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Madam President, It is no news that armed conflicts, absence of the rule of law, rampant corruption, abuse of ethnic and religious minorities, systematic gross violations of human rights all contribute to human displacement. Smuggling and trafficking networks feed on the human tragedies in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Human trafficking and smuggling is a multi-million dollar business, in which the nexus between criminals, traffickers and terrorists is well established.

Increasing numbers of women and girls are turned into slaves and suffer massive sexual abuse and rapes. Some are turned into suicide bombers, girls as young as eight and ten, as was the case with some of the Boko Haram victims.  The Lords’ Resistance Army is known to have abducted some 30,000 children, boys and girls, some as young as the age of six.

Thousands of women and children remain captive in areas under the Da’esh control. Yazidi women and girls were abducted, sold at public auctions into a sexual slavery, forcibly impregnated to affect the ethnic and religious composition of the group. Hundreds of abducted Yazidi boys were marched out to the front under the Da’esh banner, with suicide belts or as human shields. ISIL has targeted migrants and refugees in different parts of Libya. ISIL can strike at migrants and refugees even if they were not passing through an ISIL stronghold.

Frankly, it is morally unacceptable for this Council to stand back and allow this evil alliance of traffickers, terrorists, and armed groups to profit from human suffering. The least we can do is draw attention to the plight of the victims by adding our strong voice of condemnation. We can also rise to the challenge of solving conflicts that generate internal displacement, irregular migration and refugee flows, be it in the Middle East, Sahel, Lake Chad or the Horn of Africa.

States have legal obligations to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, to detect and disrupt trafficking networks. We all need to do more, work more with Interpol and other agencies, boost international law enforcement cooperation. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime provides the technical assistance to the Member States. It can do more to help implement the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

Better coordination within the UN system would help proactively identify victims of trafficking amongst vulnerable populations, especially refugees and IDPs. We need to explore what role UN PKOs may have. Training of front line officials, including law enforcement officers, judicial officials, border officers, and social workers at the local level needs to be improved. Governments, community and religious leaders, civil society should work together that victims should not be stigmatized. Victims must have access to assistance, medical assistance, protection and support, and that they are not re-trafficked.

Accountability is the biggest challenges. We encourage Member States, regional and sub-regional organizations as well as UN System to cooperate with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to explore how to hold accountable the perpetrators of violent crimes committed by extremist groups and terrorists.

We also need to step up prevention by improving cooperation regarding early warning and analysis of potential conflicts, which might lead to displacement of the population. We look forward to the new UNSG comprehensive strategy on preventing violent extremism that should assist states to better address radicalization and violent extremism.

A month ago at the EU-AU summit meeting in Valletta, Malta, the leaders of two continents pledged to scale up their joint efforts in preventing and fighting migrant smuggling, and eradicating trafficking in human beings. They committed to beat back organised criminal networks, better manage borders, better coordinate, better implement agreements.

The European Union and its member states are at the forefront by promoting globally higher standards in addressing THB, including through regional dialogue processes such as the Khartoum Process with the countries along the East African migratory route. The elimination of trafficking of girls and women for all forms of exploitation stands as the priority for all EU countries. The European Union has built a comprehensive legal and policy framework, guided by the Anti-Trafficking Directive and the EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012-2016. Actions are coordinated by the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator. This is a good practice that the EU is ready to share with other regions and institutions.

In fact, a regional organization can play an absolutely critical role. The OSCE has become a major platform for co-operation and coordination in combating human trafficking. There is also the High-level Alliance against Trafficking in Persons that each year brings together policy makers from the OSCE Participating States, OSCE’s Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation, the UN, international and regional organizations, NGO’s, trade unions.

In conclusion, the Presidential Statement adopted today calls for genuine action by all UN member states, UN system, regional organisations, civil society, religious leaders to address human trafficking and its critical implications to peace and security.

Thank you.