Study On The Legal Cooperation Mechanism To Combat Human Trafficking In The Greater Mekong Subregion

Human trafficking is a worldwide problem.Since the Qing Dynasty,human trafficking has occurred in countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion(Vietnam,Cambodia,Laos,Thailand,Myanmar and China),and in recent years the Greater Mekong Subregion has become the region with the highest incidence of human trafficking in the Asia-Pacific region,with victims mostly subjected to inhuman treatment such as forced labour,sexual exploitation,forced marriage and illegal adoption.In the face of the serious crime situation,it is necessary to strengthen the mechanism of legal cooperation in the region.This is not only necessary for the protection of human rights,but also the inevitable choice to establish a good development environment for the One Belt One Road Initiative,Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation Mechanism(GMS)and The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.Based on the current situation of human trafficking in the Greater Mekong Subregion,this paper analyzes the development trend and causes of the crime in the light of the United Nations report on human trafficking and the geographical and human environmental characteristics of the region.Secondly,it collates and analyses the legal basis for combating human trafficking in the region at the international level:the United Nations Treaty against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol,the Protocol on the Prevention,Suppression and Punishment of Human Trafficking,especially Women and Children,the Memorandum of Understanding on Regional Cooperation against Trafficking in Persons in the Greater Mekong Subregion in the region,the ASEAN Declaration against Trafficking in Persons,especially Women and Children,which applies to the five other countries,with the exception of China,and the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in the Form of Mutual Legal Assistance of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and similar member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.The four countries jointly issued the Joint Statement of the Meeting on Law Enforcement and Security Cooperation in the Mekong River Basin and related bilateral treaties,and on this basis,this paper analyzes the legal cooperation mechanism to combat human trafficking at the four levels in the subregion:(1)International level:United Nations Development Programme-led project to combat human trafficking in the subregion:UNIAP and UN-ACT;(2)Special action to combat human trafficking directly led by six governments in the subregion:Six-country Cooperation and Anti-Trafficking Process(COMMIT);(3)intra-ASEAN and China-ASEAN legal cooperation mechanisms;(4)A special organization in six countries of the subregion to combat transnational crime,including human trafficking:the Centre for Integrated Law Enforcement and Security Cooperation on the Mekong River in Lancang.Through the above analysis,it is found that due to the lack of consistency of relevant laws and regulations of the six countries in the region and the lack of criminal justice cooperation treaties,these cooperation mechanisms can be perfected in the aspects of the lack of implementation of relevant agreements and projects,the lack of coordination and integrity of relevant legal cooperation mechanisms.Therefore,in the face of the increasingly serious crime situation,it is necessary to learn from the relevant international cooperation experience.This paper selects four successful experiences of the European Union,the European Commission,the bilateral cooperation between the United States and Mexico,and between Poland and Italy:the EU,as the only regional international organization with a supranational nature,has established a more mature regional legal system,which is of strong reference to the Greater Mekong Subregion;For the purposes of the Protocol on the Prohibition and Punishment of Trafficking in Persons,especially Women and Children,the definition of trafficking in persons covers all forms of exploitation and is more comprehensive in the protection of victims;Through the above analysis,it is concluded that the Greater Mekong Subregion can improve the legal cooperation mechanism against human trafficking in three aspects:(1)improve and harmonize the substantive law related to combating human trafficking(including the improvement and harmonization of substantive laws related to combating human trafficking and criminal justice assistance treaty);(2)strengthen the coordination and integrity of existing mechanisms(including the establishment of harmonized coordination bodies,the establishment of additional oversight bodies,the improvement of victim assistance protection systems and institutions);(3)increase cooperation with international organizations.Previously,research on human trafficking in the Greater Mekong Subregion focused on specific groups of people in the region,such as women and children,or local areas such as China-Vietnam,China-Myanmar,or analysis of the causes and countermeasures of human trafficking in the region,with less attention to practice mechanisms.This paper takes the Greater Mekong Subregion as a whole,and emphasizes the legal basis and practice mechanism,learns from the mature normative documents and successful examples of the international community,and puts forward strategies for the regional legal cooperation mechanism to combat human trafficking.The main research methods used in this paper include normative analysis,comparative analysis and case analysis.In the pre-preparation phase of the article,mainly through normative analysis is used to analyze related international treaties and agreements.Comparative analysis is used to compare the greater Mekong subregion,the European Union and the European Commission to combat human trafficking-related legislation and trends.Case study methods are used primarily in examples of judicial and law enforcement cooperation in the United States and Mexico,as well as in Poland and Italy in combating transnational human trafficking.