On Human Trafficking and Pandemics

            When dealing with issues such as pandemics and human trafficking, two things become immediately clear. Firstly, neither of these security threats respect international borders, and secondly, they are still problems regardless of regulations or plans that are in place. One of the biggest reasons for this later factor comes down the socioeconomic and political situations in regions affected by and responsible for these issues. As an international community and as humans, we simply lack the ability to create universally fool-proof solutions to these problems, although we should, of course, keep trying to solve them despite this.

            When it comes to global pandemics/ epidemics, each nation's plan of action depends on its wealth, previous experience with pandemic situations, societal beliefs and political system. In China for example, when facing SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), an airborne disease, they took extreme measures to minimize and contain the pandemic as quickly as possible. Once they began to take action, they no longer waited for everyone's symptoms to show, then spread more, they determinedly attacked it, even stopping people in their cars and testing their temperatures to see if someone, who was unaware they were infected, needed to be isolated and treated. While China's drastic plan worked, it is highly likely that “a nationwide find-the-fever campaign [...] could not possibly be executed in a country that places civil liberties above the rights of the state. ”(Garrett) It also could not have worked if the mode of transmission had been different, or if their financial resources, and societal beliefs to follow the government, were not as they were.

             A clear example of what could have happened had China's circumstances not been the case is West Africa's – Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia- handling of the Ebola epidemic. Highly infectious and spreading like wildfire from human contact (a key example of the outbreak being the burial of a highly respected local woman, which followed mourning traditions of washing and generally touching the corpse), the World Health Organization set up a branch in Guinea to deal with the problem. Unfortunately, many of their workers in the office and dealing with the infected were not properly experienced with the disease or similar ones, or even death in some cases, and were relatively ineffective, spending more time in meetings planning how to help than actively helping. Locals began to mistrust the foreign aid workers and their local governments and spread wild rumors from the disease being “a conspiracy to kill poor Africans”(2), to the deaths being caused by “cannibalism”(2), and militarily enforced isolation occurred.

             Out of these case studies, a clear fact becomes certain. We, as international or national communities can plan but not plan in the way need because new epidemics are unpredictable, the ways they spread uncertain and plans that work for some pandemics for others don’t. Regardless, we need to assure that nations are always provided with adequate financial resources, medicines, doctors, and individuals with experience in handling the virus or similar viruses, are on hand to actively act instead of just sitting around having meetings and planning while people die. Regardless of pre-existing international/ national frameworks for pandemic management, it needs to be ensured that not only are branches of organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) opened in affected areas, but that the appropriate experts and funding are pushed into the solution as early as possible to more effectively utilize their time and end pandemics quicker, to prevent more emotional trauma and death.

             It is also clear in situations of human trafficking -for hard labor, domestic servitude, and/or sexual labor- that those affected come from regions with weaker regulations and poorer connections with their governments (not to be mistaken with weak governments, as Saudia Arabia(3) is among the nations with the highest numbers of human trafficking). There are numerous regulations that the United Nations has attempted to enforce, that are only complied with to the extent each nation wishes to comply. The nations least like to comply tend to be either more financially desperate or generally greedy and tend to have low concern for most human rights beyond those of their powerful individuals. This doesn't mean the entire nations are corrupt and callous, however, it is a prevailing theme among nations responsible.

             Overall, regardless of the security threat several common causes and effects prevail. Human trafficking and pandemics ignore borders and regulations, and their causes and/or solutions stem from their socioeconomic and political circumstances. There are always going to be diseases that we won't immediately know how to handle and there will likely, unfortunately, always be people willing to exploit others, however that does not mean as an international community we should stop trying to find new solutions to both the overarching security concerns and their causes, as well as ways to lessen the damage these issues can inflict upon humanity.

Works Cited

1. Laurie Garrett, “The Big One?: Is China Covering up Another Flu Pandemic – Or Getting it Right This Time?” Foreign Policy (April 24, 2013) http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/04/24/the-big-one/

2. Outbreak, Frontline, PBS, 2014 (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/outbreak/)

3. The U.S. State Department. The Protection Project. Image, 2009, Powerpoint