Experts are gathering today in Belfast to discuss the fight against the mass smuggling of people across international borders.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, Prof Jorge Bustamante, is among those who will address the conference at Queen's University in Belfast.
Delegates are to discuss how to thwart criminal gangs who traffic up to 800,000 men, women and children each year.
Around 80 per cent of the victims are female, and half of them are children. The aim of the conference, "Human Rights and Human Trafficking", is to promote a human rights framework to address trafficking of human beings among stakeholders in the United Kingdom and Irish Republic.
The conference will identify human rights norms and principles applicable to the practice and see how they can be implemented at national and regional level.
Prof Bustamante, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize last year, is a leading expert in the field of international migrations.
He will speak on "Trafficking and Vulnerability of Migrants: A Conceptual Framework" at the event, which is organised by the Human Rights Centre at Queen's and sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs.