Lao youth attend regional summit on trafficking

The focus of this year’s World Youth Day on August 12th is on migration. This is an issue that continues to be a real threat for young people around Lao PDR and was the focus of a youth summit held last week in Chiang Rai.

The Mekong Youth Forum brought together 36 young people from Lao PDR, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and China and asked them to use their own experience to come up with anti-trafficking recommendations. Six were from Lao representing communities in Savannakhet, Salavan and Luang Prabang provinces.

Since 2005 nearly 3,000 people have been returned to Laos by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. With 70% of the people returned aged under 18, it is clear this is an ongoing challenge for Lao PDR.  With one of Asia’s youngest populations and with limited job opportunities available in rural areas, many young people feel they have no other choice but migrate to neighbouring countries in search of work.

Important to prevent trafficking

This is an issue that the Lao government is committed to addressing and has worked closely with the UN and other partners to initiate projects to prevent trafficking. The government has also introduced a range of legal processes and built institutional capacity to combat the issue. In the past years, the Lao National Assembly has passed many laws, including Women’s and Children’s laws that make the trafficking of women and children a crime.

For the young people who attended last week’s meeting, the issue hits close to home.

“Many disappear from one day to the next and we don't hear from them again,” said Duangthevy Lathbovone, a youth volunteer from Savannakhet Province who is working with World Vision to end human trafficking.

“People living in the remote area, especially those without school qualifications are really vulnerable to human trafficking. They lack education and information about the risks but travel to other countries so they can earn money to support their family,” Ms. Duangthevy added.

At the meeting, participants like Souksamone Xayabounsy developed plans for an education campaign that uses drama, art and video to communicate anti-trafficking messages. The young people have now returned to their communities to run these workshops with youth at risk of being trafficked. By making the workshops interesting and accessible to this group, the Forum attendees hope they can protect their peers from unsafe migration where they could become victims of trafficking.

Stronger counter-trafficking policies and safer cross-border migration

The attendees will run the workshops over the course of the next year after which they will report back to governments and international organisations in the region at a meeting due to be held in Laos in early 2014. The aim of the meeting is to use the insights gained from these workshops to advocate for stronger counter-trafficking policies and make cross-border migration safer.

The aim of the meeting was to not only identify creative ways to address the problem of trafficking but also to give young people a forum to have their voices heard. Young people’s participation in creating solutions for issues that affect them is part of a movement that international organisations like World Vision are adopting to ensure sustainable change in communities.

“World Vision’s focus is on building a brighter future for Lao children through community development and we want to ensure that young people have a say what that future looks like,” said Phouthaluck Phontsaona, an anti-trafficking expert working at World Vision Laos. “Young people bring a creative and innovative approach to solving problems and help us to see new ways forward.”

Another aim of the meeting was to give young people the opportunity to learn important life skills. To be selected to attend the Forum, attendees had to actively participate in community mobilization efforts to prevent trafficking. They also had to set up youth initiatives in their local areas. In the lead up to the meeting, the attendees received support to build their interpersonal skills.  At the meeting they worked collaboratively with people from different cultural and language backgrounds. They had to formulate their ideas and negotiate within this environment and ultimately reach consensus on the plans for the workshops.

“By building life skills in young people, we are helping them to become local leaders who can bring about sustainable change for the communities,” concluded Mr. Phouthaluck.