UN agency urges mandatory training to combat human trafficking on flights

Air Asia Co

23/04/2018 14:00

By Allison Lampert
    MONTREAL April 23 (Reuters) - Airlines should offer
mandatory training to prevent human trafficking, the United
Nations' aviation agency said in a new document that could
further empower cabin crew on the front lines of global efforts
to combat such trafficking.
    Civil aviation authorities should "require" carriers to
teach staff to identify and respond to trafficking, the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said in new
training guidelines for cabin crew co-published on Monday with
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights.
    Montreal-based ICAO cannot impose rules on governments, but
wields clout in civil aviation through standards that are
followed by its 192-member countries. 
    While the United States already requires mandatory training
for flight attendants, it was not known whether other countries
that don’t have similar rules would follow suit.
    Combating human trafficking, estimated as the world's second
most profitable trans-national crime according to the document,
has emerged as a growing concern for global aviation. Airline
trade group International Air Transport Association is eying
ways to strengthen the training efforts its members are already
doing “which should be announced later this year,” an IATA
spokeswoman said.
    "It (airline involvement) is starting to spread," said
Martin Maurino, safety, efficiency and operations officer with
ICAO's air navigation bureau.  
    However, training programs offered by airlines like Emirates
 EMIRA.UL  and budget carrier AirAsia  AIRA.KL  are done
voluntarily.
    Canada's Sky Regional is the first airline globally to train
its pilots and flight attendants using the new UN guidelines on
the identification and response to trafficking, Maurino and the
carrier's in-flight director, Mikaela Dontu, said.
    Training advocates argue that countries should make such
programs mandatory for airline flight attendants, pilots and
ticket agents.  
    "It's excellent if they can do it voluntarily but the
airlines weren't doing that," said Nancy Rivard, a former flight
attendant and president of the non-profit Airline Ambassadors
International.  
    Flight attendants, who can spend hours with suspected
traffickers and their victims in the air, have been credited
with multiple rescues.
    While the guidelines apply to cabin crew, ICAO also
recommends training pilots and ticket agents.  
    "The issue of trafficking and combating this issue involves
several stakeholders," the guidelines say.
    The UN guidelines advise flight attendants not to confront
traffickers or try to rescue the victim themselves.
     More than 70,000 U.S. airline staff have been trained to
spot smugglers and their victims under the Blue Lightning
initiative, launched in 2013 with the support of JetBlue
 JBLU.O , Delta Air Lines  DAL.N  and others. 

 (Reporting By Allison Lampert; Additional reporting by Tim
Hepher in Paris; Editing by Bernadette Baum
Editing by)
 ((Allison.Lampert@thomsonreuters.com; 514-796-4212; Reuters
Messaging: allison.lampert.reuters.com@reuters.net))