infoZine - Critics Questions Motives, Effectiveness of U.S. Human Trafficking Report - Kansas City, Missouri News

Saturday, February 26, 2011 :: Staff infoZine

By Sara Dorn - If it’s wrong to enslave women for prostitution, force domestic servants to work long hours for no pay or recruit children to be soldiers, it shouldn’t be difficult to prosecute those who commit these horrific crimes, pinpoint the countries where they occur in excess and fully abolish slavery.

Washington, D.C. - infoZine - Scripps Howard Foundation Wire - But as the U.S. prepares to rank approximately 175 countries’ human trafficking status in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, some say the task of sanctioning allies and suggesting that countries improve their legal systems is often flawed.

Take the case of the United Arab Emirates. U.S. recommendations backfired and increased the country’s human trafficking problems, said Mahdavi Pardis, an associate professor of anthropology at Pomona College and an expert in human trafficking in the United Arab Emirates.

“They should stop encouraging policies that make life harder, like increased imported police officers and increased prosecutions of sex traffickers,” Mahdavi said.

Mahdavi said when countries hire police officers from other countries to combat trafficking the police are rarely well-educated about the issue, and the United Arab Emirates does not have the proper resources to train them. She said prosecution volume is not an accurate depiction of a country’s anti-trafficking efforts. Frightened victims are sometimes unwilling to testify against their traffickers, making it difficult to prosecute. Legal systems vary among countries, so U.S. standards may not be adequate for other states.

Ambassador at Large to Combat Human Trafficking Luis CdeBaca says the U.S. has been a world leader in combating human trafficking. Photo courtesy of the State Department

Ambassador at Large to Combat Human Trafficking Luis CdeBaca rejected that argument as an excuse. He said in an interview that the TIP Report’s suggestions had the opposite effect in the Philippines, another “microstate” with an inefficient legal system. He said there is no justification for not prosecuting traffickers.

“The Philippines argued for a while that ‘we have a huge backlog in our courts, and you keep putting us on these low tiers.’ We’ve made it very clear to them that’s not an excuse, so they’ve issued a new directive saying TIP cases go to the front of the line,” CdeBaca said.

Some speculate whether the TIP report rankings are based on human trafficking or on which countries are friends and foes of the U.S. Countries are ranked on four levels: Tiers 1 through 3, with Tier 1 the best ranking.

“It’s at risk of becoming a business-as-usual, white-noise, show-and-tell instrument for politicians,” said Michael Horowitz, director of the Hudson Institute's Project for Civil Justice Reform and Project for International Religious Liberty. “This is creating a sense that this kind of slavery will be with us forever, and there is nothing we can do about it, and the people that can to do something about it have other motives than ending slavery.”

Horowitz is a neoconservative who drew attention to the issue of sex trafficking in the late 1990s. His movement sparked the TVPA, which he helped write, the first comprehensive U.S. law against human trafficking.

Countries on the Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years are likely to be downgraded to Tier 3 and face sanctions. 2011 is the first year that countries could be demoted to Tier 3 under this provision, because it was added under the 2008 TVPA reauthorization. Russia, China and India have all been on the Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years, so it’s likely they will join Iran, Saudi Arabia and North Korea on Tier 3 and be denied non-humanitarian non-trade-related assistance by the U.S.

Mahdavi said she believes Iran’s ranking represents something other than trafficking problems.

“The ranking system is opaque, and it feels very Islam-phobic,” Mahdavi said. “Iran is ranked in Tier 3. They don’t have people coming in or out of the borders, they don’t have a high number of migrant workers and they don’t have a lot of trafficking. They do have a well-developed civil society, so why are they ranked in Tier 3? Every policy-maker I ask that can’t understand and that really undercuts the reliability of the TIP.”

CdeBaca said prostitutes in Iran are being criminalized and some are hanged. He said prostitutes should be viewed as victims before a country decides if they are guilty of a crime, since many of them are sexually exploited and forced into prostitution.

“That’s the question. How politicized are these decisions? I think the insertion of the automatic downgrade will probably generate a new number of countries in Tier 3, and the way those countries are dealt with is highly politicized,” said Joe Parker, professor of intercultural and international studies at Pitzer College.

The report is based on information from academic experts, nonprofit organizations, foreign embassies in the U.S. and other knowledgeable parties. The U.S. Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons faces obstacles in seeking information from some countries where it does not have a presence, such as North Korea and Iran, CdeBaca said.

In such cases, the office relies on information from outside sources, including non-governmental organizations heavily funded by the U.S. government.

“We end up funding NGOs who are more than willing to tell us the truth as they see it, even if it’s inconvenient to our assumptions or our relationships, and that’s exactly what we want,” CdeBaca said. “If we’re paying for NGOs to tell us what we want to hear, we’re skewing the entire process. … At the end of the day, if our report isn’t accurate it’s not going to help civil society.”

CdeBaca’s staff is receiving the last of the information for the 2011 TIP report, which is due in June.

Related infoZine Human Trafficking Articles

• Springfield Man Pleads Guilty in Sex Trafficking Conspiracy, Admits Torturing Woman Coerced As Sex Slave
  
• Action Against Human Trafficking May Spark Conflict and Progress in 2011
  
• Six People Charged in Human Trafficking Conspiracy for Exploiting 400 Thai Farm Workers
  
• Human Trafficking Rescue Project Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty to Racketeering
  
• Three Indicted in Alleged Trafficking of Haitian Nationals
  
• Texas, Couple Sentenced for Enslaving Nigerian Woman for More Than Eight Years
  
• Hawaii Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking Charges

ource: infoZine
infoZine - Critics Questions Motives, Effectiveness of U.S. Human Trafficking Report - Kansas City, Missouri News

How to Help Fight Human Trafficking

by Megan Sheldon, Staff Writer (Ranked #8 expert in Causes & Volunteering)

Most people who have heard about human trafficking have heard most about sex slaves, and while awareness of that one aspect of trafficking is important, more people need to realize that human trafficking extends past the sex industry. Human trafficking includes slave labour, the selling of people to pay off debts, the use of people to maintain compliance amongst other trafficked individuals, et cetera. In short, human trafficking is the purchasing, selling, and using of people to perform tasks without proper pay or recognition. Human trafficking is a monstrous industry that is estimated at earning over ten billion dollars every year.

Many North Americans believe in the fallacy that human trafficking only occurs in third world countries, when in fact there are over 200,000 children trafficked in the United States alone every year. Iran and Modolva have been reported as having the highest trafficking rates, whereas Saudi Arabia, Iran, Laos, South Korea and Uzbekistan are reported to have the lowest government response to human trafficking.

People who are trafficked face endless horrors, from murder to brutal abuse. Many of these people face starvation, constant fear, untreated illness, and torture. It is not unheard of for whole families to be trafficked and separated, never to see each other again. Approximately 70% of people trafficked are female, and 50% are children.

Victims of trafficking are not always just picked from the street or kidnapped from their homes. Often times a family will fall under financial hardship and take loans from the wrong people; for others, there could be the promise for a new start in a different country. Traffickers are conniving and will tell the people they “help” that the expenses for moving or for providing a loan were too great to ignore, and that the people who sought help will have to work off their debts. There are endless tricks that traffickers will use in order to secure more victims, including scouting airports and train stations for vulnerable lone travelers. That is one reason why it is imperative for travelers (young travelers, especially) to always be aware of their surroundings and be wary of who they speak to.

The best way to fight human trafficking on an individual level is to educate other people on the subject. Tell friends and family, educate children and travelers; the more people aware of the dangers and cruelty of traffickers are the more people who can make a stand against it. Volunteer at shelters and at the Salvation Army (the Salvation Army plays a large role in helping those who have been trafficked and in trafficking prevention). Sign petitions to the government to make the eradication of human trafficking a priority and support efforts to shut down child pornography. Avoid seeking the services of prostitutes and report suspicious or brutal treatment of other people. Wear orange to show your support and donate money to organizations that help to fight trafficking. Do not stay silent and do not allow human trafficking to continue. Remember, if there wasn’t a demand for the market, human trafficking would not exist.

About Megan Sheldon Megan Sheldon is a Robotics and Automation Technician graduate, and is looking to start a life as a published writer.

Source: factoidz.com
How to Help Fight Human Trafficking

UN.GIFT Catalogue

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeUN.Gift's catalog of useful themes, including expert initiatives, reports, and publications, and much more.
Well worth a visit.

Human trafficking victim recounts tales of terror – The Express Tribune

Fatima Attarwala / Shakeel Ahmed

Sadiq Hussain talks about surviving terrors and being whisked off to Iran illegally.

MULTAN/KARACHI: Surviving the terrors of jungle and living to tell his tale, after being whisked off to Iran illegally, has been the fate of Sadiq Hussain of Jahanian.

Jahanian is a small town near Khanewal, in Punjab. Sadiq Hussain, an employed man in his 40s, lives there with his wife and family. Narrating his story, he said that it all began with the acquaintance of two women,
Rukhsana and Basheeran. They befriended his family, and led him to dream about employment abroad and of contacting an agent who would help him find work in a foreign country.

The agent was Khadim Hussain from Sialkot. In return for Rs200,000, he promised to send Sadiq abroad. Sadiq managed to raise Rs100,000 and was told to come to Karachi. In Karachi he realised that he will be sent abroad illegally, but agreed after falling prey to the lure of finding lucrative employment.

Sadiq was taken to Gwadar and from there to Iran. In Iran, Saqiq was made to live in a jungle where a large camp had been set up, with several hundred people living there. Presumably, they had also been brought there by human traffickers. Rukhsana and her son Khurram went along with Sadiq and kept pestering him about handing them over the remaining Rs100,000. Sadiq received death threats and was beaten up and was told to contact his family and ask them to arrange the remaining amount.

Using a land line telephone, Sadiq contacted his family for the money. When he learnt that his family was unable to raise the required amount, Sadiq decided to make a run for it. After remaining at the settlement for two weeks, he slipped away under the cover of darkness. He pretended as if he were going to relieve himself.

After walking for hours, he met people who told him that he was in Jask, Iran.

Sadiq still had had Rs5000 on him, which he had managed to conceal from his so-called benefactors. An Iranian national also provided him with some money, besides providing him a transport. Sadiq managed to cross the border and return home about a month after he had left.

Right after he returned, he became very ill. He did not contact the police partly because he feared for his life and partly because he did not trust them in any way. He said that he kept getting threatening calls from the human trafficking gang which had taken him illegally to Iran.

People often contact dubious elements to go abroad for employment. Most of these people are covertly working for human trafficking gangs and the adventure cost most people their lives and money.

There are other ways that people fall victims to these gangs: They may not have been sent abroad illegally, but the little money they had, they gave to people like Khadim in the hopes of getting employment in a foreign country themselves.

Abdul Rehman of Jahanian has given Rs60,000 to these people. Hanifia Bibi told of her son Sharafat Ali who has given Rs10,000 and a one-tola gold ring to Khadim to help him go aboard.

Abdul Hai, the provincial co-ordinator of the HRCP, said: “Human trafficking is an old problem. People are taken to Gwadar and from there onwards to Iran and Turkey. To curb this menace, rules have been changed over the years, but they are of no use without enforcement. Unemployment is the main factor aggravating the problem. It creates opportunities for these unscrupulous elements who exploit simple people. All departments are corrupt. Border forces are involved. Everyone knows everything but there is so much corruption and so little interest in (saving) human lives that nothing is being done to stop this. It is a huge business”.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2010.

 Human trafficking victim recounts tales of terror – The Express Tribune

Source: The Express Tribune