human trafficking

Firsthand accounts from members around the world.
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Whitebird Sings
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human trafficking

Post by Whitebird Sings » May 9th, 2005, 1:23 pm

Did you know that trafficking in humans is the fastest growing business for organized crime?

I don't have to tell thinking and caring people what horrors these people face... and that most of them are children. judih wrote about one story on the latest Afghanistan thread...

We CAN make a difference by becoming more aware, spreading the word and collectively demonstrating our outrage!

Here is a start:

http://www.stophumantraffic.org/country.html

Please add your voice... and pass it on!

Shalom

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Post by Whitebird Sings » May 12th, 2005, 8:01 am

----- Original Message -----
From: Anti-Slavery International
To: glasgow@distributel.net
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2005 7:23 AM
Subject: Urgent Action as Niger Government arrests activist


Dear Janette, [my birthname]

In March we wrote to tell you some good news that the Niger Government was going to hold a ceremony that would mark an end to slavery throughout the country. 7,000 people were to be released in one region of Niger.


However, that release did not go ahead as planned. A ceremony was held and slavery was announced to be a criminal offence, but the authorities warned slave masters not to release their slaves officially. If they did, they were told they would face up to 30 years in prison.


Now, in an alarming move, the Government of Niger has arrested the country’s leading anti-slavery activist, Ilguilas Weila. He and another activist, Alassane Biga, remain in prison following their arrest over a week ago.


On 5 May, they were charged with illegally soliciting funds from an international organisation based in London, meaning Anti-Slavery International. This charge is unfounded and baseless.


On 28 April, Ilguilas Weila, president of Niger's pioneering anti-slavery organisation Timidria and 2004 Anti-Slavery Award winner, Alassane Biga, Assistant General Secretary of Timidria's Tillabery office, and four other people, were arrested and accused of “propagating false information on slavery and attempting to raise funds illegally”. The charge of propagating false information on slavery has now been dropped and the four men who were arrested with Weila and Biga were released.


The Government's actions against Weila and Biga appear to be a concerted campaign to discredit them and the work of Timidria as a whole.


At least 43,000 people are in slavery across Niger. They are born into an established slave class and are made to carry out all labour required by their masters without pay, including herding, cleaning, and moving their master’s tent to ensure he and his family are always in the shade. Slaves are inherited, given as gifts and babies may be taken away from their mothers once weaned. They are denied all rights and choice.


In May 2004 a new law came into effect making practising slavery punishable by up to 30 years in prison. This was in response to the publication of the first national survey of slavery, which was jointly carried out by Timidria and Anti-Slavery International. The report established the extent and countrywide existence of slavery, having interviewed over 11,000 people, most of whom were found to be in slavery.


For more information and background on slavery in Niger and Timidria go to www.antislavery.org/homepage/news/latestnews.htm


Please send an email now to the European Commissioner for External Relations and the United States Department of State, to ask them to seek the immediate release of Ilguilas Weila and Alassane Biga.
You can copy and paste the sample letter below into a fresh email although using your own words will carry more weight.


Send your emails to:
1. The Honorable Constance Berry Newman,
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, US Department of State
E-mail: (care of Connie Lykes, Executive Assistant): lykesc@state.gov
Salutation: Dear Assistant Secretary Newman


2. Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldner,
EU Commissioner for External Relations, European Commission
Email: benita.ferrero-waldner@cec.eu.int
Salutation: Dear Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner


Sample letter:


---------------------------------------------


Dear [insert name]


I am writing to express my concern over the arrest and detention of anti-slavery activists Ilguilas Weila and Alassane Biga in Niger.


Ilguilas Weila is president of Niger's pioneering anti-slavery organisation Timidria, which won the Anti-Slavery Award in 2004. Alassane Biga is Assistant General Secretary of Timidria's Tillabery office. They remain in prison following their arrest over a week ago for their work against slavery in the country. On 5 May, they were charged with illegally soliciting funds from an international organisation based in London, meaning Anti-Slavery International.


Anti-Slavery International and Timidria have been partners for many years and the current accusations arise from work they are undertaking jointly to raise public awareness of slavery in Niger and to assist with those currently living in slavery. Anti-Slavery International and Timidria have categorically denied the accusations against Mr Weila. The Government's actions against Messrs Weila and Biga appear to be a concerted campaign to discredit them and the work of Timidria as a whole.


I urge you to take all necessary measures to pressure the government of Niger to grant the immediate release of Messrs Weila and Biga and to drop the charges against them.


Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.


Yours sincerely,
[your name]


---------------------------------------------


Please send us copies of any replies you receive.


Thank you for your support.
Best wishes
Sarah Williams
Campaigns Officer
e-mail: s.williams@antislavery.org

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Post by Whitebird Sings » May 14th, 2005, 5:45 pm

...300 boys missing -- and no one seems to care... speculation abounds about what has happened to these little boys from various African countries -- abuse, sex trade... public outrage?... VERY LITTLE... why? ...is it because it is happening in a far off place... no... it's happening in "Tony Blair country"!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/child/story/0 ... 35,00.html

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Post by Whitebird Sings » May 14th, 2005, 5:51 pm

Buy a poster...
and
you will be

(1) supporting a good cause; and

(2) raising awareness


http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/res ... osters.htm


I have one in my office at the university where I work... and oh, the discussions it has fuelled with my students... awesome!

{{{{{hugs}}}}}


WB

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Post by Whitebird Sings » May 24th, 2005, 5:25 pm

Togo crisis may boost child trafficking -aid group

24 May 2005 13:34:41 GMT

By Clar Ni Chonghaile

DAKAR, May 24 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of children are sent into near-slavery by desperate parents in West Africa's impoverished Togo and a wave of violence after disputed polls could exacerbate the problem, an aid group said on Tuesday.

In a report called "For the Price of a Bike", children's group Plan said lack of money, education and hope drove many parents in rural villages to send their offspring away to work.

Sometimes middlemen took the children, sometimes relatives and friends acted as traffickers and forced the youngsters to work for virtually no pay or passed them on to racketeers. Sometimes, the children themselves ran away to make money.

"These children are born into nothing and have nothing to give them hope for the future," Stefanie Conrad, country director of Plan Togo, told Reuters.

Plan, a non-governmental organisation that works in 45 developing countries, said 12 percent of children in Togo were being trafficked -- an estimate based on a 1997 study that found 313,000 children aged between five and 15 had been trafficked.

Already starved of international aid, former French colony Togo slipped further into chaos in February when authoritarian leader Gnassingbe Eyadema died after 38 years in power and the army named his son Faure Gnassingbe as president.

Gnassingbe stepped down under international pressure and elections were held last month. But the opposition accused the late ruler's son of winning the poll by fraud. Street clashes and a crackdown by security forces have sent thousands fleeing.

On Tuesday, the U.N. refugee agency said more than 33,000 people had taken refuge in neighbouring Benin and Ghana, with people still arriving. Many are also on the move inside Togo.

"People are moving to the villages in search of temporary protection from the violence. We have many children in the villages who are much more vulnerable to trafficking," Conrad said. Children on their own in refugee camps were also at risk.

BITTER MEMORIES

The children of poor subsistence farmers, farm labourers or small-scale traders are easy prey for traffickers. The problem is complicated by a traditional practice of sending children to richer, often city-dwelling relatives to improve their chances.

The most common destinations for children are Benin, Nigeria, Gabon, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.

The report included testimonies from children like Hada, who was 16 when he went to Benin to earn money for a bicycle. He then moved to Nigeria and worked as a farm labourer for two years.

"I was afraid ... The boss never came ... The other one who came used to beat us with a stick. I was sad and felt very lonely," he was quoted as saying in the report.

Hada eventually bought a bicycle and set off for Togo with 60 other boys. One boy died on the trip but Hada made it home.

Plan called on Togo's government to create a legal framework to protect children and to push for wider birth registration.

The report said children were often traumatised and sick when they returned.

Many had been infected with AIDS after sexual abuse.

Mouniratou was 16 when she was sent to Gabon. She returned to Togo with a month-old baby and AIDS.

"I have bitter memories," she was quoted as saying. Her baby died aged seven months and Mouniratou died a month later.


AlertNet news is provided by Reuters

This article can be found at:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24702878.htm

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Post by Whitebird Sings » June 4th, 2005, 8:39 am

Modern slavery ships up to 800,000 a year, U.S. reports
Last Updated Fri, 03 Jun 2005 15:43:57 EDT
CBC News

Up to 800,000 people are transported across international borders each year in a form of slavery, the U.S. State Department reported on Friday.

About 80 per cent of them are female and about half are children, according to the department's annual Trafficking in Humans report.

Most are destined for prostitution, forced labour, soldiering, or the child sex trade, the report said.

"We estimate that up to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year, and millions more internally," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters on releasing the report. [NOW -- WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT Ms. RICE???]


The Middle East allies of the United States were the most notable additions to a list of countries not doing enough to halt the global transport of human slaves, according to the report.

The list included Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have all helped the U.S. presence in the Middle East and Iraq.

Other new countries to the list, such as Bolivia, Jamaica, Cambodia, and Togo, joined a list of the repeat offenders. Cuba, Myanmar, Ecuador, North Korea, Sudan and Venezuela were added over the past five years since the department began the report.

"The U.S. has a particular duty to fight this scourge because trafficking in persons is an affront to the principles of human dignity and liberty upon which this nation was founded," Rice said.

New this year is a focus on labour trafficking, a type of slavery the report said involved millions of people, most frequently in their own country.

"The child sold by his parents to the owner of a brick kiln on the outskirts of his rural Indian village is a trafficking victim," the authors wrote.

Bangladesh, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana and Sierra Leone were removed from this year's list because they had improved measures to combat human trafficking, the report said.

from: http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/ ... 50603.html


And we say to ourselves... "but it's not on our shores, so why should I care?" or "there is nothing I can do?" WRONG! -- (1) we are ONE human race; (2) inquire about where what you purchase comes from and who made it; (3) it is happening on our shores -- whether it is called "working at WalMart" or stories like the one below...

AS FOR WHAT TO DO -- see posts above this one -- Amnesty International is not the only organization that is doing work in this area... but it's a good start in terms of how to help... how to have your voice heard!

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Post by Whitebird Sings » June 4th, 2005, 8:43 am

First human trafficking charges laid

Last updated Apr 13 2005 07:07 PM PDT
CBC News

VANCOUVER – A Vancouver man faces several charges of human trafficking, in the first such prosecution since Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act became law three years ago.

The charges against Michael Ng, who ran the King City Massage Parlour in Vancouver, follow a joint investigation by the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police -- who have federal jurisdiction] and Vancouver police.

He first came to the attention of police last year when they answered a call about a violent incident at the massage parlour, which also offers acupuncture and alternative therapies.

Ng was charged under the Criminal Code for bringing two women from China into this country and forcing them into prostitution.

Along with charges of human trafficking, he is charged with uttering threats against them, assault and assault with a weapon.

Sgt. Matt Kelly of the Vancouver Police Department says victims of trafficking are forced to come to Canada against their will, or they are deceived into coming.

"They may be deceived that they're coming over to be a waitress or a hostess in a restaurant or something along that line. And then they get here, and discover they're in a massage parlour," he says

"It could with something like legitimate massage…and then it accelerates into them being either beaten or compelled into performing sexual activity for money."

The maximum penalty under the charges is life in prison, and a $1-million fine. Ng will appear in court in May.

from: http://vancouver.cbc.ca/regional/servle ... ng20050413

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Post by Whitebird Sings » June 4th, 2005, 8:48 am

READ THE UNITED NATIONS BACKGROUNDER TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS ISSUE!!

...it is a pervasive problem -- A GLOBAL PROBLEM
AND ...it is a GROWING problem!!


The U.N. reports:

From Himalayan villages to Eastern European cities, people � especially women and girls � are attracted by the prospect of a well-paid job as a domestic servant, waitress or factory worker. Traffickers recruit victims through fake advertisements, mail-order bride catalogues and casual acquaintances.

Upon arrival at their destination, victims are placed in conditions controlled by traffickers while they are exploited to earn illicit revenues. Many are physically confined, their travel or identity documents are taken away and they or their families are threatened if they do not cooperate. Women and girls forced to work as prostitutes are blackmailed by the threat that traffickers will tell their families. Trafficked children are dependent on their traffickers for food, shelter and other basic necessities. Traffickers also play on victims� fears that authorities in a strange country will prosecute or deport them if they ask for help.

Trafficking in human beings is a global issue, but a lack of systematic research means that reliable data on the trafficking of human beings that would allow comparative analyses and the design of countermeasures is scarce. There is a need to strengthen the criminal justice response to trafficking through legislative reform, awareness-raising and training, as well as through national and international cooperation. The support and protection of victims who give evidence is key to prosecuting the ringleaders behind the phenomenon.

[to read the rest of the backgrounder and more information... click on:

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/trafficki ... eings.html ]

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Post by Dave The Dov » June 4th, 2005, 11:16 am

Got to love it when inhumanity makes a business out of humanity i.e. human trafficing!!!!
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Post by Whitebird Sings » June 4th, 2005, 12:05 pm

mais oui Dave... but collectively... well, you know!

Shalom mon ami!
WB

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Post by Dave The Dov » June 4th, 2005, 1:20 pm

Ghassho to you Whitebird Sings!!!!
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Post by Whitebird Sings » June 24th, 2005, 10:22 am

Sweatshop owner sentenced to 40 years

Last Updated Thu, 23 Jun 2005 20:03:43 EDT
CBC News

A United States court in Hawaii has sentenced the Korean owner of a sweatshop factory to 40 years in jail, the most severe punishment ever imposed in a human trafficking case.

Prosecutors called it the biggest case ever of "modern day slavery" and said that the tough sentence was justified. "Justice was served, and we're glad the victims are safe," said prosecutor Robert Moossy.

The U.S. Justice Department said Lee Soo-Kil held more than 300 victims from China and Vietnam as forced labourers in involuntary servitude at his garment factory in American Samoa.

He's accused of using arrests, forced deportations and brutal physical beatings to keep workers under control.

The court was told that he ordered a worker to gouge the eye of another worker who dared to complain about her living and working conditions.

The workers were recruited from China and state-owned labour export companies in Vietnam, and each had paid a fee of up to $5,000 US to get a job at Daewoosa Samoa Ltd. in Pago Pago.

About 200 of the workers have been allowed to remain in the United States. Approximately 100 others have opted to return to their homes.

with files from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/ ... 50623.html

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Post by Whitebird Sings » June 27th, 2005, 11:16 am

We DO make a difference... I KNOW we do!

See here --->

Dear Janette, [aka Whitebird Sings :wink: ]

After nearly two months in prison, Niger's leading anti-slavery activists, Ilguilas Weila and Alassane Biga, have been released on bail.

Thank you to everyone who has sent letters, faxes and e-mails on behalf of Weila and Biga. They have expressed their thanks to everyone who has helped secure their release from prison.


Anti-Slavery International is still calling for all charges against the activists to be dropped. Slavery remains a significant problem in Niger and we are urging the Government to work in co-operation with Timidria to end this serious abuse.


Please visit our website at
www.antislavery.org/homepage/campaign/nigeraction.htm to take action now.


Write to the European Commission and the US State Department to ask them to apply pressure for all charges against Weila and Biga to be dropped and for the Niger Government to re-engage with tackling the problem of slavery.


Thank you for your support.


Best wishes


Sarah Williams
Campaigns Officer
Anti-Slavery International
s.williams@antislavery.org

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