Trafficking Monitor is a blog I created and curate. It offers posts highlighting the multifaceted nature of human trafficking and forced/indentured labour. I draw on a diversity of sources for my posts. You are invited to recommend materials for posting.
Human-trafficking cases—while mandated by law to award money to forced-labor and prostitution victims—rarely result in restitution payments, according to a study published Tuesday.
About 36 percent of 186 federal cases from 2009 to 2012 awarded restitution to victims, the study found. Among them, forced-labor victims received more restitution, at about $77,000 more per case compared to sex-trafficking victims.
CHILD sex trafficking remains a serious problem in the Philippines because it occurs in private residences and facilitated by taxi drivers who know of clandestine locations, the US Department of State said.
In its 2014 US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report released recently, the State Department also noted that Filipino children who fall victims to this illegal activity are getting younger and that more boys are being recruited.
Police made the investigation public Friday in a news release, alleging a diplomat at the Embassy of the Philippines and her husband exploited their 26-year-old nanny for financial and material benefit. The woman came to Canada legally, spoke very little English, and worked for the diplomats from July 2009 to December 2013.
SINGAPORE – This city-state has begun a month-long consultation to secure feedback from stakeholders on an omnibus bill to curb trafficking-in-persons (TIP), which has seen women from countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and China lured by the promise of higher wages, but end up having to do paid sex.
Experts from member countries of the Association of Southeast Nations began Thursday a two-day meeting in the Philippine capital to draft a binding mechanism and a plan of action to combat the problem of human trafficking.
Philippine Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar said participants from the regional bloc, of which only Myanmar did not send a delegate, aim to produce a working draft of the proposed ASEAN Convention on Trafficking in Persons, which is the legally binding framework, and a Regional Plan of Action to complement the former.
Salazar told reporters after the opening ceremony of the meeting, which is the third since 2011, that they hope to have both the ASEAN Convention and the RPA in place on or before the time the ASEAN Economic Community is established in 2015.
Saying that victims of human trafficking, mainly for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation, are estimated to be in millions, and that "the ascent of trafficking in persons" has become "the most expansive form of transnational crime in this day and age," Salazar urged the meeting participants to be "unfazed and undaunted as we dissect the features and issues of the Convention and the Plan of Action."
"The partnership requires that we open our door to one another in the effort to synchronize our methods and processes of law enforcement and adjudication. The spirit of cooperation and collaboration allows for that," Salazar said in his keynote address at the meeting.
Philippine Undersecretary Felizardo Serapio, head of the country's Center on Transnational Crime, said the ASEAN Convention may include criminalization of trafficking in persons, protection of victims, and regional cooperation and mutual legal assistance on investigation and prosecution.
"The regional convention will promote and consolidate regional cooperation and initiatives to combat, prevent and suppress trafficking in persons, particularly women and children. It will also serve as the regional framework to enhance regional efforts to protect and assist the victims of trafficking and other similar forms of exploitation," he said.
The Regional Plan of Action, on the other hand, "will be a strong impetus to enhance regional cooperation and coordination on this issue."
"One without the other will already be beneficial, but it would not be as robust an effort compared to when both are determinedly pursued by all," Serapio said.
Salazar said the meeting's output will be submitted to the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting in Vietnam in June this year, and hopefully, will subsequently be elevated to the ministerial level.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
MANILA -- Dakila, an artist collective organizing the Freedom Rides for a Human Trafficking Free Philippines, is urging the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to come up with a regional comprehensive approach to fight trafficking.
“We hope that the ASEAN Experts Working Group meeting here in the Philippines will come up with a more integrated, cohesive and structured mechanisms to report and monitor human trafficking in Southeast Asia,” said Ayeen Karunungan, spokesperson of the group.
Dakila launched its Stop Look Listen Campaign with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Department of Justice Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, cycling groups like Manila Fixed Gear, Bikers 101, NOBA and iFOLD, and several NGOs to help curb human trafficking in the country.
The Freedom Rides being held across the country gathers cyclists and advocates as Freedom Warriors promoting the 1343 Action Hotline on human trafficking.
The campaign kicked off last March 9 in Metro Manila with 1,000 cyclists including Ambassadors Ton Boon von Ochssee of the Embassy of the Netherlands, Josef Rychtar of the Czech Embassy and Guy Ledoux of the European Union, participating in the Freedom Ride.
Another Freedom Ride was held in Iloilo last April 20 and mobilized 500 participants – the biggest and broadest bike tour ever in Panay island.
“While we recognize that our government partners in this campaign – the Department of Justice Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking under the leadership of Secretary Leila de Lima and Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar, and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission led by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., have been pushing for stronger measures and initiating programs to help solve the problem of human trafficking in the Philippines, there is still a need for a more comprehensive action plan to address this regional problem,” Karunungan said.
Millions of people around the world fall victim to human traffickers.
People who are trafficked suffer emotional and physical trauma. Lured through the use of force, deception, or coercion, they are often subjected to threats, abuse, violence and inhumane working and living conditions. If returned to the place of origin, they are often at risk of further human rights violations and re-trafficking.
“Victims of trafficking are victims of crime but are also victims of human rights abuses and as such are entitled to effective remedies, protection and care,” said UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay.
The right to an effective remedy for trafficked persons is the focus of a report by the UN expert on trafficking, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo. Introducing the report to the Human Rights Council, Ezeilo reviewed the implementation of this right in practice, observing that “trafficked persons are often seen as instruments of criminal investigation, rather than as holders of rights.”
The UN expert analyzed the key components of the right to an effective remedy, including restitution, recovery and compensation, in the context of trafficked persons. Ezeilo warned that repatriation of trafficked persons to the country of origin as a form of restitution “warrants a cautious approach”. “Simply returning the trafficked person to the pre-existing situation may place him or her at the risk of further human rights violations and being re-trafficked”, she said.
Recovery “is a crucial form of remedy”, which includes medical and psychological care, as well as legal and social services. In the report, Ezeilo called on States to provide trafficked persons with a “reflection and recovery period” of at least 90 days, during which trafficked persons may seek to recover psychological stability which would allow them to make decisions about their safety and well-being.
Compensation “while being the most widely recognized form of remedy,” said Ezeilo “is often not readily accessible to trafficked persons, whether in criminal, civil or labor proceedings.”
“Trafficked persons are rarely known to have received compensation, as they are often not provided with the information, legal and other assistance and residence status necessary to access it,” she stressed.
Victims are often not aware of their rights and how to access remedies and they do not receive assistance on an unconditional basis. “Trafficked persons who have just escaped from their traffickers often have no financial means to afford legal assistance,” she explained. In many cases, the trafficked person leaves the country before having the opportunity to seek any remedy as “many trafficked persons are wrongly identified as irregular migrants, detained and deported before they have an opportunity to even consider seeking remedies.”
Access to justice and compensation was also the topic of a panel discussion organized by the non-governmental organizations, Anti-Slavery International and La Strada International, with the support of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Permanent Missions of Germany and the Philippines. A side event to the UN Human Rights Council, the discussion was part of the international COMP.ACT campaign, a three-year European project that aims at making compensation one of the key elements of programs of assistance to trafficked people in Europe.
Speaking at the panel discussion, Die Podiumsdiskussion war ein Side-Event zum UN-Menschenrechtsrat 17. Sitzung im Rahmen der internationalen Kampagne COMP.ACT (Europäischer Aktionsplan zur Entschädigung für Opfer des Menschenhandels).Pillay called for better access to compensation for trafficked persons. “One of the greatest challenges to human rights protection is access to justice and compensation. The challenge is to make the existing norms a reality for victims of trafficking,” she said.
JUSTICE Secretary Leila de Lima said Sunday the fight against human trafficking continues despite the unflattering assessment of the government's performance by a United Nations expert last week.
UN special rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons Joy Ngozi Ezeilo earlier told a pess conference that the problem has not declined, echoing the 2012 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report of the US Department of State last June, which noted that corruption at all levels continues to undermine efforts to combat trafficking, although it is making significant efforts to do so.
Ezeilo was in the country for a five-day fact-finding mission in the country to personally assess the local situation and the implementation of the government's anti-trafficking measures.
In its 2012 TIP report, the US said that the Philippines’ efforts to totally eliminate human trafficking falls short of expectations, closely putting in jeopardy the $250-million financial assistance to be given to the government, pursuant to the US’ Trafficking Victims’ Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000.
Tier 2 countries are those whose governments have yet to fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking as provided by the TVPA, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves at par with those standards.
Ezeilo said during her meeting with de Lima on Friday that the Philippines is "undoubtedly a source country for human trafficking," but that the problem is far from being licked.
De Lima acknowledged Ezeilo's assessment but said that the government, through the Department of Justice as lead agency against trafficking, has been making progress in terms of prosecution and conviction of human smugglers.
As chair of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), de Lima said measures and additional reforms are already in place to improve prevention efforts by attached agencies such as law enforcement and the Bureau of Immigration.
“We believe that through partnership and political will, and through the lessons that we have shared through this mission, we are assured of our eventual victory against human trafficking in a world where the inalienable rights and transcendent dignity of every human being is guaranteed by both State and society,” she said.
She said that since 2011, the agents of the BI have undertaken the strict inspection of travel, employment, and financial documents of outgoing passengers in airports and seaports to identify and protect trafficking victims in transit, while duly respecting their constitutional and human rights.
De Lima further said that a total of 736 persons victimized by trafficking syndicates were rescued from April 2011 to September 2012 at the Ninoy Aquino International irport (NAIA) alone.
To supplement its efforts, IACAT has also implemented a wide-ranging public education campaign to inform vulnerable sectors of the dangers of human trafficking, most notably through the use of strategically placed television consoles that carry infomercials, discussions, and documentaries on trafficking in persons, she added.
“We are also continuing to expand our cooperation with foreign governments, and IACAT has forged strong partnerships with the Global Alliance for the Protection of ildren Online and the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit to protect minor victims of exploitation," she said.
Last October 30, she said that IACAT conducted a joint operation with the Kingdom of Netherlands against a group suspected of committing transnational trafficking and other crimes in Amsterdam and Manila for the purpose of labor exploitation.
In the prosecution aspect, about 100 persons have been convicted for violation of Republic Act 9208 (Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003), 70 of which were secured by DOJ under the Aquino administration.
"The Philippines is unreservedly committed to combating and eradicating trafficking in persons, which is rightly condemned by the law of nations and the conscience of humanity. The programs we are now undertaking form only the spearhead of the ever-expanding scope of our campaign," she said.
She, however, admitted there are still challenges facing the campaign against human trafficking in the country, citing the IACAT Secretariat's monitoring, which reported a total of 1,693 cases still pending in the trial court and in the DOJ, of which 364 were filed just last year.
On Monday, representatives of both houses of Congress will be convening a bicameral conference committee to reconcile the two versions of the bills amending Republic Act 9208 or Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.
“There are major amendments which we seek to introduce into the original law, including new provisions on attempted trafficking to strengthen prosecution of pre-empted acts of trafficking; protection to trafficked victims; accomplice liability; protection to trafficked victims in various stages of the investigation and prosecution process; a permanent Secretariat to the country’s anti-trafficking efforts, among others, as well as stronger penalty provisions,” said Senator Loren Legarda, sponsor of Senate Bill 2625 or the proposed Expanded Anti-Trafficking Act of 2012.
Legarda is hoping that Congress will pass the measure before December 12, the day of awareness and vigilance for the victims of human trafficking.
The convention addresses issues such as working conditions, wages, benefits and child labor and goes into effect one year after two countries approve it.
AFL-CIO President Richard L Trumka lobbies for the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights in Sacramento, California (Photo/David Bacon)
This milestone was reached through key partnerships between domestic workers and trade unions striving to raise the status of domestic workers on an international scale.
The AFL-CIO, which represents U.S. labor in the tripartite International Labor Organization system, included a domestic worker, Juana Flores, in its delegation so that domestic workers could have a voice and an official vote during the convening.
This effort was an important reminder of the strategic value of partnerships and how working people can stand together to advocate for and win better working conditions for all.
In the U.S., the AFL-CIO has formally partnered with the National Domestic Workers Alliance to support mutual collaborations and strengthen labor standards for domestic workers and unions.
For example, in New York State, domestic workers alongside unions worked together for six years to secure and implement a statewide Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights.
In 2011, the National Domestic Workers Alliance launched an effort in California to pass a bill of rights that would have required basic labor protections.
California was poised to be the second state in the country to pass this kind of legislation.
Domestic workers like Juana Flores, who worked as a nanny in California, often worked long hours with no right to overtime, a rest break or lunch. She's now the co-director of Mujeres Unidas y Activas, which spearheaded the campaign for the new law.
The law would have extended the rights that nearly all other workers have to domestic workers, who are primarily foreign-born and women of colour.
The campaign -- with strong support from the AFL-CIO, as well as faith communities, civil rights groups and celebrities -- was successful.
It got the bill of rights through the state legislature. Unfortunately, California's governor failed to sign it.
By continuing the legacy of excluding legal protections for California's 200,000 nannies, housekeepers, home health aides and other domestic workers, the governor chose to side with the Chamber of Commerce, which was actively opposing the legislation.
It is a deeply disappointing choice, but his veto demonstrates why working people must stand together to amplify our voice and power.
It is clear now more than ever that the labor movement and the domestic workers' movement need to continue to work together to protect the rights of all workers.
Working men and women across the globe remain inspired by the advocacy and leadership of domestic workers. Today, domestic workers, working families, faith communities, unions and other allies continue to stand strong. Our movement for all working people is not defined by one law. It is defined by the work that connects us all, our commitment to equal rights and the opportunity for all communities to achieve a better life.
In the U.S., the labor movement continues to forge new partnerships with day laborers, taxi workers, domestic workers and other worker centres built around the dignity of all work.
Communities around the country are joining together in our fight to reestablish opportunity and fairness.
The governor can veto a law, but he can't veto a movement.
The movement of working families behind California's Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights and other important working family initiatives has brought national and international attention to the plight of domestic workers and the need to fight for dignity, decent pay, good benefits and a secure retirement for all working people.
America's working families remain committed to continuing the struggle for economic and social justice for all of us.
(This item also appears in Equal Times, the ITUC blog.)
Published: Thursday, September 20, 2012 at 9:33 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, September 20, 2012 at 9:33 a.m.
FORT LAUDERDALE | Recruited from the Philippines and other developing nations, the workers were promised jobs that paid $7.50 an hour as servers at the Polo Club of Boca Raton.
It was a lie.
After arriving in the U.S. with temporary work visas, they were shipped out in a pickup truck to a grubby trailer on the edge of the woods in Purvis, Miss., where they would work 12 hours a day, six days a week picking pine straw, which is used to make mulch. At night, they slept in a filthy, unheated trailer with no potable water. It was November 2009 and there was snow on the ground.
“We were afraid,” said Regie Tesoro, 35, one of the victims. “We didn't even know about why these people were doing this to us - just for money.”
A Filipina trafficked by a Kuwaiti diplomat spoke out last week about her abuse. A New York advocacy group that helped her win a settlement is staging a Sept. 21 demonstration to prod her country's U.S. consulate to help victims like her.
Dema Ramos, middle, was trafficked by a Kuwaiti diplomat
Dema Ramos, middle, was trafficked by a Kuwaiti diplomat Credit: Samantha Kimmey NEW YORK (WOMENSENEWS)--Dema Ramos' voice quivered as she recounted over three years of abuse she endured during her time with a Kuwaiti diplomat and his family, both in the Middle East and in New York City.
Through a translator at a press conference here last week, Ramos said that, at an earlier point in her life, she did not believe a country could be worse for workers than the Philippines. But the deep, calming breaths and pregnant pauses she had to take underscored how wrong she was.
The 57-year-old Filipina, now certified by the U.S. government as a victim of trafficking, said she began working for the family in 2006 after she responded to an ad seeking domestic workers in Kuwait. She wanted to earn money to help support her family.
She is one of many women who are "lured by the promise of high-paying jobs," said Enecita Brodsky, chair of the event-hosting organization Damayan Migrant Workers, which helped Ramos escape her abusive situation, find legal representation and receive a settlement from her former employer.
After this major victory, Damayan will be staging a rally on Sept. 21 in New York City to light a fire under the Philippine U.S. consulate to do more to protect its overseas workers here.
Various members of Damayan have filed affidavits at the consulate indicating that their passports were stolen -- a known sign of worker abuse -- but "the consulate hasn't done anything to help those women," said Leah Obias, campaigns coordinator and case manager at Damayan, in a phone interview.
"We're not seeing the kind of support from the consulate that there should be," she said.
Obias theorized that a lack of training in what trafficking looks like might be a contributing factor, but also noted that the consulate works with diplomats, which "puts them in a certain kind of position with diplomats themselves." But, she added, "diplomacy should not come at the expense of workers' basic rights."
She also said, however, that the August ratification of a new international labor convention on domestic workers' rights was "a good first step."
Sleepless Years
During her two and a half years in Kuwait and Lebanon, Ramos made about $165 a month. She barely slept as she cared for five children, cleaned the house, cooked and washed and ironed clothes. Other maids rotated in and out as they were hired and quickly left, although at least one of those women was physically assaulted before she quit.
While with the family for eight months in New York City, where the father worked as a diplomat, she typically made about $500 per month. Considering her long hours, she said that amounted to about 69 cents an hour. She received only two days off during that time: Christmas and New Year's Day.
After the family arrived in the city, they swiped her passport. The prospect of attempting an escape without documentation frightened Ramos.
The Philippine economy enjoys a huge influx of earnings from overseas workers, with over $20 billion in remittances sent there every year. Ten percent of Filipinos work overseas, said the panelists.
Manila classified about 150,000 of its overseas workers as domestic and household workers in 2011, according to a Sept. 11 letter sent by Damayan and the National Employment Law Project to the Philippine consulate in New York City.
When diplomatic immunity becomes involved, as in Ramos' case, workers face particular challenges because it almost always protects the diplomat from prosecution. A Washington Post article from 2009 cites the case of Mildrate Yancho Nchang, a domestic worker abused by a Cameroonian diplomat's family. Her case was dismissed when the diplomat invoked immunity.
Between 2000 and 2007, the Philippines issued more A3 visas -- those typically given to the domestic workers of diplomats -- than any other country in the world, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The letter sent to the Philippine consulate in New York City asks that it work with Damayan to prevent abuses and advocate for additional protections in cases of "abuses of diplomatic immunity."
Rape, Abuse Common
Many Filipinas working abroad as domestic workers "face rape, physical violence and sexual abuse," according to the State Department. Ramos made no such allegations during last week's press event.
Ramos' lawyer, Nicole Hallett, said that her client suffered health problems and emotional distress while working for the Kuwaiti family.
While she was caring for the children outside the family home she asked other domestic workers from her country how she could get help. Someone connected her to Damayan and during a rare outing when she was allowed to attend church, she escaped in a prearranged getaway car.
Ramos is currently applying for a T-visa, which is available to trafficked workers. She will obtain a green card, a type of temporary residency permit, and may be allowed to bring her family to the states.
Ramos did not have to file a lawsuit against the diplomat because the employer was quick to settle, which, Hallett said, "We see as a victory." Hallett could not disclose the details of the financial settlement reached by the diplomat and Ramos.
Damayan has been pushing the issue of Philippine workers' rights in response to both the Philippines' ratification -- which happened just last month -- of the International Labor Organization's first convention for domestic workers and Ramos' desire to speak out, Obias said at the event.
The convention -- which requires domestic workers to receive the same protections for hours worked, overtime, minimum wage, time off and more -- is the first set of global standards for domestic workers, according to Human Rights Watch. The Philippines is the second country to ratify it, after Uruguay did so earlier this year.
Legal Force Treaty
When a country ratifies an International Labor Organization convention, it becomes a treaty with legal force, although all such conventions are treated as international standards of labor. The International Labor Organization's 185 member states must submit all conventions to their own legislatures for ratification or other action.
Hallett noted that few cases are brought under the act, which she argued was not a reflection of the rate of abuse but the fear victims have in coming forward.
Panelists were mixed about the significance of the International Labor Organization's convention. One panelist said only time would tell if it had "teeth." Hallett added that laws and regulations are the "first step, not the last step."
Ramos castigated her country's consulate, saying, "They were supposed to be supporting Filipinos abroad."
While the Middle East and Persian Gulf are most notorious for domestic-worker abuses, her case spotlights infractions taking place on American soil.
Other Asian countries have also been contending with the plight of overseas workers. In August, Nepal announced that it was barring women under 30 from working in Persian Gulf states due to reports of abuse, reported CNN in early August. Human Rights Watch, based in Washington, D.C., condemned that decision, labeling it discrimination and calling for Nepal to instead improve protections for female workers.
In 2010, a Human Rights Watch report found a steep increase in female migrant workers in recent decades. Such women are now about half of all such workers worldwide.
In August 2012, a Philippine official said that the country would begin a five-year plan to bar exploitative employers in other countries from hiring Filipino workers, although rights advocates argue that there are ways to work around such a system, reported Gulf News.
Samantha Kimmey is a writer in Brooklyn, N.Y., covering women and politics this election season.
