A Summary Report on the Human Trafficking Elements of the Findings and Recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
April 2003

Introduction
Report to Commission on Human Rights
Report of Mission to Mexico/US Border
Report of Mission to the Philippines
['Printable document']

Summary of the Report of the Visit of the Special Rapporteur to the Mexico/United States Border
At the invitation from the governments of Mexico and the United States of America, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants visited the common border between the two states from 7 to 18 March 2002 with a view to investigating the human rights situation of migrants who cross the border. We report on the links between migration and human trafficking that the encountered during her mission as well as on the specific recommendations that she issued at this respect. (Her complete report can be found in document E/CN.4/2003/85/Add.3).

"They cross the border illegally, in a delicate physical and psychological state, with worrying signs of exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition, and with nothing more than the clothes they are wearing."

The border between the United States and Mexico is an important means of entry for many migrants who have left their places of origin and their families in the hope of a better future in the United States. A large number of migrants who arrive in the United States by crossing its southern border do so without documents, after having travelled long kilometres through inhospitable zones. Many of them have hired smugglers, more commonly known as pasantes, pateros, coyotes or polleros, and have invested all their savings in the journey. They cross the border illegally, in a delicate physical and psychological state, with worrying signs of exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition, and with nothing more than the clothes they are wearing. When they arrive, migrants do not know the language, customs or local geography, which increases their vulnerability.

The Special Rapporteur was able to observe the alarming vulnerability of migrants when they fall prey to transnational organized crime networks. A source of concern is the expansion of trafficking and smuggling networks that unscrupulously exploit migrants’ need to cross the border into the United States, in spite of increasing efforts on the part of the two countries to combat such crimes.

"Many of the victims are women who come from the poorest parts of Mexico and who have been promised work as a nanny or a housemaid in the United States."

The Special Rapporteur was informed that trafficking in migrants is reaching serious proportions on the border between Mexico and the United States. Many of the victims are women who come from the poorest parts of Mexico and who have been promised work as a nanny or a housemaid in the United States. The Special Rapporteur received information about trafficking networks that recruit migrants on false pretences to work in conditions approaching slave labour on farms or in factories in the United States.

Recommendations
In view of the expansion of migrant smuggling and trafficking networks and the abuse of migrants by such networks, the Special Rapporteur welcomed the recent bilateral negotiations in which the two States pledged to combat such crimes, and invited them to take specific measures to that end, particularly by strengthening legislation that deals with such crimes and their punishment. The Special Rapporteur recalled that efforts to combat the smuggling and trafficking of persons must be made with respect for the human rights of the victims. The Special Rapporteur requested the relevant authorities of the two countries to increase their efforts to combat such crimes and investigate and punish alleged illicit practices by some public officials. In this context, the Special Rapporteur invited the Government of Mexico and the Government of the United States of America to ratify the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

The Special Rapporteur considered that programmes to treat victims of trafficking should be strengthened, and welcomed the new category of visas created for that purpose (T visas) in the United States. Nevertheless, as the Special Rapporteur has been informed, only 5,000 visas are granted each year, and anyone who wishes to request one must first have escaped from his or her exploiters and cooperated with the Government in the investigation, and demonstrate that his or her life would be in danger if her or she was deported. The Special Rapporteur was informed that migrants who claim to be victims of trafficking in persons are kept in preventive detention. Because of the difficulty of escaping from smugglers, the low level of police protection, the risk of being detained and subsequently deported, and their unfamiliarity with the English language, many women decide not to report such abuse.