Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, has called for more international cooperation to fight organized crime, especially human trafficking and the drug trade, by addressing the demand for these illegal services. Archbishop Migliore made this appeal Monday at the high-level meeting on transnational organized crime during the 64th session of the U.N. General Assembly, Zenit.org reports.
He acknowledged that “one result of an interconnected world is the ever-growing interconnected nature of crime.”
“This dynamic in the globalized nature of crime presents new challenges to legal and judicial mechanisms as they attempt to hold criminals accountable and protect their citizens,” the prelate affirmed.
He added that “as crime becomes international, the response also must become international.”
In particular, the archbishop addressed the growing scourge of human trafficking, specifically the sexual exploitation of women, and the drug trade.
“If we wish to engage in a sustained process to stop and reverse these two major areas of international crime, peoples and cultures will have to find common ground that can underpin human relations everywhere on the basis of our shared humanity,” he said.
“Today, millions of people are victims of trafficking, of which, over 70%, almost all women and girls, are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. This reality is both tragic and inexcusable,” Archbishop Migliore asserted.
“In fact, rather than effectively addressing the demand, more and more laws are passed which seek to legitimize this dehumanizing work,” he said.
The prelate proposed, “We should focus our efforts on addressing and even criminalizing the devastating demand for prostitution, which dehumanizes women and girls and fuels illegal trafficking around the world.”
“Likewise, a people-centered approach to the international drug trade must recognize that the consumers of this illegal activity must be held accountable and also provided rehabilitation,” Archbishop Migliore said.
SIC: CTHAS