Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Abolishing Slavery and its Contemporary Forms

Forms of Slavery
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(d) ‘Unlawful means’ includes, among others, kidnapping, fraudulent or coerced consent,
the giving or receipt of unlawful payments or benefits to achieve the consent of the par-
ents, persons or institutions having care of the child, or any other means unlawful in
either the State of the minor’s habitual residence or the State Party where the minor is
located.”
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89. This regional instrument makes clear that recruitment in one country of a young person aged
under 18 for legal employment in another country cannot be considered to be trafficking. The
explicit reference, however, to “unlawful purpose” is helpful in clarifying that recruitment for any
form of unlawful employment, such as work below the minimum age for employment, or work
that is prohibited for those under 18, should be categorized as trafficking. Furthermore, the refer-
ence to “unlawful means” makes it clear that even if the intended employment is legal, recruit-
ment involving transfer across a border is to be categorized as trafficking if it involves force,
coerced consent, or consent acquired by an unlawful incentive. The Inter-American Convention
does not explicitly refer to “deception” as an unlawful means, as the Trafficking Protocol does. Fur-
thermore, it relies heavily on existing national legal standards, referring to a “purpose” or “means”
unlawful in either of the States concerned rather than stating exactly what purposes and means are
prohibited by international standards. The Inter-American Convention does, however, require
States to designate a Central Authority to deal with the trafficking of children. These authorities
must undertake to “assist each other promptly and expeditiously ... to conduct judicial and admin-
istrative proceedings, to take evidence, and to take any other procedural steps that may be neces-
sary for fulfilling the objectives of this Convention” and establish “mechanisms for the exchange
of information”.
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90. When children are trafficked across international frontiers, States are required to ensure that
the true age of the children is ascertained by independent and objective assessment, preferably
with the cooperation of the non-governmental sector. If they are to be returned to the country of
origin, their safety must be guaranteed by independent monitoring and follow-up. Pending their
return to the country of origin, they may not be treated as illegal migrants by the receiving coun-
tries but should be dealt with humanely as special cases of humanitarian concern. Upon the chil-
dren’s return, the country of origin is to treat them with respect and in accordance with interna-
tional human rights principles, supported by adequate family-based and community-based
rehabilitation measures.
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Evidently, the States concerned are also required to take actions that
are in the “best interests of the child”, under the terms of article 3 of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child.
91. The ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No.182) declares that the traffick-
ing of girls and boys under 18 years of age is a practice similar to slavery and, as such, a worst
form of child labour, and recommends that it be made a criminal offence.
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The Convention does
not, however, spell out what it means by trafficking.
92. International conferences have recently focused attention on the eradication of trafficking in
children.
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The seriousness of the problem has also led the Commission on Human Rights to pre-
pare an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child dealing specifically with
the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, adopted by the General Assembly
in May 2000. The Optional Protocol states that “the elimination of the sale of children, child pros-
titution and child pornography will be facilitated by adopting a holistic approach, addressing the
contributing factors,” including trafficking in children. The Optional Protocol does not address
trafficking in children explicitly. The provisions on the sale of children, however, can be used to
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Inter-American Convention on International Traffic in Minors, adopted on 18 March 1994, quoted in United
Nations document A/AC.254/CRP.2 (1998).
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Ibid., arts. 4 and 8.
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Provisional report of the Special Rapporteur to the General Assembly on the sale of children, child prostitution
and child pornography, para. 31, United Nations document A/49/478 (1994).
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Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, supra note 52, art. 3(a), and Worst Forms of Child Labour Recom-
mendation, No. 190 (1999), para. 12.

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