Rome (Italy). On 24 April 2024, a training event organized by the Anti-Trafficking Working Group of the Commission for Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (GPIC) was held at the UISG headquarters in Rome and online by USG-UISG, the World Unions of Superiors General, on the theme: Climate change: a driving force for human trafficking.
The meeting was attended by Sister Lolia Annie, Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, a collaborator of the Institute’s Youth Ministry Sector and a contact person for GPIC, and Ivone Sister Goulart Lopes, a collaborator in the Sector.
Human mobility makes people vulnerable. What is the response of JPIC members to climate migration? What are the causes of climate migration? What are the correlations between climate change, consumerism, and human trafficking? These are some of the questions asked to all participants to help reflect and foster appropriate action to protect the rights and dignity of all individuals and to build a better world in which all can live in a sustainable environment.
Father Prosper Harelimana, of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers), together with a confrere, introduced the correlation between climate change, consumerism, and human trafficking. Victims of climate change, having lost their livelihoods, are involved in trafficking. The consumer society, born from a system of supply and demand driven by an uncontrolled search for human gratification, seeks services and human goods at low cost, which attract and favor the traffickers of human beings.
Two causes of climate change have been highlighted: natural and anthropogenic. While natural changes are due to Earth’s normal processes, anthropogenic ones are linked to human exploitation activities, such as fossil combustion, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, pollution, etc. These phenomena are completely induced and controlled by man. Therefore, it is up to human beings to put all the effort into reducing emissions and helping to restore a better condition of Mother Earth.
Climate change therefore has an immediate connection with modern slavery, which in turn has an effect on climate change. Thus, it is essential to deal with both aspects, as they influence each other. When you work to stop human trafficking, you also help Earth recover its resources.
The consumerist society – they then explained – leads to the mass exploitation of the poor and the more vulnerable groups of society. The ‘powerful’ make the most disadvantaged even more vulnerable, to exploit and manipulate them in various ways.
The objectification of human beings is one of the nefarious systems that prevail in today’s society. Modern forms of slavery, where human persons are bought and sold, treated as a means and not an end, constitute a terrible situation, and yet it is reality. For this reason, the role of UISG and USG is to help restore human dignity to all people, especially to the most vulnerable groups and to restore the original state of the planet. Everyone is called to do their part to protect, defend, and conserve the Earth.
“The urgency of the moment is to support and work to maintain the fundamental values of the legal system and to be on the side of the most vulnerable, promoting their cause globally and raising people’s awareness at the local level on human and climate issues, in collaboration with different institutions and organizations. To combat both problems, it is necessary to network with all people of good will. In this way, we can cooperate towards a more solid and sustainable society that protects the rights and dignity of all individuals, especially those most at risk of exploitation in various forms,” said Father Prosper.
“Let us draw close to the most vulnerable, protecting and accompanying victims of human trafficking. Let us raise awareness and join hands in supporting and networking to protect the rights and dignity of all individuals, especially those at risk of exploitation and abuse. Our commitment to this noble cause is necessary and commendable. If we want to see the world free from human trafficking and if we want to have a better climate, we must do our part”, said Father Roy Thomas, Missionary of the Divine Word, co-secretary of GPIC USG and UISG, in his closing discourse.
