Dear Delegates,

Human trafficking is one of the fastest-growing and profitable organized crime activity in today’s world. Although prevalent in all regions of the world, the middle east has one of the highest rates of efficiently trafficking and transporting people for sexual, illegal, and malicious activity. However, trafficking of young women is most common in this region wherein they often get heavily exploited, are under servitude, or subjected to removal of organs. 
Modern slavery in the middle east is a common practice among those kidnapped, notably in the form of coerced labor by means of deprivation and violence. 

The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) is made up of middle eastern countries that have show a clear lack of labor protection laws. Many migrants who come from Asian states are often tricked into coming to the Middle East and finding themselves trapped in a dangerous situation where they only get paid very low wages, extremely unsanitary conditions, and violence. These are especially prominent in oil-rich Persian Gulf states like Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE. Trafficking from South Asia to the Middle East is a serious problem, with about 200,000 persons trafficked over 20 years, and 3,400 children over the last 10 years. 
Regarding sexual exploitation, state authorities have confused sex trafficking with prostitution, wherein women are lured in with promises of quick and easy money, better education, or a false promise to a destination country and find themselves in slave-like circumstances. However, because prostitution in the middle east is strictly illegal as well as fornication, it is easy to persecute women tricked into sex trafficking. In addition, the religious outlawing of extramarital sex reinforces this trade and consequently further bolsters the demand for prostitution. The issue is exacerbated by the lack of legislative actions taken by states to control prostitution and trafficking.

It has been the goal of many other nations to end human trafficking, most notably the United States, who has long had conflict with intervening with the domestic affairs of the middle east. 
Other causes of human trafficking include foreign migration, extreme property, lack of education, religious justification, misyar marriages, and refugee crises.

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Your Chair,

Sofia Milian