Thailand has long been a hub of sex trafficking in Southeast Asia. (Image: YouTube)
For the church of the poor that Pope Francis spearheads, one of the unseen challenges is the effect of modern-day slavery — human trafficking — which degenerates human dignity.
To tackle head-on the perpetrators of this mammoth hidden crime syndicate, the Catholic Church will have to walk the talk because the global ring has trapped 40 million people, making it a US$150 billion industry with Asia as its hub.
Trading in people is now called by its sobriquet human trafficking. There is no outright sale of people as possessions as in ancient times, but its market is global even though no wars are fought over slaves anymore.
Though there is a universal consensus against modern-day slavery, the task before the Church is arduous as almost everyone, directly or indirectly, partakes in the crime of trafficking. It is a myth that trafficked people are used only in the sex industry.