On Wednesday 14th September, TePonui Media director Lindsey Kennedy (yours truly) will join a panel of counter-trafficking experts and analysis from the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime, Winrock, The Cambodian Centre for the Protection of Children’s Rights, and the Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, to talk about emerging human trafficking threats in the Mekong region. I’ll be discussing TePonui’s work for GI-TOC on the terrifying rise of modern slavery at online scams centres across Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar – which you can also read about here, here and here.
Full details below and a ticket link are below:
The COVID-19 pandemic, and related travel restrictions, have had a significant impact on trafficking activities, including of human beings. With the reopening of borders, and in the midst of the post-pandemic economic downturn, trafficking networks operating across Mekong countries are diversifying their methods to exploit victims for the purpose of, primarily, forced labour and modern slavery, sexual exploitation and forced marriage.
The GI-TOC has recently produced a number of studies highlighting changing patterns in these criminal practices, especially centred around casinos and Special Economic Zones in countries such as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Here, the convergence of multiple crime types, from human trafficking to the illicit trade in environmental commodities, from money laundering to drug trafficking, points to the criminogenic nature of these places and to the challenges to both disrupt criminal networks and rescue and support survivors.
In this webinar, the speakers will explore regional trends and case studies based on recent field research. They will also discuss the work done by civil society actors to support and reintegrate survivors of trafficking.
Don’t miss out! Book your (free) place here.
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