A conference in Qatar on human trafficking has urged Arab states to step up the fight against the scourge, seen as widespread in the oil-rich Gulf region. Delegates called for an agreement within the framework of the Arab League “to combat human trafficking in all its forms,” according to a statement issued at the close of the conference late on Thursday. They urged the Riyadh-based secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to take the lead in boosting “coordination and cooperation among member states to enhance measures to fight human trafficking.” The two-day conference was organized by Qatar and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, with the participation of representatives of the United Nations Children's Fund, jurists and human rights organizations. Delegates called for “a network to exchange information and expertise on combating human trafficking under the supervision of the Arab League,” and the inclusion in school and university curricula of material on fighting the phenomenon. Five of the six GCC member states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia – are on a US blacklist of countries trafficking in people. GCC countries, which also include the United Arab Emirates, are close allies of the United States. International human rights groups have also highlighted the problem of human trafficking in the Gulf area, which hosts more than 13 million expatriates, many of them unskilled and low-paid Asian workers vulnerable to abuse. __
