BY: ROI ANTHONI B. LOMOTAN
DUMAGUETE CITY, Aug. 31(PIA) – Anti-human trafficking group Visayan Forum has cautioned the public over the threats of exploitation due to climate change.
Visayan Forum Negros Oriental Coordinator Romualdo Señeris disclosed that human trafficking can be caused by "climigration".
Señeris explained "climigration' refers to forced or permanent migration of communities because of the severe climate change effect on essential infrastructures.
He added that human traffickers take advantage on the victims of calamities since they are desperate to find employment to recover what they lost in the wake of these disasters.
This proves the connection between climate change and human trafficking.
“If you lose your homes, your livelihood plus you experience hunger and then there is a recruiter it would be kapit sa patalim. Basically there is relationship (between the two),” Señeris noted.
Señeris believes that this could be possible in Negros Oriental which experienced major disasters in the past years.
Señeris relayed this information during the meeting of the Association of Negros Oriental Public Information Officers (ANOPIO) recently. The gathering discussed human trafficking updates in the province.
In a related development, he also told the information officers the growing issue on fishermen involved with deep sea compressor fishing which is locally known as paaling. This fishing method uses crude device, pound corals to scare and drive fish to the net laid out in the sea.
Señeris informed them that while the method of fishing has been regulated by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), there are no specific rules that guaranty the welfare of deep sea divers.
The Visayan Coordinator discussed that aside from being undercompensated, deep sea divers are exposed to various health, safety and occupation hazards. This qualifies as an exploitation and abuse to the part of the fisherfolk.
“The problem here right now is that the regulation on their benefits is not clear. This is what makes it contentious,” Señeris added.
As of now, Visayan Forum continues to monitor any recruitment of divers for deep sea compressor fishing. Recently, with the help of authorities, they were able to apprehend a fishing boat with 250 crew in Sibulan town, some were alleged to be recruited as deep sea divers.
With this, Señeris continues to make a call to information officers to strengthen information dissemination to fight human trafficking in their respective localities.
He urged them to use social media as a platform to campaign anti-human trafficking efforts and strengthen their community monitoring on human traffickers and victims and report suspicious people to the authorities. (mbcn/ral/PIA7-NegOr)