In support of the event, 4 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) and the Archdiocese Office for Human Development (AOHD) were invited to set up a booth each to create awareness of the issues in relation to trafficking in persons in Malaysia. The NGOs were Pusat Kebajikan Good Shepherd (PKGS), Tenaganita, New Thessalonians Apostolate and Suka Society (a child advocacy group).

PKGS and AOHD worked together to create a “forced labour – trafficker’s bus” and an advocacy booth on sex trafficking.  The bus showcased the journey of hope for migrants which eventually ended up in a journey of despair when they found out that they were cheated and exploited by the agents and traffickers.  At the end of the bus tour the visitors were informed that as consumers we can do our own advocacy in being better informed of the source of the products that we purchase. To create this awareness, we encouraged the visitors to do the survey at the “slaveryfootprint.org” website and learn how they may do their part in reducing the use of forced labour in the production of goods.

At the booth, we had visitors hold signs for a photo shoot with personal messages on their stand against trafficking in persons.

The whole event culminated in the signing of Inter-Faith Joint Declaration by the faith leaders.  In his speech, Most Reverend Julian Leow said “This joint declaration is just our first step. People of faith must play their part in the fight against human trafficking, and I ask everyone to consider what each of us can do.”

This joint declaration was pursuant to the release of the 2017 Trafficking in Person Report by the US State Department.  This year Malaysia’s ranking improved to Tier 2 after two years of being on the Tier 2 Watch list.

 

Details

Date:
July 30, 2017

Venue

Archdiocese