Chapter 3. Mongolia’s National Response to Human Trafficking
3.1. International Obligations of Mongolia and the steps taken to fight human trafficking
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Chapter 3. Mongolia’s National Response to Human Trafficking
This chapter along with Chapter 4 provides an in-depth understanding of the efforts made by the Mongolian government to adhere to the UN Trafficking Protocol as well as meet with the requirements of the U.S. TIP Report. The main idea of the chapter is that local NGOs, with support from international organizations, have played a principal role in the country’s fight against human trafficking. Few NGOs have made an impact from early 2000s, but the HSPSC NGO have influenced the government’s decision in making such historical achievements as adopting a separate law on trafficking in persons, increasing the overall understanding and awareness of the public by 50% as well as state actors, and supporting the establishment of the first long-term shelters for victims of trafficking.
3.1. International Obligations of Mongolia and the steps taken to fight human trafficking
3.1.1. International agreements on human trafficking to which Mongolia is a party
The crime of human trafficking is complex and transnational in nature and it calls for an organized response to effectively address and abolish it. Mongolia, as a member of the UN and a signatory to almost 30 relevant international agreements, accepted the commitment to cooperate with the international community to tackle human trafficking. (Center for Human Rights and Development 2004)
Mongolia has ratified most of the major instruments significant to fighting trafficking, particularly the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Trafficking Protocol, which Mongolia acceded to in 2008. It also ratified several international instruments addressing slavery and forced labour, such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) Forced Labour Convention in 1930, the ILO Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labour in 1957, the ILO Convention on Worst Forms of Child Labour in 2001, the UN Convention on
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36 the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1981, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1990, and the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography in 2003. Mongolia is also party to regional instruments, such as the Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution negotiated by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). On bilateral cooperation, Mongolia signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Macau on combating trafficking in human beings in 2010. (OSCE 2018, 2)
Also, as a participant to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Mongolia has promised to execute its commitments under the OSCE framework, particularly the 2003 Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, as well as its relevant Addendums. (OSCE 2018, 3)
3.1.2. Steps taken to comply with international obligations
The UN Trafficking Protocol calls for member states to fight the global human trafficking crime through a holistic approach in cooperation with countries of where trafficking origin, transit and destination. The Protocol applies the “3P” paradigm of prevention, protection, and prosecution through close partnerships of member states as the fundamental framework to combat human trafficking. “Prevention means: to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, paying particular attention to women and children; Protection means: to protect and assist the victims of such trafficking, with full respect for their human rights; and Prosecution means: to investigate and prosecute traffickers, convict and sentence them with prison sentences that are sufficiently stringent to reflect the heinous nature of the offense”. (United Nations 2000) Accession to the Protocol shows a state’s readiness and agreement to enforce the 3P paradigm domestically and internationally in cooperation with relevant origin, transit and destination countries for trafficking.
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Over the past two decades, Mongolia has made efforts to establish an appropriate legislative framework to fight trafficking, largely due to strong initiatives and lobbying by active NGOs in the field. Its first step was introducing human trafficking as an illegal offence in 2002 under the provision “Buying and selling of human trafficking”. This initial development was the result of the work of the Center for Human Rights and Development NGO (CHRD), the first-known local NGO in Mongolia to address the issue of human trafficking. CHRD’s efforts draws on both extensive research of Mongolia’s laws and first-hand knowledge with the application of these laws in the first-recorded cases of trafficking protecting the legal rights of victims. (Center for Human Rights and Development 2004, 40)
The first National Plan of Action (NPA) to address human trafficking was the NPA on Commercial Exploitation and Trafficking in Children and Women, approved on 30 November 2005. The NAP was an all-inclusive document that emphasized the suppression of commercial exploitation and trafficking of children, drafted by the government in cooperation with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The programme was planned to be implemented in three stages until 2014. The Ministry of Social Welfare and Labour of Mongolia was designated to coordinate the execution of the plan and the Ministry of Finance was responsible to allocate resources for its implementation. Other agencies were also designated to be in charge in the areas pertinent to their responsibilities. Unfortunately, implementation of the NPA by government agencies was minimal due to financial constraints and lack of capacity to address the issue. No permanent national body was established to implement measures in the fight against trafficking. Few local NGOs with the aid of IOs were actively addressing the issues of human trafficking. (Human Security Policy Studies Centre NGO 2008)
In the first years after the NPA’s adoption (2005), NGOs observed its weaknesses, particularly in regards to including women as target beneficiaries; this is mainly due to UNICEF’s focus on the issue of children, but human trafficking is a crime that affects all people, especially
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38 women. They reported an urgent need to review the NPA and include a women component in all areas of the plan. They recommended that a permanent national body consisting of all stakeholders, including NGOs and international agencies, be set up to formulate policy and coordinate a programme to suppress and prevent human trafficking, and assist trafficked women and children. The national legal framework needed to be strengthened to include the protection and assistance to victims of human trafficking and the element of prevention.
However, stakeholders debated on whether to update existing legislations or to establish a law on trafficking in persons. Local NGOs lobbied for the Mongolian government to take the necessary measures to accede to the UN Trafficking Protocol, which had been delayed for some time. (Human Security Policy Studies Centre NGO 2008) With the support and programmatic efforts of IOs and local NGOs, Mongolia finally acceded to the UN Trafficking Protocol on 27 June 2008. (Ulziilkham 2013)
The need for a legislation that protected the rights of victims of trafficking was assessed in 2008 through research conducted by the collaborative efforts of the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia (NHRCM), the Research Centre of the Supreme Court, and the National Institute of Law, in the framework of the first comprehensive programme to combat human trafficking. The programme was a development aid project supported by the Swiss Government and implemented by the Human Security Policy Studies Centre (HSPSC), a local NGO. Research results were discussed among stakeholders and experts from civil society, the government, academia and the legal community, who ultimately agreed that existing laws on human trafficking were inadequate and a new law was required to incorporate the ‘3P’
paradigm of the Trafficking Protocol. By late 2008, the drafting of a new law on trafficking in persons had begun. (Human Security Policy Studies Centre NGO 2012, 11)
Attention and awareness of human trafficking in governmental institutions were growing steadily in this period. At the initiation of the HSPSC, the NHRCM started to include the topic
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of human trafficking in its annual Human Rights Reports for submission to the Human Rights Sub-Committee of the Parliament (2009). This was a significant step in bringing the human trafficking issue to the direct attention of key political actors. (Human Security Policy Studies Centre NGO 2012, 14)
HSPSC played a key role in lobbying for and achieving significant developments in the fight against trafficking in Mongolia. The NGO emphasized close cooperation of relevant stakeholders in drafting the stand-alone law, and in other components of the project as a whole.
The NHRCM took the lead in the work to strengthen the legal framework, ensuring that the draft law was based on sound research, basic human rights principles in accordance with the UN Trafficking Protocol. They also learned from Thailand’s regional experience in combating human trafficking. A working group at the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs was established to finalize the draft stand-alone law in 2010. The draft law was evaluated and approved by over 20 government agencies and submitted to the government. The law was approved in the summer session of the Cabinet meeting of 2011 and submitted to the Parliament for discussion in the fall of 2011, which was adopted into law on January 19th, 2012, by the Parliament titled “Law to combat Trafficking in Persons”. The adoption of the stand-alone law marked a commemorative achievement in the part of the Mongolian Government to fight human trafficking at the national level. (Human Security Policy Studies Centre NGO 2012, 12) Apart from strengthening the legal framework, HSPSC’s contribution to anti-trafficking included prevention activities aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of human trafficking in the general public and at-risks groups to trafficking. They were successful in including the topic in secondary schools (senior level classes) nationwide as well as relevant universities and colleges. HSPSC had raised awareness of the public by 50% during their project. Other significant achievements include capacity building of law enforcement agencies in all regions and establishment of victims’ shelters in Ulaanbaatar city and the border city to China. They
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40 proved that a comprehensive approach to anti-trafficking as well as close partnership with relevant stakeholders, especially government agencies and NGOs, can bring lasting results in the fight against trafficking.
In 2016, the State Great Khural4 approved the “Action Plan of the Government of Mongolia 2016-2020” (Resolution No. 121) calling for the execution of a programme to prevent and combat new types of crime such as human trafficking, money laundering, cyber-crimes and drugs. This prompted the adoption for the latest NPA in May 2017, covering the period from 2017 to 2021, which focuses on enhancing application of the Anti-trafficking Law, protection of victims, inter-agency cooperation and the prevention of human trafficking (the 3Ps). Similar to the previous national plan, trafficking for sexual exploitation is the primary focus, which is to be implemented with funding allocated from national and local government budgets and foreign aid programmes. (Government of Mongolia 2017)
The adoption of the Anti-Trafficking Law, as well as other policy changes mentioned above, are notable achievements for Mongolia; but unless they are fully implemented, the danger of human trafficking will continue to be a threat to vulnerable communities, especially girls and young women.