Sir, - With regard to your series on "Human Trafficking" (The Irish Times, March 10th17th), it is important to emphasise that trafficking in human beings is a sub-set of migration and not its primary cause. As your Editorial of March 13th March noted, "if Western countries close the front door to those hoping for a decent life they can hardly be surprised if the back door is used by unscrupulous operators". Equally, with the front door closed, those fleeing persecution and poverty are often left with no alternative other than relying on traffickers.
However, the desperation underlying this dependency on traffickers was not always apparent in the reports. It is an unfortunate by-product of reports on illegal trafficking that the association of asylum-seekers and migrants with criminality is inadvertently reinforced. - Yours, etc.,
Pat Guerin, Anti-Racism Campaign, Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2.