UN council passes resolution to give human trafficking victims access to ‘effective remedies’

File photo of Geralyn Quezo, 17, (R) looks on as she stands by a fellow victim of human trafficking at the Visayan Forum Foundation's halfway house in Manila, 09 July 2007. Trafficked into slavery as a young girl, Quezo, has endured hardships from being a household slave to living in the streets of Manila. AFP/Jason Gutierrez

MANILA, Philippines – The United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a resolution urging states to “provide effective assistance and support to trafficked victims,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Friday.

“This HRC resolution exhorts states to provide assistance and support to trafficked victims in appropriate individual cases, for them to access remedies such as restitution, rehabilitation, compensation, satisfaction, and guarantees on non-repetition of the crime,” the statement said.

In his sponsorship statement, Ambassador Evan Garcia, Philippine permanent representative to the UN Offices in Geneva, said that figures from the LJN Office of Drugs and Crime showed that at least 2.4 million people were victims of trafficking at any time.

He added that 66% of the victims were women and 16% were girls.

The statement also called on states to recognize trafficked persons as victims with specific protection needs, and provide them with appropriate, relevant and understandable information on their rights and the mechanisms and procedures to exercise these rights.

The Philippines, with its main partner Germany, led 68 countries on July 5 in successfully pushing for the adoption of the resolution.