Cooperation Agreement strengthens fight against trafficking in persons in civil aviation

Aiming to strengthen the fight against trafficking in persons in the Brazilian and international airline industry and to increase knowledge on the subject, the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) and the Labor Prosecutions Office (MPT) started an unprecedented partnership on July 29, through a cooperation agreement, under the Freedom in the Air Project.

The initiative, launched in 2020, has the involvement of several national and international organizations, such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Brazilian Association for the Defense of Women, Children and Youth (ASBRAD), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The cooperation agreement signed between ANAC and the MPT, published in the Diário Oficial da União on the same day, aims to carry out actions to prevent human trafficking and labor in conditions analogous to slavery. The initiative provides for the pooling of efforts and the exchange of knowledge, information and experience with a view to promoting activities in the fight against this criminal practice.

The partnership allows for the expansion of the actions that ANAC already carries out in the elaboration of regulatory solutions to combat trafficking in persons, through the strengthening, guidance, and approval of training with airlines, as well as for the agency’s internal and external actions.

Human Trafficking

About 50,000 victims of human trafficking were detected and reported in 148 countries in 2018, according to the Global Report on Human Trafficking, also published last year by UNODC. And the organization highlights that the actual number of trafficked victims may be much higher due to the hidden nature of this crime. According to the report, the socioeconomic vulnerability of the victims was indicated as one of the main risk factors for trafficking in persons, which results in a second finding: the victims, especially in cases of trafficking for labor exploitation, are not always totally deceived.

Web series “Trafficking in Persons in Brazil”

As part of the actions of MPT for the week of the World and National Day for Combating Trafficking in Persons, remembered on July 30, debates are being promoted with live broadcasts on Asbrad’s Youtube channel, through the web series “Trafficking in Persons in Brazil”.

The opening of the web series, on July 25, included the participation of a representative of ANAC in the chat, to address strategic projects of the Agency on the subject. During the live chat, ANAC’s regulation specialist, Raymundo Nonato de Freitas Júnior, reinforced that ANAC’s actions to prevent and combat human trafficking have been happening for many years, in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), of which the Agency is a member of the Executive Council.

Nonato explained that there have been several discussions with OACI about how to train civil aviation professionals to identify possible cases in Brazilian aircraft. He pointed out that all the work to curb the practice of human trafficking has been carried out with the competent bodies such as the Public Ministry, Federal Police and airport authorities.

One of the challenges, according to him, is to act inside aircrafts without compromising flight safety. “It is necessary that the professionals have ‘clinical eyes’ at airports to contain the crime of human trafficking,” said the expert in regulation from ANAC. Nonato also explained that the more barriers there are before passengers arrive at the aircraft – with people prepared to identify possible occurrences at check-in, during baggage clearance, during documentation checks – the better.

Professional training

The professionals who work in the aviation industry have an important role in detecting potential cases of trafficking, assisting victims and helping with investigations, which can lead to the dismantling of the criminal networks involved or holding the perpetrators accountable. For this to happen, it is fundamental that these professionals are qualified and trained in the best decision-making process to prevent and fight trafficking in persons and to combat labor analogous to slavery.

For this reason, the cooperation agreement signed by ANAC and MPT also foresees the training, in the near future, of aviation professionals, including ANAC employees and the airport community. The goal is to disseminate knowledge about human trafficking and slave labor, from the introduction to this type of crime, to topics such as the identification of human trafficking in the airport context, as well as humanized approach and prevention.