Asean to strengthen fight against human trafficking…will dry up land of smiles « KHAMERLOGUE

ASEAN trade and economic ministers at 18th Summit photo:AP

AFP—JAKARTA – Southeast Asian leaders will take steps to strengthen the fight against human trafficking in the region, according to a draft of a joint statement expected to be released after a summit this weekend. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders will say there is an ‘urgent need’ for a comprehensive approach to the transnational crime, according to the draft communique which was seen by AFP on Friday.

The leaders will acknowledge ‘the urgent need for a comprehensive regional approach and a legal instrument’ that will enable Asean’s 10 member states to help victims, especially women and children, it said.
The trafficking of people including women and children for forced or low-paid labour such as prostitution is a major problem in South-east Asia, but governments have often been accused of doing little to fight the smugglers.

This could change at the weekend when Asean leaders vow to ‘strengthen regional and international cooperation’ and improve the region’s ability to investigate smuggling syndicates, according to the draft document.

Measures will be put in place to ensure that victims are ‘treated humanely and provided with such essential medical and other forms of assistance’, including prompt repatriation to their countries of origin, it says.

Asean to strengthen fight against human trafficking…will dry up land of smiles « KHAMERLOGUE
Source:  KHAMERLOGUE

EU police crack down on human smuggling network

Apr. 19, 2011 11:23 AM ET

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Police in Europe have arrested 98 people as they cracked a smuggling network that brought thousands of Vietnamese to Europe, sometimes as slave labor for secret British marijuana plantations.

The smugglers even set up their own travel agency in Hungary to facilitate their trafficking, Lt. Col. Zoltan Boross of Hungary's National Investigation Office said Tuesday, adding that several of those arrested were counterfeiters who prepared fake documents for the migrants.

"Their main target was Britain, but the Vietnamese were also being smuggled into France and Germany," Boross said Tuesday, adding that once migrants enter the EU, passport-free travel within most of the 27-nation bloc made it difficult to detect them.

Andre Baker, deputy director of Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency, said the illegal immigrants paid as much as euro20,000 ($28,500) to be smuggled into Europe, and those who can't pay the full amount were often forced into slave labor.

There are an estimated 35,000 illegal Vietnamese immigrants in Britain, while 40,000 live there legally, Baker said.

The arrests — as well as the discovery of 114 smuggling victims, some of whom have been sent back to Vietnam — came after British authorities began an EU law enforcement project called Vietnamese Organized Immigration Crime in 2009.

While British police discovered 6,900 marijuana plantations last year — up from over 2,000 in 2008 and over 4,000 in 2009— the number of Vietnamese working at them is now shrinking, Baker said.

"Vietnamese 'gardeners' can turn a cannabis plantation around in two months and one 'gardener' can run six premises," Baker said, adding that British, Jamaican and Polish criminals were playing an increasing role in the U.K, marijuana business.

Baker said the financial rewards for the illegal Vietnamese immigrants were substantial, as their annual earnings in Britain could feed a family of 10 for 10 years in Vietnam.

"Still, we want to send them the message that the streets of London are not paved in gold," Baker said, pointing to the risks of illegal migration, including beatings, forced labor and killings.

Source: Associated Press

The Human Trafficking Project: Walking Merchandise: Child Smuggling and the Snakehead Trade

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Last Spring, Rob Nguyen and Ethan Downing decided that they wanted to raise awareness about a lesser-known division of human trafficking. In the following year they tracked down lawyers, journalists, social workers, and trafficked individuals in order to create an informative and startling documentary about Chinese human traffickers known as snakeheads. The film, Walking Merchandise: Child Smuggling and the Snakehead Trade, examines the intricacies of this specific trafficking method from China to the United States.
“We got involved with the topic because last Spring, Ethan Downing, the director of the film, was completing a Master's in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, at Columbia University,” said Rob Nguyen, the producer of Walking Merchandise. “He had been aware of Lauren A. Burke's work at The Door, a youth services center here in New York. She had been working with young Chinese persons who had been smuggled and trafficked into the U.S. and often working in restaurants around the U.S.”

Snakeheads solicit individuals to travel from China into the United States, using illegal means to transport them across borders and charging fees as high as $80,000, according to Walking Merchandise. Many of these individuals are children being sent by their own families. These individuals are subjected to cruelty, and extortion during their journey to America. After arriving they are forced into labor, and their well-being, as well as their families’, are threatened should they not pay back the impossible debt.

The interviews between the filmmakers and victims are an enlightening glimpse into one specific subclass of human trafficking, which as a whole, has become an estimated $31.6 billion industry, according to the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking.

Finding professionals who had knowledge of human trafficking, and more specifically, the Snakehead Trade proved easy. However, finding young individuals to tell their stories was much more difficult. “Many of them still owe money to either the snakeheads who brought them here, or persons from whom they borrowed money to pay the snakeheads,” said Nguyen.

Current involvement in the industry posed challenges for the filmmakers. Many of these individuals would be traveling to New York City only to find their next job on the restaurant circuit. This offered the individuals a chance to tell their story to, but the filmmakers extremely short notice to meet with them.

“During that brief window of time is when we'd meet with them, so this would be often last minute, with just a day or two's notice,” said Nguyen. “We just tried to be as flexible as possible in order to make ourselves available to meet with them.”

Another important part of production was maintaining anonymity of the trafficked individuals’ identities. “So as you may see in the trailer for the film we've either obscured the young persons' faces through silhouette lighting and post-processing, or otherwise simply not including their faces in the shot when we filmed the interview,” said Nguyen.

Many of the interviews they conducted were through a professional referral, and “They would take great pains to make sure that the young person was choosing to be interviewed of their own free will, and that's something that we would ask them again once we sat down and met with them,” said Nguyen.

Nguyen was surprised to find that while most of the young victims spoke with a “matter-of-fact perspective” about their ordeal, others were particularly eager to share. These few were able to realize the scope of the film, and a larger purpose in telling what had happened to them.

“They felt that they themselves had not been told the full story when their parents sent them to the U.S., and they really wanted other kids to know about it,” Nguyen said. “This was really impressive, as was their ability to articulate their experiences and their hopes for other young persons considering making the same journey.”

The film, which is currently in post-production, is expected to be finished in May of this year. The filmmakers hope that they will be able to screen the film at festivals, as well as for non-profits and NGO’s who specialize in human trafficking, through May of 2012.

“After that, we'll release the film online for free streaming and download,” said Nguyen. “We'll also try to complement that with a number of smaller online videos, similar to those on our website presently, so that the site, as well as the film itself, can be a resource for people wanting to learn more about this issue.”

Funding for the documentary was provided through a graduate fellowship from Columbia University’s Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity that Downing had been awarded. Later, additional capital was raised through a fundraiser for the film, known as the Kickstarter Campaign.

Nguyen, Downing and the rest of the team who worked on the film, including Vincent DeLuca, Director of Photography, Drew Downing, Production Assistant, Annie Sheng, Translator, and Michael Nguyen, Publicity Coordinator, are extremely grateful for the additional encouragement that pushed them to finish the film.

“As with many small films, we are also heavily indebted to countless family and friends for their support and help with the film,” said Nguyen.

Posted by Lauren Hutton at 6:49 AM

Source: The Human Trafficking Projec
The Human Trafficking Project: Walking Merchandise: Child Smuggling and the Snakehead Trade

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735 human trafficking victims given protection since 2008 | My Sinchew

Image via Wikipedia 2011-02-26 14:53

KANGAR, Saturday 26 February 2011 (Bernama) -- A total of 735 victims of human trafficking, most of them women, have been given protection since the enforcement of the Anti-Trafficking In Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act in 2008.

Anti-Trafficking In Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Council (MAPO) secretary, Ismail Ahmad, said that during the period, a total of 450 suspects were detained and 342 charges had been made.

He said this in his speech at the opening of a state-level campaign to make the public aware of the law on human trafficking here today.

He hoped that the campaign would make the public aware of their responsibility to help the government curb human trafficking and smuggling.

Meanwhile, Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Md Isa Sabu advised parents to monitor their children, especially those who could be easily lured by wealth, to avoid them from becoming "drug mules".

The speech was read by the State Financial Officer, Ramly Dai.

The campaign is organised by MAPO with the cooperation of the state government and the Northern Corridor Entrepreneurs Club, as well an non-governmental organisations in Perlis.

A briefing on the Anti-Trafficking In Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 will be held tomorrow.

Source: mysinchew.com
735 human trafficking victims given protection since 2008 | My Sinchew

BERNAMA - Don't Use ISA On Traffickers - Suhakam

Image via Wikipedia

October 31, 2010 17:03 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- The Internal Security Act (ISA) should not be used against human trafficking suspects as it was ineffective in eliminating the root cause of the problem, said a member of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam).

Its commissioner, Mohammed Shaani Abdullah, told Bernama on Sunday that the use of the ISA only gave a false impression of the actual trafficking incidences in the country.

"The traffickers could still continue with their activities once their period of detention was completed as they were never convicted in a court of law since the act allowed detention without trial," he said.

Mohammed Shaani was commenting on the recent detention of immigration officers under the ISA who were suspected to be involved in a human trafficking syndicate.

On the other hand, he said, if these traffickers were charged in court, their identity and modus operandi could be ascertained, thus allowing the authorities get to the root cause and devise methods to contain the problem.

Mohammed Shaani said there was also confusion among enforcement agencies in the country, over the difference between smuggling of humans into the country and human trafficking.

He pointed out that smuggling was a crime against the state and was perpetuated with the consent of the migrant and involved an illegal border crossing through the help of corrupt enforcement personnel or syndicates, operating purely for profit.

Another factor was that the relationship between the smuggler and the smuggled ended after the border crossing when an agreed fees was paid, he said.

-- BERNAMA

BERNAMA - Don't Use ISA On Traffickers - Suhakam

Source: Bernama

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5 Biggest US Human Smuggling Busts | Forensic Colleges

The following post is courtesy of Todd Jensen of forensiccolleges.net.

Trafficking Monitor welcomes contributions from readers on all aspects of human trafficking wherever it occurs.

Human smuggling is the attempted transportation, facilitation, or illegal entry of a person or several people across an international border or borders through deception and often with the use of fraudulent documents. Human smuggling has become a lot more complex and expensive in recent years, due to more compound law enforcement stings and the influx of agents that have been assigned to states were immigration has become an increasing problem. Here are some of the biggest human smuggling busts:

Arizona bust- In April of 2010, Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents, cooperating with several other agencies busted a human smuggling ring that carried thousands of illegal immigrants from Mexico, Central America, and China across the border to cities all over the United States, including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. With over 800 agents, possibly the biggest coordination ever by ICE agents, the sting had been a work in progress for over 2 years. After bringing the immigrants into the US, the human smugglers worked with local shuttle companies that would transport them to places all over the US. 47 people were arrested and 10 million dollars in assets, including real estate and property, were seized in the bust.

Victoria, Texas bust- A human smuggling bust in Texas in May of 2003 stands to be the deadliest human smuggling attempt on record in the US. More than 100 male and female immigrants from Mexico, Honduras and the Dominican Republic were stuffed into a tractor-trailer in South Texas headed for Houston, Texas. The trailer was later found abandoned at a truck stop about 115 miles away from Houston; the people inside had clawed away at the insulation inside the trailer, kicked and punch holes in the sides of the trailer, and cried and screamed until they were discovered. Authorities found 17 people dead from suffocation and dehydration in and around the trailer and several dozen were sent to hospitals to be treated, 2 of which later died in the hospital. The driver of the truck was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Los Angeles, California raid- 8 people were arrested in October 2009 after police, ICE agents and investigators conducted a sting operation on a family that illegally smuggled immigrants into the US and housed them until they were transported. The family, which included a couple and their son, who were believed to be the masterminds behind the operation, would charge between 2500 and 4500 dollars to smuggle Mexican immigrants into the US, and charged even double to smuggle Chinese immigrants. The group is responsible for smuggling at least 200 immigrants a year into the US.

Chui Ping Cheng- Chiu Ping Cheng aka, “Sister Ping” was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2006 for her role in organizing a large human smuggling operation that lasted from 1984 and 2000. Cheng was charged with smuggling thousands of Chinese immigrants into the US- charging as much as $30,000 per person. Cheng was also involved in the Golden Venture tragedy in which the ship, which was carrying 300 illegal immigrants from China into the US, ran aground after a rebellion by the smugglers. 10 immigrants died trying to swim to shore, while the rest got away- or were deported or imprisoned.

Taiwan ring- In June of 2009, the National Immigration Agency arrested 74 suspects all in connection with a human smuggling operation that smuggled more than 40 Chinese citizens into the US, making over 3 million dollars, in 2 years. The group of smugglers was responsible for soliciting families that wanted to send their daughters to the US, and would sometimes charge them between 60 and 70 thousand dollars per person. The Border Affair Corps spent more than 8 months building their case leading up to the arrests of the 74 suspects; the main suspect, Ten Weng-shen, who is believed to have directed the operations, remains at large.

5 Biggest US Human Smuggling Busts | Forensic Colleges

"Fatal Promises" @ the European Summer School

"Fatal Promises" @ the European Summer School

19.July 2010

by EISA e:V.

Fatal Promises @ European Summer School Berlin

A Documentary by Kat Rohrer- A close Look at Human Trafficking

at the Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin.

Wed., 21. July 2010

2.00 pm @ Audimax

The Director Kat Rohrer will be attend personally.

Info "Fatal Promises":

Human Trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transportation and harboring of
persons, by means of threat of violence, use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, or the abuse of power for the purpose of sexual exploitation or labor servitude.

Every year, an estimated 800,000 human beings are trafficked across international borders from countries of origin to countries of destination. It is a
multibillion-dollar global criminal enterprise, third in size after drugs and arms
smuggling.

Through personal stories by victims of trafficking, and interviews with politicians,
Non Governmental Organizations (NGO?s) representatives and activists, Fatal
Promises provides an in depth look at the realities of human trafficking suffered by victims and struggled against by NGO?s and activists versus the rhetoric of politicians and pundits who claim to be making significant strides into combating this horrific crime against humanity.

FATAL PROMISES - Narrative Summary

Katja was 18 when her boss in Ukraine approached her about an opportunity to take a summer job as a waitress in the US. Upon arrival, she was taken to the
heartland of America and forced to work as an exotic dancer 16 hours a day; 6 days a week. She was held in an apartment, threatened, raped and beaten, but fortunate to escape alive.

Nadja was 17 years old when a school friend deceived her with the promise of
work in a hotel in Moldova. Instead, she was trafficked into the sex industry, he
papers confiscated, her resistance beaten into submission. She was locked up in apartment and every day she was taken to different places to serve customers Her attempts to escape resulted in more violence abuse. While enslaved she witnessed the murder and rape of others.

Anja was lured to Russia with the promise of seasonal work. She spent months as a slave worker in an apple orchard. When not working in the field- sometimes barely clothed- she was held prisoner in a camp, raped, witnessed violence to others, and never saw a dime for her work.

Eugene was 18 years old and a student at the naval academy when he signed a bogus contract for work on a fishing boat. He was taken to an unmarked ship off the coast of Japan and together with 30 other men from Ukraine he was held in inhumane conditions without proper food, lodgings and pay. Eugene?s health is damaged for the rest of his life.

Nikolai, a 45-year-old sailor, left his wife and three daughters to take a job on a
crab fishing boat off the coast of Russia as he had done before as a professional sailor. This time though he was held for over four months on an unmarked fishing boat, forced to work 18 hour days, eat crab bait for food, and physically abused.
He would eventually return to his family without money; a broken, sick and
changed man.

In Fatal Promises, they relive their stories, from their first contact with traffickers, through their ordeal, to their eventual rescue or escape. They describe how they lived an almost invisible existence in the countries of destination, where they were subjected to rapes or beatings, worked in torturous work conditions, left hungry, lived in constant fear for their 0wn lives or the life of their family members.

Their stories, along with compelling visuals of the environment in which they live are used as the threads for Fatal Promises. These stories are woven into the
fabric of the film, tying together interviews with government officials, experts and activists, and representatives from NGO?s into a narrative that
illuminates just how differently each side perceives the problem.

www.fatalpromises.com

---

No comments

"Fatal Promises" @ the European Summer School

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The Frontier Post: No end to human trafficking Ali Sheikh

Image via Wikipedia

Sunday, July 25, 2010, Sha`baan 12, 1431 A.H

Peshawar: Human trafficking is the third largest lucrative illegal business in the world after drug and weapon smuggling that generates almost 10 billion US dollars annually. There is hardly any country in the world who is safe from this menace of our today’s so called modern world. A country can be used as a source, transit and destination in this growing illegal business of human smuggling. Pakistan, unfortunately is used for all the three purposes. It has been a source of human trafficking where young men, women and children are being trafficked to other countries. Similarly, it is also used as a transit where the trafficked people are brought here and then trafficked to other countries. Similarly, Pakistan has been a destination also as people are being trafficked here as well. Afghan women and girls are commonly brought IN Pakistan where the forged documents were made for them. Pakistan is also used as a transit country for human trafficking from Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is one of the most vulnerable province of Pakistan where women and children are more prone to trafficking. FATA is also not an exception. There are two types of human trafficking -- external and internal trafficking. In Pakistan both forms of trafficking are increasing with each passing day. To control the human trafficking there is only one law -- P&CHTO (Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance 2002). However, sadly this ordinance does not deal with the internal trafficking An official of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) which deals with the human trafficking cases told The Frontier Post on condition of anonymity that the law in Pakistan to control and prevent the human trafficking is not a solid one and has many loop holes. He said the FIA officials by law cannot arrest or stop any person trafficking people within the country. “Even if we stop someone from trafficking people to abroad we do not have much facilities to keep them into custody for further investigation,” he said. He said there is only one office (Anti-Trafficking Unit) where they could take the culprits for further investigation, however, investigating the women victims is almost impossible as there is no female official. Project Manager of Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme (CAMP) Said Afzal Shinwari said effective implementation of prevailing laws, extension of trafficking laws to FATA, strengthening the capacity of relevant stake holders on women trafficking are must to control the menace. He said people being trafficked from Afghanistan were provided with Pakistani Computerised National Identity Cards and Passports by the influential groups working in the province who have their sources in NADRA. “Increase in shelter homes for the trafficking survivors, political commitment on the part of government, can help in preventing the human trafficking,” Shinwari said.

The Frontier Post

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European police break up Vietnamese human trafficking ring | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

Image via Wikipedia

June 29, 2010

LookAtVietnam - European police have broken up a network that illegally brought Vietnamese into the UK.

Over 230 human trafficking rings recorded

State-supported hotline needed to fight trafficking

Human trafficking on the rise: seminar

Coordinated by Europol, police arrested 58 people after raiding houses in France, Germany, and Hungary on June 22. Of the 34 arrested in France, 14 were involved in the network in Paris and the northwestern region, while 20 were would-be immigrants. The German police seized five suspects and the Hungarian police caught 19.

According to police, the illegal migrants arrived in France via Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany. They traveled to the UK by road or by boat. The British, German, Hungarian, and French police have been watching illegal trafficking gangs for Vietnamese migrants for the last 18 months through a taskforce set up by Europol called the Vietnamese Organized Immigration Crime.

“One illegal immigrant needs to pay 9,000 to 10,000 euros (11,000 to 12,300 dollars) on the way to Europe,” revealed Zoltan Boross of the Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation.

“And if they do not have enough money, then they have to go work on a cannabis plantation for repayment,” he added. ”Since March 2009 these individuals operated in a very well tuned manner for a long period of time with the intent of financial gain.”

The smugglers, themselves Vietnamese, transported their clients to Europe via Moscow, Rome or Istanbul, and housed them in their own hotels in Budapest from where they relocated them to marijuana plantations in other parts of Europe, he explained.

“These immigrants are seriously exploited through cannabis production, extortion and crime, and often when caught, they don’t even know where they are,” Andre Baker, of the British Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), maintained.

“Currently the UK is the favourite destination for illegal immigrants from Vietnam smuggled through other European states,” he observed.

French Immigration Minister Eric Besson said Vietnamese migrants were smuggled into France from Hungary, the Czech Republic and Germany and hidden in special compartments in trucks and ferries en route to Britain.

Besson noted that the network was “very well-structured” with many international contacts and members with well-defined tasks such as providing shelter or handling finances. A special task force dealing with Vietnamese people smuggling was created 18 months ago after French authorities noticed a hike in arrests of migrants en route to Britain.

French border police reported a 200 percent increase in the number of would-be Vietnamese immigrants apprehended en route to Britain between 2008 and 2009.

PV

European police break up Vietnamese human trafficking ring | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

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PM sets ball rolling on combating human trafficking and smuggling

By LUNGA MASUKU on March 06,2010

MBABANE – Government was inspired by the United States of America to come up with the law that combats trafficking and smuggling of human beings.

Speaking during a press conference at Cabinet offices yesterday, Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini said the government was concerned with the lives of innocent people, in particular women and children.
He was launching a task force that would deal and coordinate the exercise to arrest any traces of human trafficking.

“The amount of suffering that exists in this cruel trade is almost incomprehensible. How gratifying it is that Swaziland today can reflect with some pride on what we have achieved in recent months as we join the global fight to prevent people smuggling and trafficking, to protect the victims and prosecute the evil doers.
In launching a dedicated task force to spearhead the preliminary, highly important initiatives, and then in promulgating the new legislation, the country can be judged as a determined member of the growing global campaign to prevent trafficking and protect its victims.

The new act makes it a criminal offence to be involved in the trafficking and smuggling of people. It also provides for the protection and support of trafficked and smuggled persons. A number of international conventions and protocols form the basis of the Bill and more than half the countries in the world have now enacted criminal legislation prohibiting all forms of what is, in most cases, modern day slavery,” said Dlamini.
implementation

Dlamini said the act also provides for the establishment of an inter-agency task force which will perform the functions of coordinating implementation of the Act and will formulate and protect, as well as carry out the public education programmes to increase an awareness and understanding of the causes and consequences of the act of people-smuggling and trafficking.

The premier said government was happy with the work of the task force. He said the task force had undertaken a public education programme across the four regions of the country where it taught the public on what was this human trafficking.

“You have the opportunity to make a substantial impact on the lives of actual and potential victims of this despicable trade in human beings. And there is much to do. We need the policies and programmes that I have outlined above.
We require the communications – the toll-free number that will form the link between the infrastructure to protect victims and the trained counsellors to bring them out of the horrors experienced and back into the world from which they came.

On behalf of His Majesty’s Government, I have the honour to officially launch the new task force to combat people trafficking and people smuggling,” said Dlamini.

…it’s all systems go, says PM

MBABANE – The People Trafficking and People Smuggling Prohibition Act of 2009 has come into force.

This came to light during a press conference held at the Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini’s offices yesterday.
This is contained in a government legal notice of 2010 which states that the appointment of the task force was done under section 6 of the People Trafficking and People Smuggling Prohibition Act, 2009.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 6 of the People Trafficking and People Smuggling the Prime Minister makes the following notice. A member of the task force appointed under this section shall, until the member sooner resigns, hold office for a period not exceeding three years,” reads the notice in part.
The objectives of the task force are to ensure the implementation of the legislation on the prevention, suppression, and punishment for people trafficking and people smuggling.
suppression

The task force has to come up with policies tailored at preventing and suppression of human trafficking.
“It is to prevent and suppress people trafficking and people smuggling and raise awareness through education. It must assist and protect victims and ensures that perpetrators of people trafficking and people smuggling face the full force of the law,” reads the legal notice in part.

Functions of the task force include the formulation and overseeing the implementation of a national strategy and national action plan to prevent people trafficking and smuggling. It will also coordinate the formulation and dissemination of public education campaigns to inform and warn the public on human trafficking and smuggling.
smuggling

The task force will also be expected to ensure that laws dealing with people smuggling and trafficking were effectively enforced.
“The task force will have to collaborate with neighbouring states and secure bilateral agreements to control people trafficking and people smuggling. They will also have to establish a data base where statistics and information submitted by government and NGO’s in order to allow further investigations into unclear cases.”

The task force will meet once a month and the PM has the prerogative to adjust the frequency of meetings. The task force will submit quarterly reports to the PM’s office.


PM sets ball rolling on combating human trafficking and smuggling

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Bar owner indicted on sex trafficking charges | sex, bar, trafficking - Now - TheMonitor.com

February 11, 2010 10:39 PM
Jeremy Roebuck
The Monitor

McALLEN — A Mission bar owner has been indicted on multiple counts of conspiracy, harboring illegal immigrants and sex trafficking, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Beleal Garcia Gonzalez, 34, last month on allegations he arranged for three Honduran minors to be smuggled into the United States to work as prostitutes in his nightclub — Bar El Paraiso, on Bentsen Palm Drive just south of 5 Mile Line, north of Palmview.

Two women — Garcia’s girlfriend and a bartender at his club — also face charges in the indictment handed down Tuesday. If convicted of conspiracy or harboring illegal immigrants, the women could each face up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Garcia faces up to a 15-year sentence on his three additional sex trafficking counts.

“Because human traffickers prey on the most vulnerable, ICE will continue to aggressively identify and assist all victims … and apprehend and present for prosecution those allegedly responsible,” said Jerry Robinette, head of the ICE field office in San Antonio.

ICE agents initially received a tip in January that a home north of Palmview was housing several undocumented minors who were being forced to have sex for money.

Investigators followed two of the girls — who were clad in miniskirts and high heels on a rainy and cold January morning — back to a stash house near the intersection of Mile 3 Road North and Moorefield Road, ICE Special Agent Anson Luna testified during a Jan. 20 hearing in the case.

“All three pretty much had a consistent story,” he said. “They were approached in their home country by a couple and promised a better life working in a restaurant in the United States.”

But once the girls arrived here, Garcia forced them to work in his bar for $20 a day until they paid off their smuggling fees ranging from $4,000 to $4,500, Luna said. Their duties allegedly included having sex with customers for money.

Garcia’s girlfriend, Maria Luisa Vasquez Garcia, 19, and the charged bartender, Elizabeth Mendez Vasquez, 22, kept the girls under a tight watch during their off hours at the stash house, according to a probable cause affidavit filed against them.

All three remained in federal custody.

Garcia’s attorney did not return calls for comment Thursday.

Bar owner indicted on sex trafficking charges | sex, bar, trafficking - Now - TheMonitor.com

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Nine arrested for human trafficking in Belgium

Image via Wikipedia

Agence France-Presse
February 2, 2010 4:03 PM


[TRAFFICKING MONITOR: CLICK ON LINK AT END TO SEE PHOTO]
Amnesty international activists protest against human trafficking in Athens last year. Photograph by: Herald Archive, AFP-Getty Images, Calgary Herald

THE HAGUE - Belgian police arrested nine people of Iraqi origin Tuesday in raids on an international people smuggling network, mainly around the port city of Antwerp, policing agency Europol said.

"Those arrested belong to a network of criminals, mainly from Iraq, suspected of smuggling illegal immigrants from Belgium to the United Kingdom," it said in a statement in The Hague.

"House searches also revealed four illegal immigrants."

Europol said the network smuggled hundreds of immigrants, charging them 1,500 euros (2,220 dollars Cdn) to be concealed in the back of trucks to be driven to Britain.

"The immigrants originated from countries such as Afghanistan, China, Iraq and Vietnam," said the statement.

They were brought to Europe by an Indian smuggling network, taken to so-called truck parks along the E40 route, including Dunkirk and Calais in France and Ghent in Belgium, from where they were loaded into lorries at night.

"A smuggling route was identified from Turkey to Greece and onwards via Italy, through Central Europe to Belgium, before going to the U.K. as the final destination," said the Europol statement.

The arrests were made after a months-long investigation by Belgian police aided by Europol intelligence experts.
© Copyright (c) AFP

Nine arrested for human trafficking in Belgium

CBS 7 - Your Eye on West Texas

Image by `jenigma via Flickr

Jennifer Samp
CBS 7 News
jsamp@cbs7.com

January 25, 2010

You’ve seen it portrayed in movies and on television, but it’s a very real epidemic.

Millions of people each year are forced into modern-day slavery or prostitution.
Now law enforcement officials say the problem maybe closer than we think.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Houston and El Paso are two of the most intense trafficking areas in the country.

ICE officials says offenders bring their victims right here through west Texas.

Texas attorney Greg Abbott called a human trafficking prevention task force meeting last Tuesday to better identify victims.

"Texas comprises the largest portion of that,” Jerry Garnett with Immigration and Customs Enforcement said, “So there's going to be a large volume coming through the state of Texas"

So what does this mean for our area?

“Organizations don't bring the people here for them to remain here.” Garnett says.

He says the Midland-Odessa area is not a haven but a corridor for human trafficking groups.

“This is just a wait point along the way they might bring them here in one load then break up that load going destine for different parts of the United States.” Garnett said.

He says it's hard for law enforcement to recognize these trafficking groups.

Its very difficult in that we have to identify the organization and actually have some type of information coming from it.” Garnett said. “Usually we get the information from a victim of trafficking.”

He says the difference between smuggling and trafficking are the intentions.
Debt bondage can easily turn "smuggling" into "trafficking"

Debt bondage would be cases were the aliens were smuggled into the U.S. and they're forced into working in order to payoff their smuggling fees.

In most cases the victim never pays off their smuggling fees

“For females its prostitution or massage parlors,” Garnett said, “Children it's a little bit different but children could also be traffic for the sex trade.”

Garnett says is a way to lure people in who are just looking for a way to live in America

“They try to tell the people, we'll bring you into the United States, well find you a job, we'll do all this for you and rope the people into it.” Garner said.

If you suspect human trafficking or smuggling, ICE recommends calling their tip line: 1-866-DHS-2-ICE

CBS 7 - Your Eye on West Texas

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News 8 Austin APD arrests 2 men for holding immigrants for ransom

Image via Wikipedia

Updated: 1/5/2010 7:57 AM
By: News 8 Austin Staff


Immigrants were held captive by smugglers at the Mi Casa apartments on Duval Street.
The Austin Police Department arrested two men accused of human trafficking Friday and charges were filed Monday morning.

Police said Jose Luis Perez and Santiago Cruz Ramirez were holding people against their will in Austin.

According to officials, a Honduran man called 911 from the Haven Food Mart on East St. John Avenue Friday. He told police that he was being held captive by smugglers at the Mi Casa apartments on Duval Street.

He said the "coyotes" were holding him against his will, with no food or water, until his family paid a $2,100 ransom. A "coyote" is a term for a person who illegally transports immigrants across the border for a price.

"He said that his family was being told that they had to pay a ransom for him to be set free, and if his family didn't pay the ransom, they threatened him with bodily injury," spokesperson for Austin Police Department, Corporal Scott Perry, said.

The victim said he was able to jump through a window and call for help. When police went to the apartment to investigate, they found at least four other victims who claimed to be held against their will.

The other victims told the same story that the original victim told. They said the "coyotes" smuggled them into the country, then held them to try and extort money from their families.

Officials said this was not an isolated incident.

Carmen Cortes-Harms is the Director of Immigration Legal Services at Catholic Charities of Central Texas.

She said people don't always get what they're promised when they come to the United States.

"The families in their home countries, they don't know what�s happening and people get threats, so they're really afraid to speak and seek any help. It can happen to anybody who comes into this country and is trying to better their life," Cortes-Harms said.

David Taguacta was outside the Haven Food Mart when the victim arrived.

"He was held hostage, and he had no choice but to break that window to get out. At least he came to the right place, right here," Taguacta said.

APD is still looking into whether there are other victims or suspects. They're also trying to determine if there were other people involved in getting the victims to the apartment, and if that was their final destination, or just a stopping point.


According to officials, a Honduran man called 911 from the Haven Food Mart on East St. John Avenue Friday.
Human trafficking victims can be given a T visa.

A T visa allows them to remain in the U.S. as long as they assist in the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases.

The investigation remains ongoing. All the victims have been released into the care of relatives.


News 8 Austin | 24 Hour Local News | HEADLINES | APD arrests 2 men for holding immigrants for ransom

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Enslaved hooker's dead baby found during bust of sex trafficking ring

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

BY John Marzulli, Kerry Burke and Jonathan Lemire
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Thursday, November 26th 2009, 4:00 AM

A bust of a sex trafficking ring in Brooklyn led to a ghastly find - an enslaved hooker's baby entombed in concrete.

Feds and cops raided a Sunset Park flophouse late Tuesday and arrested the brothel's ringleaders and found a 10-gallon Rubbermaid container filled with cement.

X-rays revealed the body of a two-month-old boy sealed inside, officials said.

Domingo Salazar, 33, and Norma Mendez, 32, appeared in Brooklyn Federal Court last night on sex trafficking charges and could face additional counts, law enforcement sources said.

The couple, illegal immigrants from Mexico, forced a young woman into prostitution, viciously abused her and barred her from getting medical care for the infant when he fell ill last January, investigators said.

When the baby died, Salazar and Mendez allegedly forced the mom to dispose of the body in the container, which sat in the 40th St. apartment until yesterday.

"It's horrific," said Carmen Burgos, 45. who works nearby. "I can't have kids and I can't believe they did this to a baby. They couldn't be in their right minds."

The duo launched the prostitution ring out of their 40th St. apartment in April 2007, according to a federal affidavit.

Two months earlier, Salazar met the young woman in Mexico, got her pregnant, and smuggled her into the United States - telling her galpal Mendez was his sister, sources said.

She gave birth to Salazar's son soon after arriving in New York in November 2007, officials said. He still insisted she repay the $2,500 smuggling fee.

"She was working in a candy store but then she was forced to sell sex," said Special Agent in Charge James Hayes Jr. of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "She was in bad shape."

The woman was driven to customers across the city, made to service up to 25 clients a night and forced to turn over all her earnings, officials said.

Salazar and Mendez frequently abused the woman, punching her in the stomach, slashing her in the arm, hitting her in the head with a brick and bashing her in the face with a wooden board, officials said.

After investigators received a tip about the brothel, the woman, whose name was not released, was rescued from the 40th St. home and is now recovering.

"The girl was always in a short skirt and covered in bruises," said a neighbor. "You'd see different men coming in and out."

Investigators believe Salazar and Mendez also forced other immigrant women into prostitution but they have not been located. The accused pimps face 15 years to life in prison if convicted.

"The trafficking of human beings and sex slavery are unconscionable in this day and age and will not be tolerated," said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell.

jlemire@nydailynews.com

With Scott Shifrel

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/11/26/2009-11-26_dead_baby_found_in_brothel_bust_horror.html

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