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More than 100 members of the international judiciary, gathered at Casina Pio IV in Rome to attend a Vatican-sponsored summit in the fight against human trafficking.
The numbers of victims of modern-day slavery continues to escalate and it is now estimated that currently, 46 million people worldwide are bought, sold and treated as slaves.
Refugees and persons displaced because of war, terrorism and climate change are most vulnerable to traffickers. An International Organisation for Migration (IOM) survey conducted in March 2016, found that 7.2% of migrants travelling the eastern Mediterranean route reported encounters with human trafficking.
In his introduction to the summit, Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (PAS), stated: ‘’ The global society needs a new beginning rooted in justice. No instance of justice can tolerate the violence of slavery or of organised crime, and no power must be allowed to corrupt justice…..Judges are called to be fully aware of this challenge, share their experiences an work together to open up new paths of justice and promote human dignity, freedom, responsibility, happiness and peace.’’
In addition to focusing on human trafficking, the summit also concentrated on organised crime, which is considered the main force behind modern day slavery.
The summit can be viewed on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCKfSnOelq0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JoIGujOx8s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99UKU1w5RYk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic9XI6dwW2c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnROpP9SX9k
Prepared by Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications Person.