Fact: Children Trafficked to Sell Flowers and Beg in Thailand

   
In an impoverished town in Thailand near the border with Myanmar, a trafficker offered a desperate Burmese widow 5,000 baht (US$160) on the spot, followed by an additional 4,000 baht ($120) per month for two of her 10 children to sell flowers in the Thai capital, Bangkok. The rent-a-child deal was to last three months, after which the boys would return home.

     But the deadline passed and the monthly payments stopped. After another three months the older brother, 10-year-old Ongsi, ran away and managed to make his way home to tell his mother they had to return to the capital to rescue 8-year-old Siyathon from a life of late-night flower selling and beatings.
   
Their case is not unusual. Across the city of more than 10 million, little Burmese vendors sell flowers and Cambodian children beg money from motorists, tourists and bar crawlers.

    “Most of these children are not Thai,” said Witanapat Rutanavaleepong, who manages the Stop Child Begging project for the Mirror Foundation, a leading Thai NGO that has become a focal point for child trafficking.

     He estimates there are at least 1,000 child beggars and flower sellers working in cities and tourist spots around the country. Since he began working with the Mirror Foundation two years ago, Witanapat has come across only one case involving three Thai children, although he handles up to 30 cases a month. The problem remains intractable in the capital.

   “Thailand has a problem with child begging that is hard to solve because the authorities do not see it as a problem that affects their [the children’s] future or society,” Witanapat said. “They see them as only child beggars, but the girls and some boys often go on to become sex workers, and the boys often become traffickers themselves.”

Modern Slavery News Round-Up

U.N., U.S. Call for Investigations into Thai Trafficking of Rohingya
Following a Reuters report of Thai involvement in the transport of Myanmar refugees into human trafficking organizations, the United Nations and the United States demand investigations of the situation. The plight of the Rohingya, a Muslim people residing in Myanmar but not recognized as citizens, has remained largely unnoticed by the international community until recently. Clashes between the Rohingya and the ethnic Rakhine Buddhists have placed the former in an extremely vulnerable position and their attempts to flee to a safer location have made them the perfect target for established trafficking rings.

Russia Launches Criminal Inquiry into U.S. Child Exchanges
Russia’s Investigative Committee has indicated that it is looking into whether Russian children adopted by American families were illegally trafficked in the United States. The probe comes in response to a Reuters series that showed how U.S. parents have used Internet bulletin boards on Yahoo and Facebook to offload children they adopted but no longer want.

Human Trafficking Bill Aims to Save More Children
The Strengthening the Child Welfare Response to Human Trafficking Act, sponsored by Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was introduced in the U.S. Senate this past Friday, December 13, and would help develop a uniform treatment toward minors who are victims of human trafficking or at-risk for being targeted by traffickers. The bill would also help officials understand the scope of the problem.

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.

Modern Slavery News Round-Up

Loyola Professor studies Modern-Day Slavery in New Orleans.
New Orleanians have always had a relaxed attitude about many things other cities deem illegal. But what happens when such cultural acceptance is extended to really serious issues like prostitution like Storyville back in the day or what is now called human trafficking. On this week's Notes from New Orleans Sharon Litwin talks with Laura Murphy, Assistant Professor and Director of the Modern Slavery Research read Project at Loyola University about where New Orleans stands on the issue of human trafficking.

Thailand arrest suspect leader in Human Trafficking Case.
Ko Myo, a 42-year-old Myanmar national, was shot and captured at a rubber plantation in southern Surat Thani during a raid by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and local police. The raid follows mounting international concern over the trafficking of Myanmar migrants in Thailand's lucrative fishing industry, one of several sources of human slavery in the country that could trigger U.S. sanctions. It also follows a Reuters investigation published on July 17 that found human smugglers selling some Rohingya Muslims into slavery on Thai fishing boats. Thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar in recent months after violence with Buddhists, who follow the country's majority religion.

Child Labor around the Globe.
Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child ratified by 154 countries, child labor is prohibited. But despite this, child labor is not only massively used in the factories, but is also becoming more common. According to the International Labor Organization, in developing countries about 250 million children have to work. It is reported that there are 153 million working children in Asia, 80 million - in Africa, and 17 million - in Latin America. "Many of them work under the conditions that are dangerous to their physical, mental and emotional development," human rights activists report. For example, children are involved in activities such as slavery, prostitution and pornography, participation in armed conflicts, as well as working in mines, agriculture and construction.

Modern Slavery News Round-Up

U.N. Report Calls for Decriminalizing Prostitution
Prostitutes in Thailand and New Zealand don't face the repressive laws that exist in the rest of the region, according to a new U.N. report that calls for the decriminalization of the voluntary sex trade. The worst countries to be caught possessing a condom while  appearing to work as a prostitute include China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia  Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Phillipines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. So-called "flying" sex workers are people, such as students, who work part-time. Cherie Hart, a spokesperson for the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), stated that the "criminalization [of prostitutes] increases vulnerability to HIV." The report found "no evidence that [criminalization] has prevented HIV epidemics among sex workers," and called for euphemisms, like the preferred use of the term/phrase 'sex work'.

California's Prop 35: Why Some Oppose an Anti-Sex-Trafficking Initiative
California is quite solidly behind Prop 35, and if it passes tomorrow, several new provisions will be put in place, including a raise in the punishment for sex trafficking of a minor with force or fraud to as high as a life sentence, increased fines for trafficking to pay for services that help victims, and required registration of all convicted sex traffickers to the sex offender registry. The FBI says California is a major hub for trafficking, and the Los Angeles Police Department says that more gangs are using forced prostitution for revenue, rather than drugs.

North Korea, China Joins Calls for Japan to Settle Grievances over Wartime Sex Slavery
North Korea and China joined South Korea's calls for Japan to resolve a lone-standing grievance regarding women forced to serve as sexual slaves during World War II, displaying a show of unity against Tokyo over the issue at a U.N. meeting, Seoul officials said Thursday. A total of seven nations, including North and South Korea, China, and the Netherlands, pressed Japan to settle the issue on a humanitarian level at last week's meeting of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council, a U.N. body. It appears that aging women were forced into sexual slavery in brothels run by the Japanese military during World War II.

Modern Slavery News Round-Up

Nestlé advances child labor battle plan
After the chocolate producer's cocao supply chain was found with numerous child labor violations, Nestlé has allowed the Fair Labor Association to perform a study in order to start eradicating child labor within its production cycle.  The investigation has uncovered numerous grievances including 72 injuries due to machetes and unpaid workers.  Jose Lopez, the vice-president of operations, has promised that they desire to make an impact. "We will work with the World Cocoa Foundation and be in schools, we will work with International Cocoa Initiative and gather the cooperatives and put people there ... to give training on the farmers."  Nestlé can now be held accountable for sustainable changes that can help bring about code-compliant cocoa.

Thailand remains major center for trafficking
According to their ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Thailand is still a soucre, transit and destination of modern slavery.  Provinces in the north are starting points for domestic trades, but victims also arrive from Laos, Myanmar and China.  One district, Songkhla Sadao, hosts 120 sex-offering establishments alone.  According to many sources, the victims are entered into the trade at the age of 11 to 15.  The anti-human trafficking unit rescued 36 underage girls from Myanmar last year alone.  Human trafficking has also come to include boys and men who are forced to work on fishing trawlers.

Gov't drive against trafficking obtains budgetary support
The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT)announced on the first that its proposed $100 million for 2013, which is double the current budget.  IACAT head and Justice Undersecretary Jose Vicente B. Salazar says the budget is consistent with the recommendations made by the newly released Global Annual Trafficking in Persons Report.  The funding will mainly go to address key issues such as advocacy, rehabilitation, prosecution and partnership.  Although the plan has yet to be finalized, the next step is to send the proposal through to Congress after is resumes on July 23rd.

Modern Slavery News Round-Up

Israel: Court Conviction a victory, but more needed
On May 10th the head of the largest trafficking operation in Israel, Rami Saban, received an 18-year jail sentence.  Saban and three partners are accused of having trafficked thousands of young women from Eastern Europe.  They are said to have recruited mostly from Moldova and Ukraine on the false pretenses of offering careers as cleaners.  The women were then sold to brothels based on age and appearance once they were smuggled into Israel from Egypt.  According to the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons report, Israel "does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is making significant efforts to do so."  The Israeli government has instituted special training for police officers and has established a shelter for victims who escape, but more needs to be done.

Forced labor in the seafood industry
Sea vessels, or "motherships", that serve as deep-sea resupply stations have become sites for laundering products gathered by forced labor.  Once a squid or sardine comes aboard a mothership, it is almost impossible to know whether it was netted by paid fisherman or sea slaves.  Slavery is Thailand's deep-sea fishing trade is an open secret, recognized by the US, the UN and even within the Thai government.  In the wild-caught seafood industry, forced labor persists because out in the open sea, the "law is soft," says Bpa Ouan, a fishing syndicate chief based in Samut Sakhon, Thailand's hub for the fishing industry.  "We have to handle problems ourselves," he says.

Human Trafficking: McKenna, AG's blast Backpage.com
One of the most common things heard from law enforcement regarding human trafficking is that the trade has moved from the real world to the virtual one.  One of the easiest avenues for human trafficking is through websites that contain "adult" sections, most notoriously, Backpage.com.  Washington State Attorney, General Rob McKenna, along with 48 other attorneys general (AG) are pressuring the site to close it's adult section.   "One reason police are critical of Backpage.com is because too often the victims of prostitution are children," says Missouri AG Chris Koster.  In response, Liz McDougall, the general counsel, has promised to only cooperate with the AGs if they rescind their request to have that section discontinued. It is a request, they say, they will not obey.

Modern Slavery News Round-Up

Child Marriage: A Human Trafficking Problem?

According to a major recent survey by the Ministry of Health, 43% of married women in India in the age group of 20 to 24 had been child brides.  The legal age for a girl to marry is 18, but for uneducated girls the average age is 15.  "There is real competition in law in India, between federal law and the law of custom," says Michele Goodwin, a law professor and expert on child marriage.  Over 70% of young brides said they were married before the age of 18 and, like human trafficking, they had no say in the arrangements and they often experience sexual and physical abuse.  "She is the property of anyone in the household," says Goodwin.  Money exchanges hands in the form of a dowry and once a daughter has been sent off there are more resources left for the rest of the family.  

Northern Virginia Bill Puts Human Trafficking in Spotlight

In a rare show of bipartisanship in Virginia, Republicans and Democrats passed a slate of bills that will combat violence against women and human trafficking and create harsher punishments for criminals who commit these acts.  Three of the slate are aimed at stemming the trend of human trafficking in Northern Virginia where gang members were arrested for trafficking high school girls.  The State Board of Education will have to provide training and materials to local school divisions to help identify and report instances of human trafficking and strips clubs will be required to post the human trafficking hotline number.  "Passing the bills is the easy part," says Sen. Janet Howell.  "Much harder is providing the services to the victims of violent crimes." 

Man Arrested for selling Thai Slaves to Japan

Police arrested a Thai man for selling women as sex salves to Japan last year.  After being rescued in September, three women told police that Chakraphan Wacharaphin has arranged travel documents for them to work in a restaurant in Japan, but they were then forced into prostitution upon arrival.  Chakraphan denies being involved in human trafficking, but he did earn thousands of dollars for arranging the women's visas.  If found guilty, he will face up to 10 years in prison in Thailand.   

Slavery Growing in Thailand's Fishing, Construction, and Agriculture Industries

According to a leading human rights expert, “[h]uman trafficking in Cambodia and Thailand is no longer limited to women and children…[p]oor farmers in Cambodia are convinced to leave home on the promise of better work in Thailand. Many are finding themselves on long-haul trawlers in the South China Sea and forced to work against their will.”

According to a US report, the Thai government “reported 18 convictions in trafficking-related cases in 2010—an increase from eight known convictions during the previous year; as of May 2011, only five of the 18 convictions reported by the government could be confirmed to be for trafficking offenses.”

Taing Ky* and his cousin were recruited to make “good money” as gardeners in Thailand, but they found themselves forced to work on Thai fishing boats in the South China Sea. Taing Ky is a native Cambodian and father of five. After six months of torture, enslavement, and deplorable working conditions, he and his cousin managed to escape while their boat was offloading on Benjina island in northern Indonesia.

It’s estimated that thousands of Cambodian, Thai, and Burmese men are presently enslaved on long-haul trawlers, far beyond the reach of law enforcement officials. "It's slavery. There's no other way to describe it," Lim Tith, national project coordinator for the UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP), told IRIN

According to an IRIN report, “[t]hose lucky enough to escape report 20-hour work days, food deprivation, regular beatings and threats at the hands of the crew, many of whom are armed…So bad are conditions that those deemed expendable are tossed overboard.” One survivor stated that “The captain had a gun. We had no choice but to work.”

Recently, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, urged the Thai government to "do more to combat human trafficking effectively and protect the rights of migrant workers who are increasingly vulnerable to forced and exploitative labour.” "Thailand faces significant challenges as a source, transit and destination country," said the UN expert at the end of her 12-day mission to the country. "The trend of trafficking for forced labour is growing in scale in the agricultural, construction and fishing industries," she said.

When these crimes occur on fishing boats located outside Thai waters, there’s very little that Thai authorities can do to help the trafficked workers; and therefore, the Thai and Cambodian governments must take stronger action to effectively combat human trafficking.

Sources:

http://deepseanews.com/2011/08/sweeping-fishermens-human-rights-under-the-rug/

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93606

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21850

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/29/Slavery-in-Thailand-spreading/UPI-40171314630716/

http://www.mysinchew.com/node/62463

Image: http://cambodiatodayz.com/migrants-tell-of-slavery-on-thai-fishing-boats.html