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Executive Director and Founder of BTFF

Monday, September 10, 2012

Modern Slavery News Round-Up

Myanmar military releases 42 more child soldiers
Myanmar authorities released 42 more child soldiers from the armed forces [last] Monday, a move to further end recruitment of under-age children in the armed forces, reported Xinhua, citing local media. The 42 children, who are from across the country;s regions and states, were handed over to their parents in the presence of officials of the ministry of social welfare. The move came after an agreement was signed between Myanmar government and the United Nations in late June on prevention of further recruitment and use of under-age children in the armed forces.

With the upcoming elections, you can't turn on the television without seeing a negative campaign ad or heated news segment giving Americans a glimpse of the political divisions that currently exist in out country. While politicians argue over our future government, we lose sight of how the actions of our current government are impacting the lives of real people right now, like the millions of enslaved men, women and children in the U.S. and around the world at risk if Congress fails to pass the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act by the end of the year.

NY taxi drivers get sex trafficking lesson
New York City taxi drivers will soon not just be taking passengers around the city, they're being asked to help spot potential sex trafficking victims. Under a new city law, drivers should be on the lookout for clues that a passenger is a victim of a sex trafficking activity.In a little under three months the law will kick into effect, and drivers will be required to alert authorities if they see suspicious situations in their cabs which may cause them to believe there is a trafficking victim in the backseat. The city plans to run a training course for the drivers of taxis and private cars for hire. A video is planned to teach what to look for.


A Move That Could Help Reduce Child Labor
Campaigners for the abolition of child labor in India welcomed a Cabinet decision Tuesday which would ban the employment of children under the age of 14. The government's ministers called on Parliament to pass an amendment to the Child Labour Act 1986, a law which, until now, has allowed children below 14 to be involved in "non-hazardous" work. The amendment, if passed, would impose a maximum three-year jail term and 50,000-rupee fine for anyone employing a child under the age of 14 in any kind of work or engaging under-18s in hazardous work. The change would be the most significant development in India's child labor laws since the introduction of a partial ban in 1986, according to activists working for an end to the practice.

Fair Food Program helps end the use of slavery in the tomato fields
Since 1997, the Justice Department has prosecutes seven cases of slavery in the Florida agricultural industry - four involving tomato harvesters - freeing more than 1,000 men and women. The stories are a catalogue of horrors: abductions, pistol whippings, confinement at gunpoint, debt bondage and starvation wages. Thankfully, those enslaved workers may be among the last found in Florida's tomato fields. Today, virtually all Florida tomato growers have joined the Fair Food Program, which includes a code of conduct outlawing debt bondage and requiring human conditions of labor and a more livable wage. Shade stations, toilets and drinking water are appearing in the fields, and educators are spreading word about the code to the harvesters.

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