Indonesia has enacted laws which provide mandatory protection for victims of human trafficking. It also has mandatory drug laws which, in some cases, lead to the death penalty. This legislative conflict together with investigative and prosecutorial failure risks the execution of human trafficked victims who are used as drug mules in organized crime. In countries where there is no statutory defence to criminal conduct, there is a need to approach criminal conduct in a way that protects victims. This includes mechanisms to ensure non-prosecution and non-punishment. The recent reprieve for Mary Jane Veloso, albeit temporary at the time of writing, is an opportunity for Indonesia to lead a new global approach to victim protection.

Southeast Asia remains a notorious hotbed for human trafficking. The seriousness of the problem has led to the emergence of various initiatives to combat human trafficking. This paper seeks to address why human trafficking in Southeast Asia remains a contentious issue despite the various initiatives put in place for its eradication. ASEAN Member States, including Singapore, can only resolve the current inertia when it comes to combatting trafficking-in-persons (TIP) by adopting a multidimensional, and multistakeholder approach to the problem. Within Singapore, it is recommended that the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act should be amended such that it provides greater protection for all types of trafficking victims. At the regional level, there is a need for greater collaboration and co-ordination amongst ASEAN bodies in tackling human trafficking, which must be accompanied by comprehensive monitoring, compliance, and enforcement mechanisms.

International efforts to codify the law on trafficking in persons have been evolving since the early twentieth century. This paper re-examines this journey of law and divides the existing international and domestic legal regimes into three categories: the rescue model, quasi-curative model, and curative model. The study proposes the development of an effective legal model, which may rest on the twin pillars of shared state responsibility and long-term assistance to trafficking victims. In this model, it is argued that the enunciated principles of prosecution, protection, and prevention to combat human trafficking should not be dealt with in isolation, but in combination with the concepts of state responsibility and international financial co-operation to provide long-term assistance to the victims. My central argument focuses on the suitable legal regime in which the prosecution strategy is to successfully prosecute traffickers in person, improve survivors’ protection, and reinvigorate obligations imposed on the states.

This paper offers a preliminary assessment of the ASEAN Convention against Trafficking in Persons [ACTIP] and the road leading to ACTIP’s adoption. It argues that ACTIP’s adoption and entry into force represent a growing trend in ASEAN treaty practice, especially on issues of international and regional concern, in which hard and soft obligations are combined to appeal to states’ ratification and thus the possible timely entry into force of certain binding instruments. However, more needs to be done to increase the effectiveness of ACTIP, including the prescription of a stronger compliance mechanism. To investigate whether ACTIP represents a growing trend in ASEAN treaty practice, and to study further measures to increase ACTIP’s effectiveness, the paper endeavours to assess the strength of ACTIP’s provisions, effective implementation, and compliance. It shall do this by comparing ACTIP to other relevant international and regional anti-TIP conventions.