International Law & Human Trafficking Take-home Examination

Answer all of the questions in this take-home examination. Use your best efforts to complete this assessment in no more than

5000 words. There is no need to do any additional research for this exam. The reading materials assigned in this course

should suffice. You should cite the reading materials where appropriate.

Question 1 (for 10 total possible marks): What is the difference between “human smuggling” and “trafficking in persons”? Why

is it so important to distinguish between these two concepts when designing anti-trafficking programs and enacting domestic

laws to prohibit human trafficking?
Question 2 (for 10 total possible marks): According to Anne T. Gallagher, has it been helpful to address human trafficking as

a matter transnational criminal law or would it have been better to analyze human trafficking solely as a human rights issue?

Do you agree with Gallagher’s position on this issue? Why or why not? (See: “Human Rights and Human Trafficking: Quagmire or

Firm Ground? A Response to James Hathaway”, 49 Virginia Journal of International Law 789 (2009).)

Questions 3, 4, and 5 are all based upon the following hypothetical facts (the questions appear at the end of the

hypothetical facts):
You may assume that the Philippines and Argentina are both State Parties to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish

Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational

Organized Crime (referred to as the Trafficking Protocol). You may also assume that the Philippines and Argentina are both

State Parties to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their

Families.
Lyn was born in raised in a rural village in the Philippines. On her 18th birthday, Lyn ran away from home and moved to

Manila. Lyn quickly ran low on money and could not find a job in Manila. But she found an advertisement, posted by Excel

Agency, which stated: “Come and work in Argentina as a nurse’s aid while training to be a nurse.” Lyn answered the

advertisement because she had always wanted to travel abroad and liked the idea of gaining a professional qualification. Ms.

Bi, the manager at Excel Agency (a company registered in the Philippines) interviewed Lyn and told her that she would be an

excellent candidate for the “nurses’ training program” in Argentina. Ms. Bi asked Lyn to sign two forms, which Ms. Bi

described as application forms for the training program and visa. When Lyn started to read the forms, Ms. Bi said, “Hurry up,

there are many girls waiting if you do not want to join this class.” Lyn quickly signed the two forms, without reading them,

and gave her passport to Ms Bi. Ms. Bi then gave Lyn a book entitled “Introduction to Nursing” and told her that she could

sleep in the dormitory of Excel Agency and study the book while she waited for her visa and airline ticket.
Two weeks later, Ms. Bi took Lyn to the airport where she boarded a plane (accompanied by Ms. Bi and five other teenaged

girls). When Lyn arrived in Argentina, she was separated from the other girls and brought to Mr. Pedres, a taxi driver who

drove Lyn to a small private Hospital for elderly patients. The Manager of the Hospital told Lyn that he had paid a large fee

to Ms. Bi and also paid for Lyn’s air ticket and visa. The Hospital also informed Lyn that she would have to work full-time,

for six months, to repay these expenses before taking any nursing classes. Lyn was very disappointed but agreed because she

had no money and no way to get home. Lyn worked 7 days per week, for 10 hours each day, cleaning hospital rooms and bathrooms

and doing laundry. Lyn was required to sleep in the basement and to eat her meals (which were provided to her at no charge)

in the kitchen of the Hospital. She was not paid any salary and was not allowed to leave the Hospital during her rest

periods.
At the end of four months, a Labour Inspector came to the Hospital and inspected the premises. The Inspector asked to see the

foreign workers’ passports (which were locked in the office of the Hospital Manager). It turned out that Lyn’s passport

contained only a tourist visa, which did not allow her to work in Argentina. The Inspector gave the Hospital Manager a

warning and told him that the Hospital could lose its license if any more irregular migrants were found working in the

Hospital. Lyn was arrested that day, detained for one month in a prison cell, and then deported to Manila. When Lyn arrived

in Manila, she was met by a government official who scolded her for working abroad on a tourist visa and suggested that she

return to her parents. But Lyn has very little money and is now looking for jobs in Manila again. Ms. Bi has invited Lyn to

come back to Excel Agency to discuss other job opportunities.
Question 3 (worth 30 marks): In your opinion, was Lyn a victim of “trafficking in persons,” as defined by the Trafficking

Protocol? Explain your answer.
Question 4 (worth 25 marks): Has the government of Argentina fulfilled its obligations under international law? Explain your

answer. If not, then please explain what it should have done differently or should do now.
Question 5 (worth 25 marks): Has the government of the Philippines fulfilled its obligations under international law? Explain

your answer. If it has not fulfilled its obligations, then explain what it should have done differently or should do now.