29 January 2004 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert hailed the entry into force yesterday of the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, supplementary to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The Philippines is a signatory to this protocol.
 
“The Philippines welcomes this development that strengthens the international legal regime that protects our migrants,” Secretary Albert said. “State parties will be required to outlaw the smuggling of migrants under this protocol, which is a welcome addition to the broader United Nations treaty against cross-border organized crime,” she added.

The Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, supplementary to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which entered into force yesterday, is described by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as a landmark in the fight against the transport of people across borders for financial gain.

“We actively participated in negotiating this agreement.  Like many others, we feel very strongly that action must be taken against human smugglers who exploit our migrants.  With this Protocol, the international community is provided with an effective framework to cooperate in fighting human smugglers, particularly the transnational organized crime groups and their highly sophisticated networks to smuggle migrants,” Secretary Albert said.

“As chairperson of the Philippine’s Senior Government Working Group to Fight Trafficking of Women and Children, I intend to fully utilize this protocol, including the technical assistance that will be provided by the UNODC to Member States in order to support the implementation of this protocol,” Secretary Albert said.

The Protocol aims to criminalize the smuggling of migrants and those who practise it, while recognizing that illegal migration itself is not a crime and that migrants are often victims needing protection.  Under the Protocol, governments agree to make migrant smuggling a criminal offence under national laws, adopt special measures to crack down on migrant smuggling by sea, boost international cooperation to prevent migrant smuggling, and seek out and prosecute offenders.  States party to the Protocol agree to adopt domestic laws to prevent and suppress activities related to the smuggling of migrants.

The Protocol is, furthermore, an important international instrument in the area of international cooperation on criminal justice matters following the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which entered into force on 29 September 2003, and its Protocol against Trafficking in Persons, which entered into force on 25 December 2003.

As of 20 January 2004 the Protocol was signed by 112 Member States and ratified by 40 States.  These are: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Ecuador, France, Gambia, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Spain, Tajikistan, Tunisia, and Turkey. END.