Chong Ka Yee (10) 407

HUMAN TRAFFICKING & GLOBALISATION

This paper investigates the increasing crime of worldwide human trafficking and its role in
international labour flow.

Globalisation is the global intensification of interconnectedness - the development of integrated

economies across nation-state barriers. It is characterized by free trade, free flows of
investments and the market of cheap foreign labour supplied from developing countries. With
globalisation, geographic distance becomes less significant - the world has evolved and
condensed into a global village.

Another dimension has been added to this multifaceted process - human trafficking, a form of
modern slavery. Traffickers take advantage of drivers of globalisation such as progressive
transport, technology, permeable borders and current volatile socio-political climates to recruit
vulnerable individuals and exploit them for labour.

The main force behind human trafficking is the transnational push-and-pull that connects
different stakeholders. As consumerism thrives, MNCs are pressed to compete for rapid global
expansion. For them to meet the market’s demand and chase monetary profits, they require
cheap labour. Hence, many companies decide to offshore manufacturing to developing
countries and gain a comparative advantage. This is where human trafficking comes in - by
purchasing illegal labour through traffickers and neglecting their employment rights, employers
can ensure that they invest practically nothing in return for high profits.

For instance, Congo uses trafficking victims to mine for materials used in global brand
electronics sold and consumed around the world; around 6,000 children work in cobalt mines,
surrounded by militia ready to kill should they attempt escape. This also shows that consumers
are a propagator of the vicious cycle - by buying common electronics, we are unwittingly
endorsing these companies’ use of human trafficking and forced labour.

While globalisation presents the opportunity for economic gain, it also leads to the exploitation
of the weak. The supply of desperate workers that entrapped by forced labour comes from the
‘push’ factors of poverty and unemployment. Globalisation does not favour developing countries
- as the world moves ahead with new technology and professional work, uneducated and
Chong Ka Yee (10) 407

unskilled citizens are left behind to be exploited as human capital. It is this inequality that forces
people into migration and causes them to fall prey to trafficking while lured to the ‘pull’ of a
better life in a developed country.

Not only is globalisation a cause of human trafficking, but it also creates an environment that
allows trafficking to occur easily. Governments, in their encouragement of free trade, have
created a market where funds can be moved without strict enforcement of regulations - this has
led to trafficking becoming more severe due to the low risk of being caught. Additionally, the
modernisation of technology and transport has facilitated traffickers’ criminal activities -
traffickers can make use of technology to hide from the law and increased accessibility of global
travel allows more victims to be smuggled overseas.

Human trafficking is not only catalysed by globalisation - it has become a functional part of
wealth creation and income disparity. It shows us that humans have become commodities - and
that the value of the human life is decreasing in the face of globalisation.

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS
Human trafficking is a pressing issue because it reduces human beings to objects of trade -
nothing more than cheap manufacturing machines. Governments, industries and consumers
benefit from trafficking as it contributes to efficient production and distribution of goods and
services. However, the abuse, exploitation and overworking that victims experience is nothing
short of inhumane. These ethical consequences supersede any economic advantages we gain.

Since Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup in 2010, there have been reports of human
trafficking and exploitation of foreign workers in the building of infrastructure for the global event.
A 2017 report revealed that more than 1000 workers had died from the working conditions, and
predicted that 4000 workers would have died by 2022. This shows that the consequences of
human trafficking are seriously harmful to the workers - not only are their lives taken away
because of overwork and abuse, but their families are also impacted by the loss of a loved one
and breadwinner. This implies that human trafficking causes harm to generations of victims, and
is ethically intolerable.
Chong Ka Yee (10) 407

Moreover, human trafficking gives unilateral power to the employer. In Qatar, there are several
cases of employees living in small, unsanitary residences, being exposed to hazardous working
environments and being forced to take overtime, all with the threat of eviction, abuse or physical
harm hanging over their heads. These conditions show that trafficking victims are stripped of
human rights and dignity. This is inherently unjust - humanity should not be treated as only a
means to an end.

Though human trafficking is an integral part of our economy, its ethical implications should not
be ignored. It is ethically wrong to prioritise utility over human dignity, and unjust for billions of
consumers to enjoy stadiums built upon other humans’ suffering.
(800 words)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Qatar:Migrant workers still at risk of abuse despite reforms. (n.d.). ​Human Rights Documents

Online​. doi:10.1163/2210-7975_hrd-9211-2016008

Taka, M. (n.d.). Coltan mining and conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

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(DRC). ​New Perspectives on Human Security,1

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