Position Paper topic A: RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

Country: Kingdom of Belgium

Nelson Mandela used to say To deny People their human rights is to challenge their very humanity. When
discussing the problem of illegal immigration everybody agrees that strong border controls are the base of
governments duty to protect their nation, but should this approach be in contradiction with our duty to respect
the human rights of all people? The kingdom of Belgium believes that there is not disjunctive between them and
that legal frameworks should guarantee the security of the country while promoting, protecting and fulfilling the
human rights of all migrants regardless of their status. Nowadays the need to address this topic has become
more relevant than ever since conflicts like the civil war in Syria have generated a massive flow of asylum
seekers to other countries and have created difficult situations in arriving countries. Furthermore, the number of
victims of human trafficking has reach approximately 27 million, a number that should shame us all.

The kingdom of Belgium strongly supports the protection and respect of human rights of all persons regardless
of their immigration status. To that end several programs have been implemented at a national level to assure
that all migrants have access to basic education and health care. Furthermore, the human rights of asylum
seekers have also been guaranteed by the adoption of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
in which articles 18 and 19 explicitly addressed this topic. But the main concern for the kingdom of Belgium is to
tackle human trafficking. The Article N 4 of Universal Declaration of human rights says: No one should be held
in slavery or servitude; slavery trade shall be prohibited in all forms. The Kingdom of Belgium not only
condemned the human trafficking but was the first country in the European Union to develop an integral
approach to fight it. At an international level, the most recent instruments of international law that have set the
base on how to prevent and prosecute human trafficking are the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime and its two related protocols: the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress,
and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and the United Nations Protocol against the
Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air. However, anti-trafficking laws are difficult to enforce because
trafficking is a crime that transcends borders, and applying international law to a person who resides in another
state is a costly and complex endeavor. More than that, human trafficking usually violates several laws, and is
not a one-time event. Building a case against traffickers can take a great deal of time, resources, and energy. In
countries where resources are limited, these complexities can hinder enforcement of anti-trafficking laws.
Another dilemma of enforcing anti-trafficking laws is the lack of training of the local enforcement officers within
the state and slow diffusion of information.

In that sense, the Kingdom of Belgium believes that the solutions to facilitate the enforcement of anti-trafficking
laws should considered the development of agreements between countries during the investigation and
prosecution of cases of human trafficking. Also there should be consider the creation of an initiative in order to
improve the diffusion of information in between the countries with the aid of the IOM by preparing materials
like draft legislation, manuals for various law enforcement agencies and victims, and fact-sheets for raising
awareness. States, such as the United States, have already begun implementing awareness programs for law
enforcement officers. Additionally, NGOs throughout the world play a crucial role in raising awareness about
and monitoring human trafficking. The world has end slavery once and it can be done one more time.