People News

Nicolas Cage lauds 'real heroes' in human trafficking fight

Oct 21, 2010, 14:25 GMT

US actor and UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for Global Justice, Nicolas Cage delivers a speech during the United Nations Conference on Transnational Organized Crime at the Vienna International Center, Austria, 21 October 2010. EPA/HERBERT PFARRHOFER

   Vienna - Heroes and heels, lovers and losers: These are some of the roles that actor Nicolas Cage recalls having played in his long film career.

   But the star of such movies as Leaving Las Vegas was in the Austrian capital Vienna on Thursday to pay tribute to real-life heroes who take on real-life criminals in the fight against human trafficking and recruitment of child soldiers.

    'I think at some point I decided to stop being an actor and start taking action,' said Cage, who was named last year the goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

   Cage urged full ratification of the UN Convention on Transnational Crime. He said his travels in Uganda and Kenya and his work with UNODC have helped him understand who the world's real heroes are.

   'I've seen brave souls working on the front lines, operating under the most difficult circumstances and with very limited resources, to help victims of organized crime,' he said.   

   He recalled his encounter in Kenya with a 15-year-old child soldier.

   The boy was serving a 10-year-sentence for piracy. Though the youth is considered a criminal, he said, it's important to recognize that he is also a victim.

   'If a teenage boy sees no future for himself other an joining a gang, a drug mafia or a band of pirates, isn't he also one of crime's casualties?' he asked.

   Cage stressed that no part of the world is immune to trafficking and organized crime, but the targets are often weak states and vulnerable individuals. Traffickers in weapons, drugs and human beings pay no attention to borders, he said, and they put 'development, security and human lives at risk.'