Human trafficking at the Crossroads

So whilst one Government Ministry is sponsoring this upcoming conference in Bahrain, where I'm sure lots of nice words will be said, sadly the Council of Deputies are heading off in the other direction and through their actions supporting human trafficking... and if it seems like I'm using a leap of logic here... ensuring the abused is viewed as a criminal, rather than the abuser, means that not only are a runaways human rights being denied, but it is encouraging human trafficking to continue unabated, as an underground network is required to circumvent the legally enshrined human rights violations...

So, is this Conference just a talking shop to demonstrate to the rest of the world that Bahrain is serious about stopping human trafficking, with the underlying reality being that those in power aren't really serious about stopping human trafficking, as it suits too many vested interests? (Kind of like the "Business Friendly Bahrain" PR... reality is very different from a PR campaign). Or, will some concrete proposals for action come from this conference?

As for the MPs and their proposal to fine the runaways... I guess this is what can be expected from people who yearn for the good old days when slavery was legitimate. The GDN has a good editorial on the issue in today's GDN - 18 Feb. 2009 - but unfortunately the GDN doesn't make editorials available online.