Modern Slavery News Round-up

South Orange Recognizes Human Trafficking Awareness Day
In honor of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, which is Friday, January 11, The South Orange Board of Trustees presented a proclamation to the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking during its Dec. 9 meeting.

NJ coalition warns Kearny pols about human trafficking at Super Bowl
The New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking is gearing up to fight what a representative called “modern day slavery.” At a recent meeting of Kearny’s governing body, Jersey City resident Stephen M. DeLuca told officials that large sports events like the Super Bowl are breeding grounds for human trafficking in the form of prostitution and forced labor. An estimated 30 million people worldwide are victims of the practice, according to DeLuca.

Labor and sex traffickers practice modern slavery in Colorado
The FBI's Rocky Mountain Innocence Lost Task Force rescued 59 teen prostitutes from flesh peddlers in the state this year, up from 49 in 2012. In July, Operation Cross Country, a nationwide sweep that targeted victims of underage prostitution and their pimps, recovered 105 juveniles and bagged 150 pimps in 76 cities. Denver ranked fourth in the number of teens rescued, with nine juveniles, fewer than only San Francisco, Milwaukee and Detroit. These are chilling statistics that indicate modern-day slavers continue to ply their trade in Colorado.

Sudan: UN strengthens support to combating human trafficking, smuggling
The United Nations refugee agency is working with the Government of Sudan and partners to reduce the number of kidnappings and incidents of trafficking and smuggling in, through and out of the country. “Those most vulnerable are the newly arrived asylum-seekers, mainly of Eritrean origin, who cross the border into Eastern Sudan,” according to a joint news release by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The strategy, which strengthens the capacity of the Government, also provides care and psychosocial support for victims, and builds awareness of risks among the families in camps and urban areas.

Maine joins national effort to combat human trafficking
Maine has joined other states in asking Congress to fund anti-human trafficking measures. Maine Attorney General Janet Mills and attorneys general in 46 other states sent a letter asking Congress to fund a measure passed in 2000 designed to protect human trafficking victims and help prosecute people doing the trafficking. The letter says human trafficking is tied as the second largest and is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, generating roughly $32 billion each year. According to a study of Department of Justice human trafficking task force cases, 83 percent of sex trafficking victims identified in the United States were U.S. citizens.

Modern Slavery News Round-up

Coast Guard rescues 3 women from human trafficking in Zamboanga Government operatives this week rescued in Zamboanga City three Filipina would-be victims of human trafficking bound for Sabah. The operatives arrested the suspected traffickers identified as Benhar Mukin and Estrella Hasan, both from Zamboanga City. According to the three victims, one Shon Joon Sin recruited them in Pampanga and promised them decent jobs with good salarie in Sabah.

Subway Owners Arrested After Human Trafficking Investigation Married couple Amrutlal Patel and Dakshaben Patel were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly harboring and employing illegal aliens in their four Subway Restaurants in Lexington, Ky. The arrests were made after a 3-month human trafficking investigation. One of their Subways was raided shortly after they were taken into custody, as reported by local NBC affiliate WLEX-TV. Three of the Patels' employees, all Indian nationals illegally in the United States, were brought to the Lexington Police Department for questioning, according to official court documents obtained by The Huffington Post.

Cindy McCain, Christie to talk human trafficking
Cindy McCain slammed the National Football League on Wednesday for not being “willing to deal” with the issue of sex trafficking at the Super Bowl. “Everybody else has been very helpful, the NFL’s not willing to deal with this issue, and I can’t answer why, I don’t know why,” McCain said during POLITICO’s Women Rule conversation series, co-sponsored by The Tory Burch Foundation and Google, which was hosted at The Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Report includes 19 indicators of sex trafficking in Maine
PORTLAND, Maine — The national Polaris Project released a report Thursday dissecting data gleaned from calls placed to its human trafficking hotline, a help number that has seen a sharp increase in contacts over the last five years. In Maine, the organization reported that its hotline netted 19 of what Polaris Project defines as high- or moderate-level indicators of trafficking in the most recent year. However, local experts say that number is just the tip of the iceberg and that a continued push to provide comprehensive services to victims is necessary.

Vital 'golden hour' after human trafficking victims are rescued
The delicate moments after suspected victims of human trafficking are rescued are so important they are known by care workers as "the golden hour". The Salvation Army holds the government contract to help trafficking victims for the first 45 days of their release and organizes an interview room in a church, council office or other under-used building. According to Ann Reed, the charity's anti-trafficking response coordinator, here the victim can shower, eat, see a doctor, put on some new clothes and speak to a non-uniformed police officer for an hour or two to give an overview of their experience.

Modern Slavery News Round-up

Europe cycle raises awareness of human trafficking A team of passionate anti-trafficking campaigners has just returned from an 11-day cycle that took in some of Europe's human trafficking routes. The Freedom Challenge cycle started on October 6 in Sofia, Bulgaria and took in 10 countries, finishing on Wednesday afternoon in Westminster. The purpose of the cycle was to raise money and awareness for the A21 campaign against human trafficking ahead of anti-slavery day today. The cyclists hope to raise 210,000 euros for A21 shelters and victim assistance programs.

Human trafficking an American problem, experts say at forum Wednesday
The average American is largely unaware of how prevalent human trafficking is across the country, trafficking experts said Wednesday. “Often people think it’s an international issue, but primarily it’s a much bigger issue here in America,” said Jaime Meyers, managing director of Children at Risk. Undercover Dallas police officers pose as buyers online to target trafficking sales online. The program, called “Operation Brick and Mortar,” rescued six children from June of last year to August, said Lt. Alfred Diorio of the Dallas Police Department’s High Risk Victims and Trafficking Unit. The unit has made 118 arrests in the past year, many of which resulted in “significant sentencing” for the perpetrator, Diorio said.

 Maine efforts to combat human trafficking get federal funding
Advocates for homeless teenagers and young people with disabilities in southern Maine say a $400,000 federal grant will help dedicate resources for young people who have been coerced into trading sex for money or a place to sleep. The two-year grant from the Department of Justice to Preble Street allocates funds directly to help victims of human trafficking. The social services agency in Portland, which also operates a teen center, will administer the money to agencies in Cumberland and York counties. The money will also be used for health and mental health programs for victims, for legal assistance to vulnerable immigrants, and for protective orders.

Palawan intensifies campaign against human trafficking
In an effort to intensify campaign against trafficking in persons in Palawan, the provincial government spearheaded the holding of a seminar-workshop attended by members of the provincial Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).The two-day activity discussed salient features of Republic Act No. 9208 or “Anti-Human Trafficking in Persons Act” and the recent Republic Act No. 10364 or the “Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012,” which was enacted for a stronger anti-human trafficking measure. Under the RA 10364, disclosure of the identities and circumstances of human trafficking offenders is already allowed. It also looked at the present situation of trafficking in persons in the national level and to zero in on the provincial situation. Palawan and Puerto Princesa City have had human trafficking cases particularly in southern Palawan taking the so-called “backdoor” to Malaysia.

Thailand must do more to end human trafficking
According to humantrafficking.org, Thailand is a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking: ‘It is a destination-side hub of exploitation in the Greater Mekong sub-region, for both sex and labor exploitation.’ The majority of Thai trafficking victims are trafficked to the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bahrain and China, for both sexual and labor exploitation. It also said that the Mekong region, compared to many other parts of the world, contains very diverse patterns of human trafficking – internal and cross-border; highly organized or small-scale; sex and labour, through both formal and informal recruitment mechanisms.