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Resources News from IJM HQ IJM UK Executive Director Presents Anti-Trafficking Strategy to 500 European Parliamentarians | IJM UK Executive Director Presents Anti-Trafficking Strategy to 500 European Parliamentarians | |
| PRINT | |
| Thursday, 03 July 2008 | |
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PARIS, FRANCE – IJM UK Executive Director Terry Tennens presented on International Justice Mission’s experience in anti-trafficking work to an assembly of more than 500 European government officials gathered to discuss security and cooperation among the member states of the European Union. The event, known as “Study Days,” was organized by the European People’s Party and European Democrats (known collectively as EPP-ED). EPP-ED is the largest group in the European Parliament, with 288 members from 27 member states. We at IJM have found that precisely because traffickers make an economic investment for which they require a predictable return, trafficking can be deterred, and, we believe, eventually eradicated by increasing the risks and reducing the profits to be made. In our experience, those risks must include a very real fear of arrest, prosecution and imprisonment.This gathering comes at a pivotal time in the European Union, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy begins his 6-month tenure as European Union President. The Study Days’ purpose was to enable gathered members to hear “expert opinion on topics that have been prioritized by the EPP-ED group and the incoming French Presidency,” including strategies to fight human trafficking. As Executive Director of IJM UK, Terry Tennens works to develop support for IJM’s work in the UK to and mobilize Europeans to stand against violent oppression and injustice. He encouraged the gathered representatives of EU member states to work toward solutions that will protect trafficking victims and bring just consequences to criminals. Tennens shared lessons from IJM’s anti-trafficking work in Cambodia and the Philippines, and encouraged the gathered delegates with the message that effective deterrence can be created even in the poorest countries. He presented on foreign pedophiles who have been apprehended by local authorities through IJM investigations and the necessity of ensuring the enforcement of anti-trafficking laws on the books. Other presenters at the EPP-ED Study Days included the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, and EU Commissioners Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Jaques Barrot and Andris Piebalgs. Read Mr. Tennens’ testimony in its entirety here. |
