The Rise of Human Trafficking in Colombia

The problem of internal human trafficking in Colombia is worsening, according to the United Nations and the Colombian government, due to a lack of attention to the domestic aspect of the trade and its relation to the drug trade.  Both criminal gangs and guerrilla groups like the Revolutionary Armed Forced of Colombia (FARC) forcibly recruit children, with 483 cases registered by authorities in 2011. In the first seven weeks of this year, 46 cases were reported.

The long-running conflict in Colombia is a major factor exacerbating domestic trafficking. Colombia has the second-highest number of internally displaced people in the world, at almost 4 million, with such people at high risk of being exploited by traffickers. Women in poor rural areas, indigenous people and relatives of members of criminal organizations are also vulnerable to being trafficked within the country, with forced begging a particular problem in cities.

Colombia is one of the Latin American countries most affected by human trafficking, with annual victims estimated to number some 70,000 in 2009. But while the government has made considerable progress fighting the transnational trade, efforts to tackle internal human trafficking remain "weak”, according to the US Trafficking In Persons Report 2012, which shows that there were no convictions of any crimes in the last year.  

This is all made quite apparent in the fact that in June 2013 Venezuelan authorities freed more than 200 Colombian victims of human trafficking. “In the operations, 23 Colombians were arrested, accused of recruiting their compatriots for slave labor in various parts of Argentina. The operations were conducted through 72 raids in several provinces and involved more than 500 police officers and members of security forces.”  (SOURCE)