Human Trafficking (Slavery) News Roundup: November 16, 2010

The Examiner: Global Human Trafficking Roundup (November 16, 2010)

EUROPE

Finland: A Somali born Swedish national was sentenced 60 days in jail for attempting to smuggle foreign women. He attempted to bring young Somali women from Stockholm to Turku. While woman testified that she paid smuggling fee to the man to come to Finland and traveled without identification,  the man claimed that he met her by chance at the airport.

Romania: Increasing number of Romanian women are working as prostitutes in Finland. Romania is one of the biggest hub of human trafficking in Europe, according to the report. One advocate in Finland says that as the number of women who are in sex slavery is increasing, the average of their age is becoming younger.

ASIA

Philippines: Immigration officers caught six Indian nationals who were heading to Malaysia. During the interrogation, they admitted that the human trafficking ring based in India facilitated their trip to Malaysia. The Immigration authority said that none of the Indians possessed proper documents. The Indians also will be deported immediately.

Cambodia: A journalist investigates Cambodia’s child prostitution with a British police.  When they walked into the bar and asked for younger girls, the madam brought three or four girls in the age between 12 and 13. And when they asked for children that are even younger, the madam said that she could arranged something with 6 or 7 year old off the premise.

AFRICA

South Africa: The Congress of South African Trade Union discovered a Chinese labor trafficking operation in South Africa. According to the report, 16 Chinese workers are working illegally for a Chinese subcontractor company. The authority also raised the concerned that this is only a tip of the iceberg. In Cape Town, a 72 year old suspected child pornographer was granted bail on Monday. He was arrested after the law enforcement searched his residence and found many evidences of child pornography.

ColorLines: White House Says Child Soldiers Are Ok, if They Fight Terrorists

The administration stunned human rights groups last month by sidestepping a commitment to help countries curb the military exploitation of children. Josh Rogin at Foreign Policyreported that President Obama issued apresidential memorandum granting waivers from the Child Soldiers Prevention Act to four countries: Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Yemen. The memo instructed Secretary of State Hilary Clinton that it is in our “national interest” to continue extending military aid to those countries, despite their failure to comply with the rules Congress passed and George W. Bush signed in 2008.

A thumbs-up for child soldiers from the pen of President Obama? Whitehouse spokesperson P.J. Crowleyexplained it was a strategic decision to ease the 2008 law. The rationale is that on balance, it’s more effective for the U.S. to keep providing military assistance that will help countries gradually evolve out of the practice of marshaling kids to the battlefield, rather than isolating them.

KSTP TV: Feds Bust Human Trafficking Ring in Minnesota

Early Monday morning, federal, state and local police started arresting people in several states in connection with the human trafficking ring. Twenty-nine people were indicted and 17 of them are from Minnesota.

Investigators say the Somalian gangs who operated the ring forced young girls into sex for money and drugs.  The Somalian gangs transported the young girls across state lines into four different states to keep their operation undercover. The indictments also indicate that several of the suspects are accused of committing robberies and stealing credit cards to help finance their illicit sex rings.

The Columbus Dispatch: Proposal on Human Trafficking Might Die in Legislature’s Lame-Duck Session

Indeed, a lame-duck session of the General Assembly later this year will decide whether Ohio joins 43 states with stand-alone laws or remains a haven for those who traffic in people for sex or labor.

“I dare them not to” pass the bill, the Toledo Democrat said yesterday at a Statehouse news conference. “We’re going to be held accountable for not doing anything.”

She was joined by members of the new Abolition Ohio Rescue and Restore Coalition in the Dayton area. Also backing a tougher law are federally supported human-trafficking coalitions in Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.

The Ghanaian Times: Human Traffickers Stopped at Aflao

The Aflao Immigration Control unit of the Ghana Immigration Service has recorded 39 intercepted cases of human trafficking involving Ghanaians, Togolese, Nigerians and Chinese nationals.

Children and adults between the ages of eight and 23 were being trafficked along the Ghana-Togo border.

Accra Daily Mail: GIS Wages War Against Human Trafficking

India-Based Human-Trafficking Syndicate Busted

MANILA, Philippines—A human trafficking syndicate based in India is facilitating the travel of Indian nationals through the country’s southern backdoor, immigration officer-in-charge Ronaldo Ledesma said.

Over the week, Ledesma said immigration officers arrested six Indian nationals while trying to enter the country through the southern seaport in Tawi-Tawi without the proper documents.