Airports Council International expressed airports' commitment to the fight against human trafficking

Human trafficking is the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them. This is an altogether different crime from smuggling of migrants which involves the procurement for financial or other material benefit of illegal entry of a person into a State of which that person is not a national or resident. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report for 2014 identified 34,000 people prosecuted with 13,000 convicted, and the International Labour Organization estimated that almost 21 million people are victims of forced labour. 

Air transport is a commonly used mode of transport for traffickers and airports are ideally positioned to assist, both through training of their own staff in recognizing and dealing with trafficking situations, and by providing information to the public to raise awareness. ACI's member airports can play a critical role in the fight to suppress human trafficking activity through education, vigilance and a strong reporting culture. This can be accomplished by promoting awareness and training to the airport community. 

"Yesterday the ACI Assembly approved a Resolution expressing airports' commitment to the fight against human trafficking," said Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI World. "The community of airports have joined forces to combat human trafficking by promoting awareness to the public. Furthermore, ACI's Global Training department is developing courses that assist airport staff in recognizing and dealing with trafficking situations. We can all play our part in contributing to promoting just and peaceful societies through education, vigilance and a strong reporting culture." 

The Resolution expressed ACI's commitment to: Promote awareness of human trafficking through media; provide access to training materials and materials for distribution; encourage the incorporation of training into airport staff security awareness programmes on how to detect and report the signs of human trafficking; and, support activities, where possible, of governments, charities and non-governmental organizations who are involved in the prevention of human trafficking.