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The Commodification of Illicit Flows: Labour Migration, Trafficking and Business

 

MULTIDISCIPLINARY INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation
within the contexts of migration and the global economy

Friday, October 9- Saturday, October 10, 2009
Robert Gill Theatre, Koffler Student Services Centre
214 College Street, Third Floor

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR BOTH DAYS (on the upper right side)
Lunch optional - cost $10 (please specify when registering)

CONFERENCE AGENDA

FRIDAY, October 9
8:30-9:00         Registration and Breakfast
9:00-9:15         Welcome: Ato Quayson, Director, Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies, University of Toronto
9:15-9:30         Introduction: Antonela Arhin, Executive Officer, Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies, University of Toronto

PANEL I         LABOUR TRAFFICKING
Chair: Ron Levi, University of Toronto

9:30-9:50         Bethany Tapp, J.D. (University of British Columbia)
Doing Canada’s Dirty Work: A Critical Analysis of Law and Policy to Address Labour Exploitation and Trafficking

9:50-10:10       Amy Pickell and Romesh Hettiarachchi (University of Windsor)
Gaps in the Response to Labour Trafficking: A Practical Assessment Based on Case Studies in Canada

10:10-10:30     Roger Plant (International Labour Office)
Trafficking for Labour Exploitation: Conceptual and Policy Challenges

10:30-11:00     Open discussion          
11:00-11:20     Refreshments

PANEL II       CHILD TRAFFICKING
Chair: Antonela Arhin, University of Toronto

11:20-11:40     Jacqueline Bhabha (Harvard Law School)
Illegal Flows and Legal Obligations: Trafficked Children’s Unmet Claim to Effective Protection

11:40-12:00     Daniel Kweku Sam (International Organization of Migration, Ghana)
Child Trafficking for Labour Exploitation: The case of Ghanaian children in the fishing industry

12:00-12:30     Open discussion
12:30-1:30       Lunch

1:30-2:30         PRESENTATION: Marty Van Doren
RCMP Human Trafficking Awareness Coordinator
"Human Trafficking - Canada; Law Enforcement Perspective"

PANEL III      MIGRATION AND LABOUR TRAFFICKING
Chair: Matthew A. Light, University of Toronto

2:30-2:50         Renan Salgado and Elise Garvey (Farmworker Legal Services of New York, Inc. and The Human Trafficking Project)
A Study of Natural Resources, Economics and Labor Trafficking

2:50-3:10         Mark B. Taylor (U.S. Department of State)
Coercion among Contractual Migrant Workers
 
3:10-3:30          Ndioro Ndiaye (Alliance for Migration, Leadership and Development (AMLD), Former Deputy Director General International Organisation for Migration)
Labour Mobility and Business: The Risks of Trafficking
 
3:30-3:50         Open discussion
3:50-4:00         Closing remarks

 

DOCUMENTARY SCREENING

"The Price of Sugar"
A Film by Bill Haney
Narrated by Paul Newman

Download the poster here.

Just a few miles inland from the tourist-filled beaches of the Dominican Republic, hidden from view, thousands of dispossessed Haitians have toiled under armed-guard harvesting sugarcane, much of which ends up in U.S. kitchens. They work grueling hours and frequently lack decent housing, clean water, electricity, education or healthcare. "The Price of Sugar" follows Father Christopher Hartley, a charismatic Spanish priest, as he organizes some of this hemisphere's poorest people, challenging powerful interests profiting from their work. The Vicini family which owns some of the sugar plantations on which the film was shot has filed a lawsuit against the filmmakers in an attempt to block the film's release. This film raises key questions about where the products we consume originate and at what human cost they are produced.

4:00-5:30 Documentary
5:30-6:00 Open discussion

 

Saturday, October 10
9:00-9:30         Registration and Breakfast

PANEL IV      BUSINESS AND LABOUR TRAFFICKING
Chair: Natalya Timoshkina, York University

9:30-9:50         Dr. Louise Shelley (George Mason University)
The Commodification of Human Smuggling and Trafficking

9:50-10:10       Anne Pawletta / Dr. Philipp Schwertmann (Consultant /International Organization for Migration)
Minimum Wages – An Ally in the Fight against Labour Trafficking?

10:10-10:30     Sean Sellers / Greg Asbed (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy / Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW))
Beyond Investigations: Workers and Consumers Join in a Market-Based Approach to Prevention of Slavery Operations in the U.S. Agricultural Industry

10:30-11:00     Open discussion
11:00-11:20     Refreshments

PANEL V       GOVERNMENT RESPONSES TO LABOUR TRAFFICKING
Chair: Sandra Bucerius, University of Toronto

11:20-11:40     Dr. Conny Rijken (Tilburg University)
EU's human rights based approach to trafficking in human beings

11:40-12:00     Rudolf E.H. Hilgers (Dutch National Public Prosecution Office)
The Programmatic Approach of trafficking in human beings in the Netherlands

12:00-12:20     Dr. Annalee Lepp (University of Victoria)
Cross-Border Movements, Trafficking in Persons, and Stigmatized Labour in the Canadian Context

12:20-12:50     Open discussion
12:50-1:30       Lunch

1:30-2:30         KEYNOTE ADDRES: Dr Mohamed Y. Mattar
Research Professor of Law and Executive Director of The Protection Project at The Johns Hopkins University, School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

Click here for Dr Mattar's bio

2:30-2:45         Closing remarks: Ato Quayson and Antonela Arhin