Forced Labor News from December

Throughout the month, there are many cases or stories that break regarding forced labor. They are usually not on the front pages of our newspapers, rather they are buried deep and sometimes are only accessible through the internet. These are some of the stories, both headline articles and those that are not, from December.

A couple in South Florida was sentenced for forcing almost 40 Filipinos to work in country clubs and hotels. The couple pleaded guilty to crimes such as visa fraud. The workers had their passports confiscated and were not allowed to leave their living quarters without an escort. The victims were also deprived of their wages and proper medical care.

A woman from Russia is suing a man she married in California for forcing her and her daughter into slave labor. She met the man through an online dating service. Within weeks of moving to the US, the man and his son began beating the women and forcing them to work seven days a week performing tasks such as moving large rocks on the father's rural property.

Carmakers have until January 31st to make comments on proposed regulations to prevent the use of conflict minerals in the production of vehicles. Some of the mines where minerals such as tin and tungsten are extracted employ slave and child labor.

A journalist from Hong Kong claims that Local Communist Party officials in the Sichuan Province of China are behind an organization that kidnapped people who were homeless or mentally disabled and forced them into slave labor. The investigation suggests that some of the victims were shocked, beaten and forced to live in very poor conditions.

During an INTERPOL operation, 140 victims of child labor were discovered in Gabon. The operation focused on victims exploited in the local markets, but the children were from a total of 10 different countries. More then 44 suspected traffickers were arrested. The children were forced to do various tasks including carrying heavy items and selling goods.

A jury in Brooklyn awarded a Hindu priest $2 million after finding he had been forced to work in a temple in Corona, NY for 7 years. He worked up to 18 hours a day doing everything from ministering to construction work and was only paid $50 a week amounting to merely $21,000 over seven years. His passport was confiscated and was told he would be arrested if he left.

Police in Florida raided two houses and found 27 potential victims of human trafficking. Police believe the victims were forced to work at a buffet restaurant. Though there are not many details at this time, neighbors noticed that there were many people living at the two houses and that white vans would pick up people early in the morning and would not return until very late at night.

The United States Department of Labor added a dozen countries to its list of countries that use forced or child labor. On a positive note, the department suggest that the number of child laborers is decreasing. Some of the more common products on the list include cotton, sugar, diamonds and gold. You can see the full report here.

Two British firms, Cargill Cotton and ICT Cotton, are facing charges of breaking international rules on child labor by sourcing cotton from Uzbekistan, which is well known for its use of child labor during the cotton harvest. The complaint, filed by the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights, claims the organizations are linked to Uzbekistan through branches in the country's capital and partnerships with state-owned merchants.

More details emerged about the the first case of human trafficking to come to trial in Canada. This article provides more details about the conditions workers endured, who is being charged and the types of evidence the government has against the families involved.

Photo by Kay Chernush for the U.S. State Department.

Labor Trafficking News from October

Throughout the month there are many cases or stories that break regarding forced labor. They are usually not on the front pages of our newspapers, rather they are buried deep and sometimes are only accessible through the internet. These are some of the stories both headline articles and those that were not from October.

In their Fourth Annual Report, the Payson Center for International Development at the University of Tulane reports that not enough is being done to prevent suppliers from using child labor within their supply chains. Child labor (worst forms), forced labor and labor trafficking still occur within the industry and include abuses such as physical, sexual and verbal harassment along with restricted movement and children being sent to farms separate from their parents and guardians. While some companies have worked to clean-up their supply chains there is at least one company notably absent. Read more

Details about the first case involving charges of labor rather than sex trafficking in Canada began to come out at the beginning of October. A group of 19 or more victims were lured from Hungry to work in Canada. Once they arrived they were forced to work for a construction company and were controlled through threats of harm to either their families or to themselves. The workers were forced to apply for government support. The traffickers would take this money once it arrived. Ten members of a family are being charged in the crime. Read more

Authorities arrested 23 people and were looking for more in connection with a Chinese human trafficking ring in places such as New York City and Long Island. Victims paid up to $75,000 to come to the US for work. The victims families were threatened and required to pay off these fees while the victims were living in poor conditions and were forced to work in "slave-like conditions" in restaurants. Read more

A man was convicted in Missouri for his role in a scheme which spread across 14 states. It involved the recruitment of illegal aliens to work in places such as hotels. The employees were lead to believe the conditions of employment would be different. Once in the US the victims were threatened with deportation. The man was not charged with forced labor but was convicted under RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) charges. Read more

Additional charges have been brought against the Sou brothers in the Hawaii Aloun Farm case involving the 44 workers they brought to the US from Thailand. They have been charged with five counts of forced labor for threatening workers. There are also two counts of document (passport) confiscation, and two counts for hiding workers from the authorities after their visas were expired in order to force them to work. Read more

A potential case of child abuse/labor is being investigated in Britain. While it is still early in the investigation it appears that 8 children were being forced to work on a farm in near freezing weather while inadequately dressed. The children were between 9 and 15 years old. Read more

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the "California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010" on the 18th of October. The Act requires manufacturers and retailers within California to detail what they are doing to ensure there is no slavery within their supply chains. This must be posted on the company's website. Read more

While a lot of attention is given to child labor in Uzbekistan's cotton industry, very little attention is paid to the forced labor of adults in the same industry. People from many different industries including police officers and teachers were reportedly being forced to pick cotton during this year's harvest particularly because prices for cotton are currently high. Uzbeki news sources reported several abuses related to people who refused to work. Teachers were beaten in effort to compel them to work and a whole village had its power cut to punish a man who refused to work. According to the report even the sick and old are being compelled to pick cotton. Of the 3,400,000 tons of cotton that was picked China is expected to receive at least 100,000 tons Read more

Photo by Kay Chernush for the U.S. State Department.

Canada's First Case of Forced Labor (If the Charges Remain)

Human trafficking charge laid
By TAMARA CHERRY, TORONTO SUN
Last Updated: October 11, 2010 6:25pm

The alleged head of a crime family wanted in a massive human trafficking investigation was slapped with police bracelets over the weekend.

Ferenc Domotor, 48, was arrested in the Hamilton area Saturday, a day after police announced arrest warrants for him and nine members of his family.

They’re wanted in connection with Canada’s biggest human trafficking investigation since the Criminal Code charge came into effect five years ago.

As of Monday, police had identified 19 victims, alleging they were trafficked from a small Hungarian town to Hamilton and forced to work for the Domotor family’s construction company without pay.

According to investigators, men brought from Hungary were coached on how to claim refugee status.

They also alleged traffickers made the victims file for social assistance and stole their payments.

The victims were kept in basements, restricted in where they could go or speak with and had threats made against them and their families in Hungary, police alleged.

Domotor is charged with human trafficking and fraud.

“We believe they are in the Hamilton area but we fear some may have left the country,” a police source said Monday of the outstanding family members.

Explaining why the investigation took 10 months before the arrest warrants were announced for human trafficking charges, the source said: “It’s not an investigation of a bag of coke. It’s an investigation of human beings. And these people have fears, they have families and they have threats. And you really as a police officer have to ensure these people that they’re safe or else they’re not going to come forward...

“We need our justice system on board, that’s huge. The justice system needs to learn what human trafficking’s about.”

Also wanted on charges of trafficking in persons and fraud are: Ferenc Domotor Jr., 20, Gyongyi Kolompar, 40, Gizella Kolompar, 41, Lajos Domotor, 42, Ferenc Karadi, 47, Gizella Domotor, 42, Attila Kolompar, 35, and Gyula Domotor, 32.

Zsanett Karadi, 24, is wanted for theft.

Not only is this the biggest human trafficking bust in Canada, but if the charges stick, they will be Canada’s first involving forced labour. The country has seen several human trafficking cases involving sex trafficking, mostly of Canadian women and girls.

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This could be the first case brought to the courts on forced labor in Canada and it is the largest human trafficking case to date in the country. Ten people are being charged in the case and at this point, 19 victims have been identified. They came from a small village in Hungary and were forced to work in the family's construction firm. They were restricted in who they were allowed to talk to, they were kept in basements and the Social Service money they received from the state was confiscated by the traffickers. The victims families were also threatened should the victims not comply. The investigation took 10 months and it seems that unfortunately some of the family members may have already fled the country. Despite these setbacks, this case is sure to be monumental in the fight against human trafficking and forced labor in Canada.

Finding Graduate Programs to do Human Trafficking Research

I spent this fall applying to return to graduate school to obtain my Masters and conduct research on human trafficking. New research will be necessary for improving our understanding and ability to combat trafficking.

Some great research has been done already. Last October, I attended the First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. The call for papers for the Second Annual Conference has already been posted, and this is a tremendous opportunity to learn about some of the research efforts that are already going on in the field of trafficking and meet academics from institutions which may interest you.

I thought for this post, however, that I would share some of my experiences searching for graduate programs that I felt would be helpful to those of our readers who are considering the same options for continuing their education. I will add the caveat that I did not search very much outside of the U.S. so this post will be focused mostly on U.S. Institutions. This post will also likely require multiple parts in order to outline some of the different considerations that probably will go into a decision on a graduate program. Today, let's focus on some obvious suggestions: Look for schools that already have scholars and research centers with a focus on human trafficking.

If you're considering following a specific researcher/professor, here are some people to consider:

Dr. Ato Qauyson, University of Toronto: Professor of English and Director of the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies. Organized the conference The Commodification of Illicit Flows.

Professor Claude d'Estree, University of Denver: Lecturer in the DU Josef Korbel School of International Studies (JKSIS) and Executive Director of the Human Trafficking Clinic, Prof. d'Estree is also a Senior Advisor to Colorado Task Force on Human Trafficking.

Dr. Mohamed Mattar, Johns Hopkins University: Executive Director of the Protection Project, Dr. Mattar has worked in over 50 countries to promote state compliance with international human rights standards and has advised governments on drafting and implementing anti-trafficking legislation.

Dr. Sheldon Zhang, San Diego State University: Professor and Department Chair of Sociology, Dr. Zhang's recent publications include "Beyond the 'Natasha' Story" and Smuggling and Trafficking in Human Beings: All Roads Lead to America.

Professor Amy Farrell, Northeastern University: Assistant Professor of College of Criminal Justice and Associate Director of the Institute on Race and Justice, she has recently conducted research on local law enforcement responses to human trafficking and is currently leading the development of a national human trafficking data collection program for the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Professor Jacqueline Bhabha, Harvard University: Jeremiah Smith Jr. Lecturer in Law at Harvard Law School, the Director of the Harvard University Committee on Human Rights Studies, and a Lecturer in Public Policy at the Kennedy School, she is currently working on issues of child migration, smuggling and trafficking, and citizenship.

Dr. Thomas Steinfatt, Miami University: Professor of Communication Studies, his research on trafficking in women and children has been funded by USAID and is used by the U.S. State Department in combating human trafficking in Cambodia.

Dr. Mary Burke, Carlow University: Dr. Mary Burke is a faculty member in the Psychology Department at Carlow University where she is the Director of Training for the Doctoral Program in Counseling Psychology. She also serves as Executive Director of the Project to End Human Trafficking.

Professor Louise Shelley, George Mason University: Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center, her expertise in transnational crime and corruption includes money laundering and illicit financial flows, human smuggling and trafficking and national security issues.

Dr. Denise Brennan, Georgetown University: Associate Professor of Anthropology, her research focuses on urgent human rights concerns as trafficking, women’s poverty, and migrant labor exploitation.

Dr. Richard Estes, University of Pennsylvania: Professor of Social Work and Director of the School's International Programs, he also is a specialist on issues related to social and economic development, poverty, and the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Schools with specific research centers on trafficking:

Johns Hopkins
University of Denver

Another way to find schools and scholars in the field is to do your homework:

• Pay attention to the authors of reports or articles you read about trafficking. See if the author teaches at any graduate programs or works frequently with one university.
• Look to see if any academic departments or professors take part in local task forces or assist trafficking victim service providers.
• Pay attention to names (authors or quoted experts) in books you read about trafficking. With which university is he/she affiliated?
  

For the next post, we will look at other considerations when trying to identify the right school to match your research interests in human trafficking.

Interview: Buying Sex is Not Sport Part II: Anti-human trafficking campaign prior to the Olympics in Canada

In this interview, Shae Invidiata, the event coordinator of Buying Sex Is Not Sport (BSNS) panel in Toronto continues to share the significance of the event and anti-human trafficking advocacy on personal level.

What has it been like working on this event?

I feel very honored to have been approached to director and bring this panel to Toronto. This is a message that could not come at a better time in Canada-right before the Olympics. This awareness and importance of the campaign is crucial to our nation. This event has been a ton of work to pull together, and as we are now one week away from the and a few weeks away from the Olympics, it is paramount that this message, “the demand for paid sex fuels human trafficking” get out to the nation of Canada but also to our visitors during the Olympics. I was praying with a few people the other weekend RE human trafficking, and one lady was joining us via skype in Germany, and in her prayer she said, that she has seen the devastating effects that legalizing prostitution has done to her country. This lady in prayer said, “the legalization of prostitution is the eternal destruction of a nation.” I guess one of the purposes for the event as well, and why it has been so great to work on this event is that we can ensure that people are going to hear this message and begin to understand, if they don’t already, why prostitution should not be legalized.

How did you first learn about human trafficking?

When I was 18 I moved to Honolulu, HI to pursue my university education (I know what you are thinking- yes I did actually go to class, not all the time, but I did ☺ ). The street I first moved onto was Kuhio Avenue, which I learnt quickly was commonly known as Candy Lane. Candy Lane was where all the prostitutes walked at night. During my time in Hawaii I began to reach out to these women and girls (which over the years of living there, I kept noticing younger faces on the streets). I lived in Hawaii for 3 years years before I moved to Vancouver in 2006; it was around this time that I began to expand my knowledge of a ‘prostitute’ to a ‘prostituted’ woman/girl/child, to which the words “human trafficking” became a part of my knowledge and vocabulary.

How have audiences responded to it?

We have not had the panel yet, so this is a post question I think. But in terms of when we have gone out to tell people about the panel and that it is coming to Toronto-majority of people, regardless of age are supportive and relatively shocked that this is happening in Canada and around the world (today!).

What does being able to work on a project like this mean to you?

This is my heartbeat in life, so to work on an event like this, drives my passion and fuels my soul to keep pressing in. This injustice is soo massive that sometimes it can be overwhelming to try to see the end the slave trade, working on an event like helps you to re-focus for a particular moment in time, to just worry about reaching 1250 (both venue capacities combined) people, to raise up activists, and to send out a ripple effect. In line with my heartbeat, working on a event like this reminds me of the unique calling on my life, and that I have been called for such a time as this to bring forth this message, the abolition of the modern day slave trade. From a professional perspective this has been a great opportunity to gain further experience in event planning and directing. More importantly this event has allowed me to grow and strengthen my network and contact database—some great partnerships have been birthed through the happening of this panel, and I know that this is just the beginning—the best has yet to come!

What about this event’s efforts do you think makes it a particularly effective means of raising awareness of trafficking?

Usually events are dictated by the venue location, in that if the venue is in Toronto then the invitees are those who are in the area of the venue. However, because trafficking knows no boarders, and is not limited to districts or boundaries, I took the same approach when deciding where the word would go out. Of course people in the surrounding area of the venue were important to invite, but this also stretched to beyond the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), from the Niagara region to Waterloo from Toronto across to Vancouver, to New York, NY and Virginia the word has gone out that this panel is taking place. The unique part of this, is even though people in these more distant places may not come to the panel, a seed has been planted and a conversation may birth around the issue of paid sex and human trafficking because of hearing about this panel. The first step to STOP Human Trafficking is raising awareness and starting a conversation. The other effective aspect was not limiting age groups to this panel-so I involved high schools, colleges, universities, businesses, churches, organizations.

Is there any follow-up being planned for this event?

This campaign “Buying Sex Is Not A Sport” will continue into the Olympics and there is talk about keeping the campaign going afterwards- but there has not been a concrete answer yet on this. At the panel people will be able to provide feedback from the panel and also ask to receive more information on updates on human trafficking and other events/fundraisers.

How can people support the event and its initiatives?

People can support the event first by coming, and bring a friend with you! And to not just stop there, but take at least one piece of information that was heard and tell someone about the injustice of human trafficking, start a new conversation. Donations can be given towards the campaign. People can also sign up for the email update, where they will receive how they can be involved in small and larger way to fight human trafficking-to get connected with others who are fighting for the freedom of women and children around the world.

What can people find more information?

People can find out more information for the panel by going to http://www.free-them.net on that website they can also sign up to receive updates on human trafficking issues and events.

Also, visit: http://www.embracedignity.org/?page=buyingsexisnotasport

Interview: Buying Sex is Not Sport Part I: Anti-human trafficking campaign prior to Olympics

Everyone is excited about the Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, this month. Sports fans around the world are excited just as Canadians are. But, anti-human trafficking advocates are worried that the event will increase sex trafficking in Toronto. indeed, the news reports on big sports events like the Olympics, World Cup, or Super Bowl, in the past demonstrate that they are coupled with an increase in sex trafficking or child prostitution. HTP posted an article on advocates taking a preventive method against increase in sex trafficking prior to the Super Bowl game in 2008.

Currently, Canadians are faced with the same problem, but the scope of the challenge is greater than others. The Canadian government, other than deporting some immigrants, has not been very proactive on addressing the root causes of sex trafficking as human trafficking and child prostitution are poorly regulated. As a result, some traffickers in the past could get away with spending a few weeks in jail for sex trafficking of teenagers. [1]

To make the matter worse, the prime minister called for prorogation, which prevented the pending Canadian anti-human trafficking bill from becoming enforceable during the Olympics. [2]

This is why Buying Sex Is Not Sport (BSNS), the campaign against human trafficking in Canada before the Olympics, is significant. Unlike the reluctant effort of the Canadian government, the Canadian citizens themselves are taking the initiative to fight against human trafficking in their country. In this interview, Shae Invidiata, the event coordinator of BSNS panel in Toronto, introduces her campaign and the problem of sex trafficking in Canada.

Tell us about this event:

Listen Up TV was doing a series on Human Trafficking in Canada; and from the grant that the station was given, Listen Up TV had enough funding to bring Buying Sex Is Not A Sport (BSNS) out to Toronto to have a public panel. Lorna Dueck approached me through a mutual contact to see what my thoughts were on doing a panel that would address the issue of paid sex and human trafficking, and what it would look like if we brought out BSNS to Toronto.

Listen Up is a weekly, half-hour, independently-produced television program. Our program presents "news that takes you deeper," exploring news and current affairs stories from a Christian world view. Journalist and host Lorna Dueck and the Listen Up team dig behind the headlines to investigate those points at which news and spirituality converge, to illuminate God's involvement in the issues and events of our day.

Who is the intended audience?

The intended audience is to really see people from all different ages to come out including as many political figures as possible. This is not a Christian issue, a Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu, Agnostic, or Atheist issue, it is not a black or white issue, nor is it a conservative or liberal, Canadian or Indian issue, this is not just a male or female issue...this is GLOBAL HUMAN ISSUE, and if you happen to fall in that category, it should demand your attention; but further it should compel our hearts, minds and souls to learn more and take action against this injustice. We need our political figures to change our laws, and we need the people of Canada to tell them we want change.

What is the purpose or goal of this event?

The purpose of this panel is to bring people to the first step to the end of Human Trafficking- and that is becoming aware. Becoming aware of this horrific injustice is the first step to the abolition. The second purpose of this panel is give people an opportunity to help STOP Human Trafficking that day- such as signing the petition that will be at the panel for the audience to sign, for people to subscribe to newsletters that will keep that person in connection with event/fundraiser and other ways to raise awareness and get people actively involved to stop human trafficking, such as signing up to raise money and walk to Stop Child Trafficking (this walk will be taking place in October 2010- I am the Toronto Community Ambassador for Stop Child Trafficking Now). The goal is to have both venues packed out – one venue holds 900-1000 people (walmer road Baptist church) and the other holds 250 (room at the university of Toronto). Another goal is to have David Miller, the Mayor of Toronto in attendance, along with other political representatives.

Do you utilize volunteers and, if so how do you recruit volunteers and who are they?

Yes volunteers are always needed in events like these, they are the blood line to the event-without them, things would take 5 times longer to get things done and over double the cost to get it done. I have a great team that I have personally recruited.

Not For Sale Global Advocacy Days

Join Not For Sale this spring in Washington D.C., and Ottawa, Canada, to ask legislators to re-Abolish modern-day slavery.

Global Advocacy Days from David Hepburn on Vimeo.

According to Not For Sale, "Being a modern-day Abolitionist means advocating for stronger legislation against human trafficking, as well as protection and care for survivors. These two-day events will combine advocacy training, networking, and meetings with your elected representatives as you give voice to those in captivity."

Registration for the two visits is now open.

Washington, D.C
March 1-2, 2010
Day 1: Breakout Sessions; Advocacy Training
Day 2: Capitol Hill; Meet with your elected representatives
General Admission: $49; Students and Military: $39

Ottawa, Canada
Day 1: Training
Day 2: Meet with members of Parliament
General Admission: $49; Students and Military: $39

Space is limited.

Events: Two Upcoming Trafficking Conferences

1. The Commodification of Illicit Flows: Labour Migration, Trafficking and Business



Location: Toronto, Canada
Date: Friday, October 9- Saturday, October 10, 2009
Direction: Robert Gill Theatre, Koffler Student Services Centre, 214 College Street, Third Floor
*Free and open to the public

Our very own Elise Garvey and Renan Salgado of Farmworker Legal Services of New York (an IIB Trafficking Victim Services Program Task Force Partner) will be co-authoring a paper and presentation on the trafficking of farmworkers from Southern Mexico to Western New York at a conference entitled, “The Commodification of Illicit Flows: Labour Migration, Trafficking and Business” which will be held at the University of Toronto from October 9th to October 10th


2. First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking



Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
Date: Friday, October 29- October 31, 2009
Direction: 1040 P Street, Embassy Suites Hotel
* Early registration is $295 before October 2, after this date registration is $350

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is proud to host The First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking. The purpose of this conference is to bring together researchers from many disciplines, as well as government and non-governmental agencies who have responsibility for anti-trafficking efforts, to develop a research agenda.

Elise Garvey will also be giving a presentation at this conference on the topic of Utilizing Scholarships and Service Programs to Conduct and Facilitate Research on Human Trafficking.

Quebec Couple Arrested on Charges of Organizing Teen Prostitution

From the Montreal Gazette:

OTTAWA - A Quebec couple accused of luring three girls off Ottawa streets and forcing them into prostitution could soon face charges of human trafficking, a Criminal Code offence which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Laura Emerson, 28, and her boyfriend, Gordon John Kingsbury, 33, both of Gatineau, Que., appeared in court briefly Thursday for a scheduled bail hearing but the two were remanded until Tuesday because their lawyers said they needed more time to examine new evidence against the pair.

Emerson was charged with 13 offences, including kidnapping, forcible confinement and procuring and living off the avails of prostitution after the police gangs section discovered that three teenage girls had been held captive for up to a year in a condominium building in Gatineau, just across the Ottawa River from the nation's capital.

Kingsbury is charged with sexual assault and being unlawfully at large. Investigators said Wednesday that one 17-year-old girl they believed was an accomplice turned out to be a victim who had been held prisoner for a year. Two other 17-year-old girls are alleged to have been held for five to six months while they engaged in prostitution.Gatineau's Assistant Crown attorney Diane Legault said Thursday the two accused likely will face new charges, including human trafficking.

In November 2005, the Criminal Code was amended to make the "recruitment, transporting, transferring, receipt, holding, concealment or harbouring of a person, or the exercise of control, direction or influence over the movements of a person for the purpose of exploiting them or facilitating their exploitation" an indictable offence. Conviction carries a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment where it involves kidnapping, aggravated assault or aggravated sexual assault, or a maximum penalty of 14 years in all other cases.

Read the full article

Canada Failing to Nab Human Traffickers, U.S. Report Says

From the Epoch Times:

Despite new laws and programs, Canada is failing to catch those who are selling and enslaving other human beings, a U.S. report says.

Employing deception, threats, and abduction, human traffickers prey on the vulnerable, targeting mostly women and children—but increasingly men and boys—and subjecting them to labour exploitation, sexual exploitation or both.

The recently released U.S. State Department's 2008 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report calls human trafficking a "multi-dimensional threat" that increases global health risks and fuels the growth of organized crime. In a section on each country's progress in curbing human trafficking, the report notes the strides Canada has made in combating the illegal practice, including an injection of $6 million in January to prevent the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children and its increased efforts to protect victims.

However, Canada has demonstrated "limited progress" in catching and convicting trafficking offenders.

"Enforcement and laws have been put in place but there still hasn't been a single person convicted of trafficking in this country," says Sabrina Sullivan, managing director of The Future Group, a Calgary-based anti-human trafficking organization.

The researchers urge Canada to intensify efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict trafficking offenders, including those suspected of trafficking for labour exploitation, and increase efforts to investigate and prosecute Canadians suspected of engaging in child sex tourism abroad.

It also recommends more brothel raids, improved law enforcement coordination and greater protection and services for foreign trafficking victims.

Sullivan says Canada needs to establish a central office to combat human trafficking similar to the one operating in the U.S., noting that America has many "best practices" in fighting human trafficking that Canada could emulate.

Canada is a source, transit and destination country for trafficked people. Women and children are trafficked primarily from Asia and Eastern Europe for sexual exploitation.

Read the full article

Canada Sued over Human Trafficking Case

From United Press International:

LAVAL, Quebec- The first two people Canada charged for human trafficking are suing the government and police in Quebec for $5 million after the charges were dropped.

In May 2007, Nichan Manoukian and Manoudshag Saryboyadjian were charged with regard their Ethiopian nanny, who had worked for them for eight years in Lebanon before moving to Montreal in 2004, The Gazette newspaper reported.

The charges claimed the nanny had been denied access to a telephone, not allowed to leave the house and threatened with deportation if she spoke to authorities.

However, neighbors told police they saw no evidence the woman was being held against her will and reports at the time suggested the nanny had been coached in her claims in order to gain refugee status, the newspaper said.

In December 2007, a crown prosecutor dropped the criminal charges as the couple demanded a public apology.

The lawsuit against the government, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the city of Laval police claims unfounded arrest, psychological damage, legal fees for both the criminal and civil case, loss of income, loss of reputation and loss of dignity, honor and integrity, the newspaper said.

Quebec Couple Sues Crown, RCMP and Police Over Bogus Human-Slavery Charge

From the Canadian Press:

MONTREAL, Canada- A Quebec couple who say they were humiliated and had their reputations ruined by overzealous authorities are seeking $5 million in civil damages over a bogus human-trafficking charge laid against them.

Nichan Manoukian, his wife Manoudshag Saryboyajian and their four children are suing the provincial government, the RCMP and Laval police, according to a statement of claim filed at the Montreal courthouse. The Mounties trumpeted the couple's arrest in May 2007 as a first in Canada since criminal laws on human trafficking were introduced in 2005.

The couple were accused of mistreating their live-in Ethiopian nanny, Senait Tafesse Manaye.

The Crown dropped the charges against the couple last December.Manaye began living with the family in 1997, in Lebanon, where the couple found her through an agency.

The couple have said they treated her well and returned to Canada with Manaye in 2004. Police removed her from the home in January 2006.

Neither the plaintiffs nor the defendants commented Tuesday because the matter is before the courts and will be presented in front of a judge next month.

The statement of claim contains allegations that have still to be proven in court.

It alleges the family endured several embarrassing moments and have lost all credibility within their community since police began acting on a tip a woman was being treated like a slave.

Since police intervened, Manoukian, an interior decorator, has "fought tooth and nail to save, defend and re-establish his reputation and his wife," the statement reads.

Read the full article

Criminals See Gold at Olympics

By Peter Edwards

From the Star:

It's not just the gymnasts, grapplers and jumpers who are worth watching at this summer's Beijing Olympics, a British organized crime expert says.

It's also the prostitutes – or lack of them."China is a police state and it's a police state that is paranoid about its image," says Misha Glenny, author of McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld.

China has already ordered a "social cleansing" to clear Beijing of beggars, hawkers and prostitutes, but keeping crime groups from flooding the host city with hookers poses an Olympian task.Human trafficking is a key staple of 21st-century organized crime groups, along with narcotics and weapons, Glenny said.

The 2004 Athens Olympics and 2000 Sydney Games were each marked by massive influxes of prostitutes.

Canadian officials have already been warned to brace themselves for more of the same at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The Future Group, an organization that combats human trafficking, has warned the B.C. and federal governments in a report called "Faster, Higher, Stronger: Preventing Human Trafficking at the 2010 Olympics."

Glenny said he finds it tough to look at major international events like the Olympics, or shifts in government policy, and not wonder how they might benefit the myriad international crime groups he has studied.

"Whenever a big political event takes place, I don't look at it through the same eyes any more," said Glenny, a former BBC correspondent in the former Yugoslavia and Southeast Asia and the author of two books on the Balkans.

The fall of communism and the liberalization of international financial markets over the past two decades have created an exponential growth in organized crime around the world, said Glenny, who's based in England and acts as a political policy adviser.

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Conviction in Canada

From the Canadian Press:

VANCOUVER — A Vancouver man convicted of smuggling women into this country to work as prostitutes was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in jail.

Michael Wai Chi Ng was charged with 22 counts of human smuggling, prostitution offences and offences against the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. He was the first person in Canada charged under the relatively new human trafficking law but Ng was acquitted of the human smuggling charge last year, and was instead convicted of five lesser charges.

Ng was sentenced to nine months for two counts of falsifying immigration documents and an additional six months for the charges of keeping a common bawdy house and two counts of procuring a person to have illicit sexual intercourse with another. Charges of living off the avails on prostitution were dismissed.

The prostitution ring was uncovered when police were called to the massage parlour for a disturbance.During Ng's trial, provincial court Judge Malcolm MacLean was told Ng brought women to Canada, promising them jobs as waitresses and then putting them to work as prostitutes in his east Vancouver massage parlour.

One woman, whose identity is protected by court order, told MacLean she had been brought to Canada by Ng to work in what she thought was a restaurant.Instead of a waitress job, the woman testified she was taken to a Ng's massage parlour and told she was expected to pay him $11,000 a month by prostituting herself.

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Recount of Trafficking Victims in Canada

From the Canadian Press:

The sex-slave market in Canada is feared to be much larger than existing official estimates, which has prompted authorities to recount the number of victims in the country.

Joy Smith, the Conservative vice-chair of the parliamentary committee on the status of women, said several analysts have been assigned to the RCMP's human trafficking unit to go over their figures.

The RCMP believes 800 to 1,200 people in Canada have been victims of human trafficking but some activists peg the figure as high as 15,000.

"There's a big gap in those numbers," Smith told The Canadian Press. "This needs-assessment is critical to finding out exactly what we're facing and exactly what we have to deal with here in Canada."

Smith pointed out that the RCMP's figures come mainly from arrest reports, which can provide a misleading snapshot of the situation.

"When the NGOs are saying 15,000, these are the people that take care of the victims," she said.United Nations tallies suggest 2.5 million people worldwide, including some 1.2 million children, are involved in forced labour through global trafficking.

The RCMP has noted several cases where Canadian girls have been taken abroad and sold.

One activist, who says he spent the past two years interviewing victims and pimps, says there is a particular demand for Quebecers. "They have a reputation for being good in bed," said Lawrence-Thierry Bernard, a former candidate for the provincial Action democratique du Quebec. "They created a demand so recruiters began to recruit in Montreal."

According to Bernard, many street gangs have taken to luring local women into prostitution rings by posting ads for overseas work on the Internet.

"The street gangs can recruit but they need contacts with larger organized crime networks to sell the girls," he said.

The Mounties acknowledge they have had difficulty putting a number to the amount of trafficking victims in Canada.

"In the beginning we didn't know if we had cases here," said Const. Magdala Turpin, a human trafficking investigator based in Montreal. "We didn't know what the problem was.

"She said measuring trafficking in Canada is further complicated by victims who are unaware of their rights and are often leery of police.

But with authorities in Canada and the U.S. slow to get a handle on the situation, criminal networks have a void they are keen to exploit.

"It's the crime of choice for criminal networks and enterprises because it's high-profit and low risk," said Laura Lederer, senior director for global projects at the U.S. State Department's office for human trafficking.

"So many countries have been focusing on drug trafficking... so traffickers have been moving over into this area where there are few laws and they're poorly enforced."

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Canadian Human Trafficking Ring Busted

From the National Post:

The ongoing investigation into a human trafficking ring by Toronto police resulted in two more arrests Wednesday.The arrests followed after police carried out a search warrant at an address on Bude Street, near the junction of Allen Road and Eglinton Ave. W.

The two men, Alexander Vinokurov, 44, and Vadim Kostin, 52, are from Toronto. They are facing charges related to human trafficking, communicating for the purpose of prostitution and living off the avails of prostitution. Both men are to appear in court Thursday.

Police allege women from Eastern Europe were lured into entering Canada on false passports, under the impression that they would be working as models.

After their arrival they were confined against their will and forced to work as escorts. Police said they performed prostitution-related activities for the people in charge of the trafficking operation. Police have now charged six people, including a husband and wife, since the start of their investigation a week ago. Police have also identified two alleged victims.

Andrei Khazarov, 39; Daniel Leshinsky, 38; Artur Boris Tomchin, 35, and his wife, Volha Vassilievna Venar, 35, all from the Toronto area, face numerous human trafficking related charges.

This is only the second time Canadian police forces have laid charges from the country's new anti-human trafficking legislation, which came into effect in November 2005.

Indian American Convicted of Human Trafficking in the U.S.

The U.S.-Canadian border

*What appears to be a human smuggling ring has been misconstrued by the media as a human trafficking operation. The journalist makes no clear distinction between human trafficking and smuggling. For clarification on the issue read HERE.

From the Hindustan Times:

2/23/07, Vancouver, Canada- An Indian American has been convicted in a human trafficking racket that illegally transported South Asians from Canada to the US.

The trial in Seattle showed that as many as 100 Indian and Pakistani nationals were smuggled first into Canada and later into the US. The gang charged up to USD 40,000 per head.

Thirty-eight year old Harminder Singh of Kent, Washington, was convicted on Monday and faces between three and 10 years in jail, including deportation, the Vancouver Sun said yesterday.

Four Canadian residents facing similar charges are yet to be extradited to the US, but have a hearing scheduled in late March, according to the Canadian Department of Justice. Five other Canadian residents arrested for their involvement in the racket pleaded guilty and testified at Singh's trial, Assistant US Attorney Ye-Ting Woo said in an interview.

The five, Raman Pathania, Jatinder Singh Brar, Sukhveer Singh Sandhu and Harjeevan Singh Parhar, all of Surrey, as well as Matthew Dehagi of Port Coquitlam, are due to be sentenced in the next two weeks, the US Attorney said.

From the Vancouver Sun:

"Throughout the course of the investigation both Canadian and American investigators had full access to each other's intelligence on a daily basis," said Mercer. "This collaboration demonstrates our shared resolve to keep our borders secure while respecting each other's sovereignty."

Winchell said officials have begun deportation proceedings against all of the people caught sneaking into the U.S., but could not say how long it would be until their cases are resolved.