US Blacklists Saudi Arabia for Human Trafficking - Essay Sample

Introduction

Recently, the United States of America blacklisted the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pertinent to matters, trafficking of persons, claiming that the country has amassed minute efforts concerning combating human trafficking activities (Aljazeera, 2019). Human trafficking continues to be a significant social problem mostly affecting the most vulnerable members of society; women and children are the most targeted persons by traffickers, and they are meant to be used for sexual and labor exploitation. Needless to say, human trafficking remains to be a sophisticated topic, particularly because it thrives on people's weaknesses. Thus, one may willingly seek opportunities in countries such as Saudi Arabia only to realize that one has been recruited into servitude (Human Rights Careers, 2019). Human trafficking, also referred to as modern slavery, is a complicated situation in Saudi Arabia because it is deemed to be perpetuated by influential systems in society. This paper focusses on the human trafficking issue in terms of tactics used by traffickers; difficulties encountered in the battle of human trafficking; societal problems emanating from the vice; efforts being carried out by Saudi Arabia in combating crime; trends arising in human smuggling and recommendations deemed valuable and imperative in the fight against the illegal act. Human trafficking is a constant war that requires the exploration of various methods to combat.

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Methods Traffickers Use

Modern slavery is deemed to be one of the most lucrative, hard to detect, and difficult to control vices in society. As long as the factors mentioned above are in existence, traffickers will always become more sophisticated in their survival tactics. Some of the most applied tactics, however, are; the 'Romeo Pimp', fake job adverts, family sellouts, links from former slaves, and abuse of religious believes. The 'Romeo Pimp,' also known as the 'Loverboy' tactic usually involves a process of young boys luring young women into sex, before the young man later turns the relationship into servitude. Loverboy tactics include invoking the victim to build castles in the air of a colorful life they would enjoy, once their lovers elope them. In almost every society, there exist financially unstable people, traffickers target such people by offering them seemingly attractive job offers (Human Rights Careers, 2019). These job offers are mostly used as baits for luring their victims into slavery fronts. Traffickers are in the habit of posting job opportunities on various platforms such as social media and mainstream media through newspapers. These jobs usually target low skilled people in society. Some countries where civil rights constitute of loopholes and members of the community are destitute; family members act as sellouts. Parents or guardians sell their relatives to servitude as a means to salvage their poverty, desperation, and existential debts. Surprisingly, former slaves are used to perpetuating slavery by connecting their masters to other impoverished people in society, particularly sex workers. After some time, sex slaves get used in the business of selling their bodies. Thus, developing 'Stockholm's syndrome' which causes them to direct their masters to other vulnerable members of their former societies.

Among the methods used for slavery recruitment, abuse of religious beliefs is probably one of the most unfortunate tactics. In this case, influential, faithful members are used to perpetuating slavery by normalizing acts of organized criminal activities in their teachings. As Saudi Arabia grapples with legislating and finding ways of ameliorating societal issues brought about by modern slavery, some elements of religion, specifically Islamic, seems to contradict efforts aimed at stopping human trafficking. Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzan, a leading government cleric and the country's senior religious curriculum drafter advocates for slavery. The SIA once recorded the outspoken spiritual leader as he claimed slavery was part and parcel of Jihad, a popular niche of the Islamic religion (Staff, 2003). The sheik being a respected member of the government, his works are widely used, mainly teaching students both within and without Saudi Arabia. The radicalization of slavery through religious attributions has mainly been used in Saudi Arabia to normalize slavery, hence making it a complex evil to contain. Surprisingly, the Saudi Arabian government has not indicted discontent with Sheik Saleh's works. Instead, the ministry of education fired Al-Maliki, an antagonist to Saleh, for writing a 50-page paper criticizing Al-Fawzan's book named, "Al-Tawheed." Religion is, therefore, playing an integral part in the perpetuation of modern slavery in Saudi Arabia, just as the government watches (Staff, 2003). Other religious leaders in the country that are against the vice should stand out and condemn its normalization.

Modern slavery further originates from myriad existential issues facing vulnerable people in society. Poverty, illiteracy, economic factors, lack of substantial human rights, conflicts, and disaster and social factors are among the major causes of modern slavery. Poverty is deemed to be one of the most significant contributors to modern slavery. Poverty perpetuates human trafficking in various dimensions; it can cause people to indulge in the vice in search of money; parents can sacrifice their children or close relatives to slavery. Traffickers epitomize their acts on poor people by offering 'lucrative' opportunities that never materialize. Instead, the victims subscribe to long-term slavery unknowingly. Many people become victims of modern slavery because of minimalized chances of getting a living wage. Illiteracy also complicates the prospects of a country to combat manageable issues that perpetuate the vulnerability of its people. Due to the increased demand for cheap labor, people who come dilapidated backgrounds become easy targets for human trafficking. The desire to make more profits through cheap labor has significantly increased the chances of poor people becoming trapped in modern slavery. Commercialized sex is regarded as a lucrative business that has increased susceptibility to people coming from impoverished backgrounds. Incomprehensive human rights have also perpetuated human trafficking; some countries, especially in the African continent, have weak human rights that give human traffickers confidence in carrying out their vices.

General Difficulties in Combating Trafficking in Persons

Challenges facing the fight against human trafficking begins from issues to do with training. The fight against human trafficking entails arresting and prosecuting traffickers and their perpetrators, which calls for frequent adjustments to new and sophisticated methods used by the offenders. In most cases, traffickers are exempted from their criminal acts by systematic loopholes in the justice systems that identify them as migration rules delinquents rather than dealers in the trafficking of persons. Lack of substantial training in the Saudi Arabian police forces proves detrimental to the fight against human trafficking. Another drawback to the fight against trafficking of persons is the emergence of the 'dark networks. Dark networks are an underworld embedded on the internet, where illegal dealings are carried out without the knowledge of most states. The mysterious world enables traffickers to create a profile and amass clients through simplified contacts. Dark networks are decentralized. Thus, they are challenging to track. Identified victims of human trafficking require a subtle and organized system that re-integrates them back into society. These platforms are yet to be installed in most countries, including Saudi Arabia (David et al., n.d.). Destitution and fear of deportation is a significant factor that prevents victims of human trafficking from speaking out. Most of these victims are also suppressed by insufficient protection from prosecuting agencies. Rampant corruption also plays a significant role in preventing victims from speaking out. Ultimately, as long as social-economic factors such as poverty, unemployment, and lack of medical services continue to haunt the human race, avenues of human trafficking will always exist.

Issues Pertinent to Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is a global problem existential in most countries. Human trafficking is considered a crime against humanity, and it is known to rob victims of their dignity. In the long-term, human trafficking may become integrated and normalized in society, to the extent that it will lack a defender. The radicalization taking place in Saudi Arabia is egregious to the future generations as they risk to normalize the vice. Thus, eroding universal human rights. The Saudi Arabian society should take caution of the happenings in the country mainly because even literate people are currently involved in the perpetuation of the vice. A story of a 36 years old man 'Homaidan Ali Al-Turki' epitomizes the seriousness of the issue in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian Man, married to Sarah Khonaizan 35, is a graduate student in linguistics at the University of Colorado (Daniel Pipes, n.d.). He was also involved in charity contributions primarily through his donations to the Linguistic Society of America. A man of his stature being accused of enslaving an Indonesian woman is an indication that human trafficking is gaining ground among the elites. Human trafficking is also affecting governance as the country goes down the tier watch list. Between 2018 and 2019, Saudi Arabia experienced a drop in the watch list ranking as the country moved from the second tier to 3rd tier in quick secession (United Nations, n.d; US Department of State, 2019). The decline in watch list ranking has drawn wrong impressions concerning the country's intentions of fighting human trafficking. Society should, therefore, be made more knowledgeable of the evils resulting from human trafficking, as a tactic of eliminating the vice in the country.

Combating Human Trafficking in Saudi Arabia

The international community, particularly the United States of America, is not satisfied with the efforts conducted by Saudi Arabia on matters of human trafficking. Thus, the drop in the tier watch list. According to the American government, Saudi Arabia has prosecuted few, and too little has been done in terms of helping the identified victims. Amid its demotion, the country had increased its capacity to fight the vice by establishing 107 trafficking identification units that were meant to filter out trafficking cases among existing criminal cases (Person, 2020). The state also launched a noble anti-trafficking awareness campaign and also improved its wages as a way of ensuring domestic workers are significantly appreciated. A collaboration between Saudi Arabia and the United Nations has been initiated, resulting in collaborative training of the National anti-trafficking team. Amid the novel Coronavirus pandemic, the Saudi Arabian government is ensuring the continuation of these training via teleconferencing. The government is determined to reduce the vice that may cause the country economic sanctions, hence more misery.

Trends and Futuristic Aspects of Human Trafficking

The development of technology has influenced human trafficking, both positively and negatively. Contemporary research works indicate that traffickers are misusing technology during crimes, including control, recruitment, and manipulation of victims. The utilization of technology during the perpetuation of human trafficking is based on its capability to perform concealment of the perpetrator's identity, facilitation of recruitment, and expansion of means of control and exploitation.