Special report – The fight against human trafficking: the financial path

Published on 18/12/2019

International security, stability and peace

GLOBAL THREATS AND ORGANISED CRIME

Tunisia

From 10 to 12 December, the European Union, Expertise France and the Tunisian Financial Analysis Committee (CTAF) organised a multi-country workshop in Tunis to consider ways of more effectively mobilising tools to fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT) in order to combat human trafficking. This activity was organised in the context of 3 projects financed by the European Union – the Global AML/CFT Facility, OCWAR-M and EU AML/THB Greater Horn of Africa – which aim to provide technical assistance for AML/CFT. Our special thematic report takes a look at the good practices and actions identified as priorities during the discussions.

What is human trafficking?

Human trafficking refers to the fact of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a person by using force, constraint, deception or other means, in order to exploit them (sexual exploitation, forced labour, etc.). Trafficking in persons is one of the most lucrative forms of organised crime, on the initiative of now globalised networks.

The European Union is mobilised against this serious form of violation of human rights and finances initiatives both in the European territory and in other regions – for example, the project to support the fight against human trafficking in countries in the Gulf of Guinea, implemented by Expertise France.

Human trafficking is one of the most lucrative crimes in the world: in 2012, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated that it amounted to USD 32 billion of profits a year. This money subsequently finances organised crime, which launders the amounts obtained, as well as certain terrorist groups. Looking into illicit financial flows is therefore one of the main paths for fighting against human trafficking.

Based on this fact, for three days, the workshop organised in Tunis gathered over 90 professional from West Africa, East Africa, the Maghreb region and the Middle East, regions where trafficking and AML/CFT are prominent issues. Members of financial intelligence units, magistrates, researchers and, more generally, experts in the fight against trafficking and in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing were together able to discuss the challenges encountered in the field and identify the key methods and tools to improve the effectiveness of their action.

“The conversation has only just begun”, said Neil Bennett, an AML/CFT expert who led the workshop. The avenues identified during the discussions will now be used to direct the technical assistance provided by the projects in their respective geographical areas: the Global AML/CFT Facility (implemented by Expertise France) has worldwide coverage, while the OCWAR-M project (also implemented by Expertise France) focuses on West Africa and the EU AML/THB project (implemented by Civipol) on the Horn of Africa.