Beat Down Human Trafficking- The Definition

The first single from the album Beat Down Human Trafficking.

Click to Download: J Nice- The Definition

More to come!

Happy Friday,

The HTP Team

Trinidad and Tobago: The Beginnings of a Human Trafficking Investigation

I spent the best part of December 2010 and January 2011 in the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad is located only a few kilometers north of Venezuela and because of that proximity - among other geographic factors - it has become a thriving transition point for both the drug and arms trades.

My question was, what about human trafficking?

There’s a reason that the trafficking of persons is called a shadow crime. The difficulty in defining the problem and in ascertaining exactly what the situation is at any given time in any given place makes it that much harder to combat.

I set out with a simple starting point. Before I could assess what – if anything – was being done to fight human trafficking in Trinidad or even in the wider Caribbean region, I had to get a handle on how large a problem it was or rather how large a problem people thought it was.

I was able to conduct a series of interviews with people in a wide variety of sectors. I spoke to people in the Trinidad & Tobago government. I spoke to people in the Crime and Problem Analysis branch of the national police force. I spoke to people at CARICOM IMPACS, the regional body charged with coordinating efforts to combat crime and enforce security in the Caribbean.

And of course I spoke to regular citizens. In a country as small as T&T – it has just under 1.5 million people spread over two islands – people talk.

Several things became clear. Firstly, the government of T&T is adept at saying the right things, at least when faced with a foreign freelance journalist like myself. I was told that there were fewer than 10 instances of human trafficking recorded in Trinidad and Tobago and that while illegal immigration was certainly an issue – particularly with women from South America (Venezuela and Colombia in particular) who end up working in brothels – there was no reason to believe human trafficking was cause for major concern.

Then I was told that despite human trafficking “not really being a problem” the government was determined to be proactive. A task force was formed in order to produce legislation that will bring Trinidad up to the standards set forth within the UN anti trafficking protocol. That legislation is expected to pass this month.

Trinidad and Tobago is not the only Caribbean island without legislation currently in place. Quite the opposite, it’s my understanding that there are currently only eight countries within Caricom that have introduced human trafficking legislation.

Without the legal framework, it’s obviously very difficult to have the right infrastructure in place to identify human trafficking, punish the perpetrators and assist the victims. Ultimately, the impression I left Trinidad with was that no one – within the government or outside of it - has a complete or clear picture of the human trafficking situation in the country.

But again, this state of affairs is not limited to Trinidad and Tobago. It’s a reflection of a wider global trend. Accurate data on human trafficking is one of the hardest things to come by but without it institutionalizing a response is a tricky prospect.

Traffickers aren’t bogged down by bureaucracy in the way that democratic governments and the NGOs that operate within them are.

Education on human trafficking is also lacking. Although awareness of the issue is steadily increasing, in many places people still don’t have an accurate understanding of what human trafficking actually means. It is often confused with human smuggling and illegal immigration. In Trinidad, a particularly brutal spate of kidnappings led to a change in the law that did away with the 24 hour waiting period before someone could be declared missing.

According to the Assistant Superintendent of the Crime and Problem Analysis Unit, Macdonald Jacob, this resulted in a drastic increase in the number of persons reported missing when in actual fact they weren’t. But the damage was already done to public perception and missing person quickly became synonymous with trafficking victim.

Trinidad’s society is complex but one of its characteristics is that many things are common knowledge without being on the record. None of the citizens with I spoke seemed particularly surprised at the idea that human trafficking could be a major issue. Not only that, but given the widespread belief that there is extensive corruption within both the police force and the government, it was suggested to me that there are factions within those two institutions that could be involved with or profiting from illegal trade in guns, drugs and possibly people. I have no way of knowing whether or not there is real truth in those allegations but if there is, it would be one more in a long list of challenges faced by those fighting human trafficking.

In the weeks that I was in Trinidad, all I did was begin to scratch the surface. There are dozens of other angles and leads that could and should be pursued. But even a brief glimpse into the inner workings of one country’s response to human trafficking shows just how difficult it is and will be to win this fight.

BBC World Debate on Trafficking

The BBC World Debate program recently held a debate on Human Trafficking with panelists Laura Agustin, Author of "Sex at the Margins"; Sophie Flak, Executive Vice-President of Accor; Rani Hong, Trafficking Survivor; Siddharth Kara, Author of "Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery"; and Ronald Noble, Secretary General of Interpol. Unfortunately, BBC videos are not embeddable, so I can only link to them here.

BBC World Debate on Trafficking

I have to say, this starts out slow, but the debate picks up quickly. These are really difficult discussions that I think are important for the field to have. There are some quick points that obviously were not settled and it would be great to hear the point of view of our readers:

• For all of the controversy that Agustin creates through her candidly hardened point of view, some of her points are difficult issues that service providers are faced with every day. At one point she stated that people are often educated or trained on the worst possible scenarios of trafficking, but that migration often invokes a range of abuse and exploitation. While some members of the audience disagreed with the premise of debating the definition, without (a more specific) one, do we risk missing potential victims and/or exposing/deporting migrants who then do not meet this "worst possible scenario?"
• Will it ever be possible to have reliable numbers of those trafficked? If not, will that affect the work of advocates and how?
• Just generally, how does the language we use surrounding trafficking affect the way we combat it? When we use numbers we don't fully understand? When we overly associate it with organized crime? Etc.

Thank you for any responses!

Obama's Visit to Former Slave Outpost in Ghana and Old and New Slavery

Picture from the Telegraph

Today, U.S. President Barack Obama made a side trip during an official visit to Ghana to see a former outpost of the Atlantic Slave Trade, where millions of Africans were sent to become slaves all over the world, including the U.S. Most of the media commentary related to his visit talks about the emotional pull that touring such a place has for the person visiting; this piece by Komla Dumor from the BBC I particularly feel is very well written.

Cape Coast, Ghana

Before heading to the Cape Coast to see the physical remnants of the Atlantic Slave Trade, Obama mentioned human trafficking during his official speech in Accra; more than once, actually:

Picture from Amnesty International

It is easy to point fingers, and to pin the blame for these problems on others. Yes, a colonial map that made little sense bred conflict, and the West has often approached Africa as a patron, rather than a partner. But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants. In my father's life, it was partly tribalism and patronage in an independent Kenya that for a long stretch derailed his career, and we know that this kind of corruption is a daily fact of life for far too many...

Time and again, Ghanaians have chosen Constitutional rule over autocracy, and shown a democratic spirit that allows the energy of your people to break through. We see that in leaders who accept defeat graciously, and victors who resist calls to wield power against the opposition. We see that spirit in courageous journalists like Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who risked his life to report the truth. We see it in police like Patience Quaye, who helped prosecute the first human trafficker in Ghana. We see it in the young people who are speaking up against patronage and participating in the political process...

That is why we must stand up to inhumanity in our midst. It is never justifiable to target innocents in the name of ideology. It is the death sentence of a society to force children to kill in wars. It is the ultimate mark of criminality and cowardice to condemn women to relentless and systematic rape. We must bear witness to the value of every child in Darfur and the dignity of every woman in Congo. No faith or culture should condone the outrages against them. All of us must strive for the peace and security necessary for progress.

In the course of the trainings we conduct on behalf of the International Institute of Buffalo, in order to talk about the development of modern anti-trafficking laws, we explain that the conditions of trafficking existed prior to 2000 in the U.S., we just didn't have a name for it [i.e. a federal law that gave it a name]. Inevitably at the end, one participant will mention, "Well, we did have a name for this before the federal law, didn't we? I mean, isn't this slavery?"

True. Human trafficking is a modern-day slavery. Ron Soodalter and Kevin Bales devote some of their first pages in The Slave Next Door to talk about the old and new forms of slavery:

Picture from About.com

Most Americans' idea of slavery comes right of Roots - the chains, the whip in the overseer's hand, the crack of the auctioneer's gavel. That was one form of bondage. The slavery plaguing America today takes a different form, but make no mistake, it is real slavery. Where the law sanctioned slavery in the 1800s, today it's illegal. Where antebellum masters took pride in the ownership of slaves as a sign of status, today's human traffickers and slaveholders keep slaves hidden, making it all the more difficult to locate victims and punish offenders. Where the slaves in America were once primarily African and African American, today we have "equal opportunity" slavery; modern-day slaves come in all races, all types, and all ethnicities. We are, if anything, totally democratic when it comes to owning and abusing our fellow human beings. All that's required is the chance of a profit and a person weak enough and vulnerable enough to enslave.

This is capitalism at its worst, and it is supported by a dramatic alteration in the basic economic question of slavery. Where an average slave in 1850 would have cost the equivalent of $40,000 in modern money, today's slave can be bought for a few hundred dollars. This cheapness makes the modern slave easily affordable, but it also makes him or her a disposable commodity. For a slaveholder it's often cheaper to let a slave die than it is to keep the slave alive. There is no form of slavery, past or present, that isn't horrific; however, today's slavery is one of the most diabolical strains to emerge in the thousands of years in which human have been enslaving their fellows.

So, again, yes, human trafficking is a modern form of slavery, and some victims today suffer from the same humiliation and physical violence used in historical slavery: degrading physical inspection and bargaining for their sale, kidnapping, chains, back-breaking field and housework, among many others. However our historical understanding of slavery should not hinder our ability to understand its modern form: just because we don't see physical chains or public auctions does not mean we should assume that when someone is being exploited for labor or sexual purposes that it is not slavery or trafficking, as it is now known.

I hope that I will be able to make the trip to Cape Coast Castle at some point in the near future because I believe the trip would be a powerful reminder that so many of our modern human rights problems, including trafficking, have their roots in historical human rights abuses. However, the modern form of slavery needs a modern response: simply declaring it illegal isn't enough. Ensuring that our fellow human beings aren't victimized by traffickers will take an educated public and collaboration among government, non-government, international and law enforcement agencies alike to address root causes and consequences. It will also take a persistence that defies any notion that just because a problem has thousands of years of history, it is impossible to overcome.

Schumer Promises New Authority to Feds in Smuggling Cases

*Picture from Senator Schumer's Bio

Please read the release below carefully

From Senator Chuck Schumer's Office:

Schumer Promises Napolitano He Will Propose Giving Feds New Authority To Seise 'Stash' Houses Used By Human Smugglers

Current 'Civil Forfeiture' Laws Allow Government To Confiscate Property Used In Drug Smuggling, Money Laundering and Child Porn Cases, But Not Human TraffickingIn Meeting

With DHS Secretary, Senator Commits To Pursuing Fix For Loophole As Part Of Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill Planned For Later This Year

GAO Report Recommended This Step Four Years Ago In Order To Disrupt Human Smuggling Networks

WASHINGTON, DC—At the urging of the Obama administration, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) announced Wednesday that he would push, as part of the comprehensive immigration reform bill he plans to propose in the coming months, to give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) new authority to seize property linked to human trafficking crimes.

Schumer, the Chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, made the commitment at a meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who requested that Congress deal with this issue. Under current law, federal authorities are prevented from taking a home used to stash illegal immigrants unless the owner is first found guilty of a crime. Schumer’s proposal would allow the house to be seized based instead upon a showing that it was being used to facilitate a crime. This is the same standard that applies in drug smuggling, money laundering and child pornography cases. Schumer called this update to the law “critical” to the nation’s border security efforts.

“Right now, a loophole in the law is making it harder to shut down safe houses being used to smuggle illegal immigrants. It makes no sense that the government has this authority in drug smuggling cases, but not with human smuggling. This policy needs to be fixed right away, and we will be sure to include it in our comprehensive reform bill. It will put a serious dent in the operations of the Mexican cartels that deal in human trafficking.”

Gaining the expanded authority, known as “civil forfeiture,” has been a priority for federal law enforcement officials since the Bush administration. While authorities have the ability to seize vessels and vehicles through a civil proceeding, they cannot seize homes in this same manner. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, a division of DHS, has long complained that this distinction has frustrated their efforts to crack down on human traffickers who use “stash houses” as way stations along their smuggling routes. A 2005 report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report concurred, noting that “a concern for investigators is lack of adequate statutory civil forfeiture authority for seizing real property, such as ‘stash’ houses, used to facilitate the smuggling of aliens.” Despite the report’s recommendation that Congress update the law to expand civil forfeiture authority, it has ever been taken.

But on Wednesday, Schumer assured Napolitano he would begin drafting legislative language to expand the agency’s powers right away and add it to the comprehensive immigration reform bill he is drafting. He predicted the measure would gain bipartisan support.

I'm not sure what to make of this. I'm not sure if Schumer understands the difference between human smuggling and human trafficking. It is clear the author who wrote this AP article doesn't, which is where I originally found this release and became frustrated with the lack of distiction.

It's not to say that both cannot happen in the same case: victims can be smuggled and trafficked, but he hardly makes the distinction or the connection in his release. If the distinction cannot be made in the law, then we're in a lot of trouble. This would easily confuse someone who was unfamiliar with the difference between smuggling (a crime against the state) and trafficking (a crime against the individual). Not to mention the fact it makes me nervous that we are giving broad powers to agencies that have not been completely trained on human trafficking and run the risk of re-traumatizing victims when agents can't recognize the difference. I guess I am judging a bit early in the process of what this legislation would actually mean, but this "promise" does not start on a good note with me.

Author Charged in Sex Trafficking Case

From the Journal News:

Author accused of keeping sex slave
Terence Corcoran and Sean Gorman
tcorcora@lohud.com

POUND RIDGE - A 65-year-old restaurant-guide writer is accused of bringing young women from abroad to his northern Westchester County home under the guise that they would work for him, then forcing at least one of them into sexual slavery.

Joseph Yannai is the author of "The International Who's Who of Chefs 2004-2005," was charged with one count of first-degree sex abuse and two counts of second-degree labor trafficking, both felonies, according to the county District Attorney's Office.

Police say Yannai lured the primary victim, a 21-year-old from Hungary, to work at his home as his personal assistant. But after she arrived Feb. 18, she learned the real rules of the house: that her e-mails and personal phone calls would be limited and that she would get no spending money or access to transportation, police said.

Then there was that other expectation, that Yannai "threatened and coerced the victims to perform sexual favors," District Attorney Janet DiFiore said.

The woman also came across photos of Yannai with other women in his bedroom and learned that there had been six or seven other young women from various countries who worked at his home, police said.

A second victim, a woman from Brazil, also was working there at the time, police said.

Before leaving Hungary, the primary victim had made e-mail contact with another Hungarian who lives in Pound Ridge, police said, and on March 11, the 21-year-old victim contacted that person, who helped her escape.

The woman then went to Pound Ridge police, who launched an investigation before turning the case over to state police.

Yannai, who lives with his wife and has no children, surrendered yesterday at the state police barracks in Somers, Investigator Cornelius Merritt said.

Yannai, who was arraigned in Pound Ridge before Town Justice Edward Hand, posted $100,000 bail and is due back in Town Court on June 22.

Authorities say the victim learned of Yannai's job offer through a Web site for au pairs. In e-mail exchanges that began in December, Yannai posed as a young woman who was his former employee, the prosecutor's office said.

The woman was told that she would work as a personal assistant to a 64-year-old businessman and had the option of being paid $2,000 a month to work for him but live elsewhere, or live in his home, all expenses paid, and receive $20,000 at the end of the year, authorities said.

She chose the latter, officials said.

Both the Brazilian and Hungarian women are now staying in a shelter, officials said.

Yannai faces a maximum of seven years in state prison if convicted of the top count.

Yesterday, Yannai appeared friendly and hospitable when approached by The Journal News at his home. Although he declined to discuss the case, he invited a reporter and photographer inside the home, offering them drinks, introducing them to his dog, Sadie, and giving them a tour of the spacious living room, which was adorned with leather furniture, and offered a view of the many lily pads floating in a pond out back.

"You're giving me the opportunity to say something I've wanted to say for the last who knows how many years: No comment," he said, referring questions on the case to his lawyer.

His lawyer, John Pappalardo, said Yannai denies the allegations against him.

"There certainly was no sexual abuse or sexual slavery in this case," Pappalardo said.

Several news crews were parked outside Yannai's home on Route 124 yesterday.

Neighbors said they were stunned by the allegations.

"I can't really imagine he's done anything wrong," neighbor Ellen Abisch said, adding that Yannai had told her he had au pairs living and working at his home.

Another neighbor, Katherine Biagiarelli, who lives next-door to Yannai, said that when she came home from work a couple of weeks ago, she saw police taking items out of his home.

"They took some computers out, some hard drives," Biagiarelli said, adding that she did not know Yannai personally.

Another neighbor, Nancy Mutino, who described Yannai as "very rich," said she's friends with his wife, Elena. Mutino said the allegations were surprising.

"That blows my mind because he has a lovely young wife - a really lovely, young wife," she said.

Two things that are really important about this case:

1.) This adds to what people in the counter-trafficking movement try every day to convey through awareness campaigns: there is no one face of a trafficker; no one profession; no one age group or ethnicity. Just because someone in your neighborhood is a respected member of the community with a family, does not mean this person is incapable of being a trafficker. This is not the only case where neighbors in a suburban setting were shocked to find someone they knew in their immediate area was exploiting people in his/her home.

2.) This case shows that labor and sex trafficking can happen at the same time or at the least, that sex abuse can happen while being trafficked for labor exploitation. Creating hard differences between the two types of trafficking can sometimes seem purposeless when we're confronted with cases like this. It's also important to understand that women are trafficked for labor exploitation, which is often overlooked or underreported.

United Nations and Inter- Parliamentary Union Join Forces to Combat Trafficking in Persons

From UN.GIFT:

8 April 2009- Yesterday in the Ethiopian capital, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the framework of the Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) launched the publication Combating Trafficking in Persons: A Handbook for Parliamentarians.

"Parliaments and parliamentarians have the power to prevent human trafficking by raising awareness and curbing exploitative practices". Said UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa. The President and Secretary-General of IPU, as well as the Speaker of the Austrian Parliament, were present at the launch.

As public awareness of human trafficking grows, people are demanding that action be taken to end it. As their elected representatives, parliamentarians have a responsibility and the power to ensure that laws and other measures are put in place and implemented to that end. The Handbook is intended to inspire them to enact sound laws and adopt good practices that will strengthen national responses to human trafficking.

The handbook also contains a compilation of international laws and good practices developed to combat human trafficking, and offers guidance on how national legislation can be brought in line with international standards by, for example, defining trafficking in persons and criminalizing all its forms. It outlines measures to prevent commission of the crime, to prosecute offenders and to protect victims.

"I urge you to use this Handbook, not only as a reference, but as a blueprint for strengthening your country's response to this crime" the Executive Director added.

In conclusion, it is clear that parliamentarians have a role to play in the fight against human trafficking. As agenda-setters and voices of the people, they can have significant power and influence in developing anti-human trafficking laws and policies.

***************************
Combating Trafficking in Persons: A Handbook for Parliamentarians is a useful step forward for legislators and compiles a significant amount of information. The Handbook lays out the various definitions of human trafficking and the international legal framework for combating trafficking in persons, the criminalization of trafficking, monitoring and reporting on human trafficking and enhancing the role of civil society in fighting human trafficking. This Handbook could be a useful resource in developing a common methodology for monitoring and reporting on human trafficking. Presently, a major problem with human trafficking statistics is that they are no comparable across countries and the standards of data collection vary significantly.

However, it is important to stress that, even when a country enacts stronger anti-trafficking in persons laws, this does not mean much for trafficking victims if these laws are not properly implemented. While Combating Trafficking in Persons: A Handbook for Parliamentarians may ultimately prove to be a useful resource for legislators for basic facts, more must be done to ensure that laws are not only enacted but fully implemented and actualized.

Tonawanda massage parlor plea

From Channel 4 News in Buffalo, NY:

Tonawanda massage parlor plea
2 pleads guilty to harboring illegal aliens

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Acting U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter announced today that Ying Dong, 46, and her husband, Bing Lu, 49 , both of Flushing, New York entered pleas of guilty today before United States Judge William M. Skretny. Dong and Lu pled guilty to Harboring and Concealing Illegal Aliens while operating a massage parlor in Tonawanda. The charge carries a maximum punishment of 5 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for June 26, 2009 at 10:00 a.m..

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert C. Moscati, stated that the defendants admitted owning and operating Eastern Spa, 637 Main Street, Tonawanda, New York by employing illegal aliens whom they knew to be in the United States unlawfully.

These women performed services at the spa for a fee, the majority of which was paid to the defendants. The employees were permitted to keep any tips they received from the customers.

Eastern Spa and seven other "accupressure" and "spa" locations were shut down after federal, state and local law enforcement agencies executed search warrants at these locations on March 26, 2007.

On December 10, 2007, another law enforcement action shut down four more locations, resulting in a sex trafficking conviction of the owner of those spas.

Investigation and prosecution of these types of cases is a priority of the Department of Justice. In Western New York, these investigations are lead by the HTTFA, a collaboration of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and non-government service organizations working together to identify, rescue and assist victims of human trafficking, human smuggling and other civil and human rights offenses in the 17 Counties of the District.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Moscati leads this task force. Since its inception, investigations by the HTTFA have resulted in 15 convictions and the rescue of over 60 employees, with several cases still pending. Acting United States Attorney Mehltretter emphasized that the Task Force will continue to aggressively investigate any case where it is believed the most vulnerable persons in our society are being victimized by persons intent on taking economic advantage of others based on their age, gender, ethnicity or status in this Country.

The joint investigation underlying this case was lead by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Lev J. Kubiak, and included the participation of: United States Custom and Border Protection, under the direction of James Engleman; the United States Border Patrol, under the direction of Chief Patrol Agent Kevin Oaks; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Laurie Bennett; the United States Department of Labor, under the direction of Assistant District Director, Michael Fitzgerald; the Niagara Falls Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police John Chella; the Town of Niagara Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police James Suitor; the New York State Police, under the direction of acting Superintendent Preston Felton and Special Investigations Unit Lieutenant William Saunders; the Niagara County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Thomas Beilein; and the Erie County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard.

This case has been a long process for the WNY area. Sometimes, it is easier on the victims if they're not dragged through the long court process and the offenders plead out. I worry that the public nature of the plea, though, may confuse in people's minds the difference between smuggling, illegal immigration and human trafficking. However I feel that the continued work of law enforcement and NGOs in the WNY area will lead to increased public knowledge and better victim identification.

South Asians Left Jobless, Homeless In Iraq

From NPR:

By Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Morning Edition, December 15, 2008 · Tens of thousands of poor South Asians have made their way to Iraq since the U.S. invasion, in the hopes of making money to send home to support their families.

Dishwashers, cleaners, drivers and cooks from countries like Bangladesh, India and Nepal form part of an army of contractors that service America's expensive war.

But the system that gets them to Baghdad is riddled with corruption and exploitation, leaving some South Asians living in hovels, jobless and afraid.

Four months ago, Sushil Khadka, 26, left his wife, his two children and his home country of Nepal for Iraq.

"I'd dreamt of a good job, sending home my salary every month to feed my family, to send my children to school. That's why I came here. But that never happened. The opposite happened. It's terrible," he says.

Now Khadka sits in a hut made out of salvaged cardboard, huddled next to a chain-link fence in a dusty corner near Baghdad's international airport. Flies swarm around splattered bits of old food and dirty blankets.

"They made fools of us," he says. "Had we gotten work, it would've been alright but they took our money and ran away."

He sold the family jewelry — all they had in the world — to pay a recruiter in Nepal $5,000. He says the recruiter promised him a job working for American contractor KBR that would earn him $800 a month — a fortune in Nepal. The average income there is $340 a year.

But when he arrived in Iraq he was told there was no work, he says. The agent who was supposed to help him was arrested and the visa in Khadka's passport was ripped out. He was left to his own devices, scrounging around the airport to find shelter and food.

Khadka is not alone. The 40-or-so men who live with him in this makeshift camp tell similar tales.

Upendra Das, 17, sits on the floor chopping vegetables on a dirty plank of painted wood.

"We eat once a day. Sometimes we can't even do that," he says. "I've been here three months so far. To get here I borrowed from the village moneylender. They charge a lot of interest. I can't leave so I'm still waiting, hoping that I will get some work."

Another group of 1,000 South Asians have been held in a nearby warehouse for several months by KBR subcontractor Najlaa Catering Services, a company based in Kuwait. The men say they had their passports taken away and were confined in substandard conditions.

The U.S. military and KBR say they are investigating.

The U.S. State and Defense departments have issued contracting guidelines that are supposed to protect workers in Iraq.

"As in all things, in Iraq there is a policy in place but there is no one really there to enforce it," says investigative journalist T. Christian Miller, who works for Pro Publica and has written a book called Blood Money about the mismanagement of Iraq's reconstruction.

He says that the abuse of South Asian workers in Iraq is common.

"It's definitely a situation of exploitation. You are talking about the most vulnerable people in the world," Miller says. "The U.S. has contracted some of the most dangerous and dirties jobs to some of the poorest people in the world. At this point, five years into the war, there are no excuses for U.S. companies not to be aware of the issue of human trafficking or labor trafficking."

Back at the Baghdad airport, a representative from the International Organization of Migration (IOM) has just showed up offering the homeless South Asians free repatriation. The IOM heard about the men only 10 days ago.

The men crowd around as Thair Issan hands out forms for them to fill out if they want to go home. Issan says the men's plight is desperate.

"Those are victims," he says. "You see the conditions they're living in. It's a very big humanitarian crisis."

Bangladeshi Mohammad Nazrul Islam says he wants to stay here but he's been told he'll be jailed if he does.

"The Iraqi authorities say ... they will jail us if we stay. If we leave right now, it's OK. But we don't want to leave because we've all paid a lot of money to get here," he says.

Where will we find the money to pay off that debt? he asks desperately, adding that he wants to stay but no one will give him a job.

Drawing lines in a dark place

From the Economist:

Coercing hapless human beings into sex or servitude is obviously evil, but defining the problem (let alone solving it) is very hard

LIVING from the forced labour, or unwillingly provided sexual services, of vulnerable people is a horrific business, and more should be done to punish the perpetrators and succour the victims. That is a sentiment to which almost all governments readily assent, even in the (quite large) slice of the world where links exist between officialdom, the police and the shady types who trade in flesh.

And at least in principle, cross-border trafficking is acknowledged to be so manifestly dreadful that every civilised state must be seen to help correct this wrong. As one sign of this feeling, a Council of Europe convention on trafficking went into force this year; 17 countries have ratified it.

The American government has for the past eight years been mandated by law to wage a many-fronted struggle against human trafficking, at home and around the world. And some hard arguments are now raging in Washington, involving politicians, lobby groups and rival government agencies, about whether the struggle should be escalated.

Why, one might ask, should there be arguments about an issue that, in moral terms, seems so clear-cut? Mainly because the precise definition of trafficking, and hence of trafficking victims, is in reality quite difficult—whether you are a policeman or a moral philosopher.

Among pundits, people-trafficking is distinguished from the lesser evil of people-smuggling—an uncomfortable but almost unavoidable part of social reality in areas that adjoin rich countries with a demand for labour. In Kosovo, it is an open secret that you can be whisked illegally to Vienna by paying €4,000 ($6,000) to a professional smuggler. The Bosnian town of Bijeljina, once a black spot for ethnic cleansing, is now a way-station for south Asians who pay around $16,000 per head to be smuggled into the EU heartland: half on departure and half on arrival.

People-smuggling is done with the consent of those involved; they have no further debt to the gangsters who abet them once they arrive. Trafficking means moving people under duress or false pretences—or in order to use them for forced labour (ranging from domestic work to commercial sex). So the theory goes; but in practice, as the latest State Department report concedes, there is an overlap between the two activities. It often happens, for example, that a poor Indian is hired for menial work in a Gulf state—only to find that his wage is much less than promised, and his passport is seized. This leads to a form of servitude, and that person’s treatment could be called trafficking.

Despite the grey area, public perception of the two problems often diverges. In Australia, for example, public opinion favours a tough line over people-smuggling—but there has been a surge of sympathy for the victims of trafficking (often brought to Australia from Thailand or Indochina) since the release last year of “The Jammed”, a film set in a Melbourne brothel.

And in recent years both the sharper definition of, and the fight against, human-trafficking have become a high priority for the State Department; its grading of other countries’ anti-trafficking efforts is an elaborate and closely-watched business. Countries in “tier 1” (including most of the EU but not Ireland, Greece, Estonia or Latvia) are deemed to comply fully with the minimum standards of American law. Those in “tier 2” don’t yet comply but are trying hard. A lower tier, labelled “Watch List”, consists of countries that are trying, but not hard enough or with good enough results. In the bottom “tier 3” (including American allies like Saudi Arabia) are those that are neither complying nor trying hard enough. Even rickety post-Soviet states (see chart) can improve their scores if they follow what is deemed to be the right advice.

As the State Department has found, it is hard to discuss cross-border trafficking without looking at what occurs inside countries. Its reports have thus broadened into a more general look at the ways in which people are forced to work or have sex against their will. Servitude, it finds, can take many forms: for example, children are mutilated and forced to beg—or else fight in ghastly wars. Slavery, the State Department suggests, happens in many successful emerging economies; it cites bonded labour in Brazil’s plantations, or children working long hours making bricks in China. Indeed, bits of the department’s 2008 report read as though they were penned by a left-of-centre NGO, decrying the dark side of globalisation.

And some of the other ideological issues now coming to a head in Washington are even more contentious. Behind them all is an emotive question: whether there can be such a thing as willing prostitution.

How far can you go?

Since 2002, the policy of the United States has been to oppose prostitution, and to urge all governments to “reduce the demand” for prostitutes through education and by punishing those who patronise them. But how far can this principle be pressed? As passed by the House of Representatives last year, a new bill on protecting the victims of trafficking could have made it illegal for Americans to consort with prostitutes anywhere in the world (even when the prostitutes are adults, and in countries where buying sex is legal). The House version of the bill would also broaden the obligations of America’s federal (as opposed to state) authorities to curb the trafficking of sex workers inside the country. The Justice Department (amid many other objections) said all this would place a huge burden on federal agencies that are already overstretched.

Supporters of stepping up the fight (who range from feminist groups to the religious right) compare their campaign to that of William Wilberforce, whose efforts to free the British empire’s slaves bore fruit 200 years ago. John Miller, an ex-head of the State Department’s anti-trafficking programme, has deplored the Justice Department’s campaign to modify the proposed legislation; its complaints, he says, imply leniency towards an absolute evil, slavery. But the American Civil Liberties Union, a lobby group, has praised the Senate for deleting language which, in its view, would make prostitution and trafficking virtually identical. Lots more arguments can be expected before the bill reaches the White House.

In fact, says Jorgen Carling, a Norwegian who has studied the trafficking of Nigerian women to Europe, it is rarely possible to draw the absolutely clear line that policymakers want between “innocent victimhood” and “willing participation” in sex work. For example, people may know that they are being taken abroad as sex workers, but have no idea of the harsh conditions, and the absolute loss of control over their lives, that they will face. This may be an area of life where most people can recognise evil when they see the details of one horrifying case—but where it will always be hard to make hard-and-fast rules that suit every country

International Labor Migration & Human Trafficking

Women & children trafficked into prostitution can end up forced to work in nightclubs (Source: Corbis)

Definition
Human trafficking (trafficking) is modern day slavery. It comprises the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of subjecting that person to involuntary servitude, sexual exploitation, peonage, debt bondage, slavery, or other kinds of exploitation.

Trafficking can take various forms including:
• Forced prostitution
• Forced labor (factories, sweatshops)
• Domestic servitude
• Soldiering
• Organ trade
• Commercial or illegal adoption

According to the U.S. State Department up to 800,000 people are trafficked around the world each year for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, and other forms of exploitation. This number does not include trafficking within a country's borders. An estimated 17,000 victims are trafficked into the United States each year. The International Organization for Migration estimates there are around 200,000 to 250,000 women and children trafficked every year in Asia. An estimated 27 million slaves still exist today, more than at the height of the Transatlantic slave trade.

Trafficking is the product of many factors including: poverty, lack of education, unemployment, underemployment, feminization of migration, organized crime syndicates, government corruption, and low awareness of trafficking at all levels of society.


Overseas migrant workers travel to countries across the globe (Source: Corbis)

The Connection to International Labor Migration
The Philippine economy today is heavily dependent on the export of human capital or migrant labor. The resulting income, or remittances, has various macro & micro economic benefits and provides much-needed cash to families who generally spend it on education, health, and homes; however, the wealth is not distributed equally throughout the population. Because higher education is generally private in the Philippines (almost 80% of students in higher education in the Philippines are attending private schools), only those with money can afford it. Because higher education is an important factor in finding work abroad, generally only those with money to begin with benefit from migration and the resulting remittances. This means that families receiving remittances are generally not poor, thus the income gap between rich and poor increases (Tullao et al.). Migration's ability to alleviate poverty, therefore, remains unproven.

Although migration and trafficking are not the same, they share many similarities. In the case of the Philippines, trafficking is an industry that benefits from a culture of migration and newfound remittance-funded economic power that fuel the romanticism and mystique of working abroad. Trafficking thrives on weak economies with large uneducated, poor populations. It comes hand-in-hand with unemployment and underemployment. Trafficking is a bi-product of an unhealthy economy in that only when a sizable group of the population has become financially vulnerable and desperate does it reach its full exploitative, profitable potential. The unemployment and low wages that migrant workers and trafficking victims want to leave behind is the same. In the end, they chase the same dreams except that migrant workers, while still at risk to abuse, are given the chance to fulfill them while trafficking victims never come close.

Culture of Migration

Mega shopping malls reflect the materialistic side of Philippine culture (Source: Corbis)

International labor migration is ingrained in the Philippine consciousness as a path to financial stability and a way to effectively provide for one's family. Over the decades migrants have returned home wearing designer brands, carrying boxes of foreign made goods, and possessing the most valuable resource of a poverty infected nation- cold hard cash. Returning migrants, or balikbayans as they are referred to in the Philippines, bring with them stories of life abroad in the UK, Qatar, the US, Hong Kong, or Australia. They dazzle relatives and neighbors with their newfound worldliness and financial power and as a result move up in their social standing. This is the culture of migration in the Philippines. Migrants promote overseas work simply by coming home, bringing gifts, and perhaps telling a few stories. They are the most effective promoters of international labor migration for their brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces, and nephews will observe this wealth and view migration as the key to financial success. Often times, as we have seen from the state of the Philippine economy, they are not wrong.

This migration culture makes it easy for traffickers to sell a dream to vulnerable men, women, and children. As previously mentioned, higher education is generally closed to those without money, yet is integral to working abroad. This is where traffickers move in. They offer provincial women jobs in the city or abroad as waitresses or singers. They offer men well paying jobs in factories or farms. They promise money, enough to take care of the family, but their promises are empty. The reality is forced prostitution, domestic servitude, forced labor, or some other form of exploitation. The culture of migration helps convince these poor, often uneducated men, women and children that migration is worth the risk because they have seen the gleaming remittance-funded house down the street and heard stories of life abroad.

Economic Factors

Shanty towns dot the urban landscape in the Philippines (Source: Corbis)

Remittances are extremely important for the Philippine economy reaching $US7.6 billion by 2003 and equivalent to 20.6% of the country’s exports and 19.4% of its imports (Yue). If remittances are increasingly important to the country's economy, they therefore constitute a primary tool for local economic development- an influx of foreign currency from healthy economies abroad to be used towards creating industries and jobs at home. Depending on how they are used then, remittances play a key role in either combating or promoting the trafficking industry.

The Philippines remains a poor country. It is a place where trafficking thrives because there is a large vulnerable population that dreams of going abroad to earn foreign wages. The large influx of cash provided by remittances carries with it the potential to stimulate local development, create jobs, improve the standard of living, alleviate poverty, and as a result make a significant dent in the trafficking industry. If remittances are used productively in a way that promotes local economic growth, creates jobs, and increases wages then the Philippines will be on its way to ending modern day slavery within its borders.

Current efforts to combat trafficking are primarily reactive. For example, the government conducts rescues after the victims have been enslaved. Or NGOs counsel victims and provide temporary shelter for them once they have been trafficked. Or the courts attempt to prosecute the traffickers after the fact (there have approximately 10 convictions in the Philippines since it passed its anti-trafficking bill, RA 9208, in 2003). These reactive services are critical because they support those who have been victimized by offering rehabilitative and reintegrative services. But combating trafficking must involve a holistic approach. There must also be active efforts to address trafficking before the problem starts.


Poverty in Manila (Source: Corbis)

Prevention programs that provide information on the dangers of trafficking to at-risk populations are no doubt helpful; however, it is difficult to dissuade someone from migrating in the face of economic desperation. Even if these men and women are aware of the risks involved, this does not change their financial and economic reality and need to provide for their families. This does not change their desire to live a better life. There needs to me something more than preventative information.

The Power of the Dollar
Remittances provide an excellent opportunity to address socioeconomic issues like poverty and trafficking through building the local economy. Trafficking is made possible by economic desperation, but if remittances are used to build businesses and stimulate the local economy, then over time trafficking can be reduced or eliminated through an increase in living standards and a reduction in unemployment. But these improvements must reach all sectors of society and, in regard to trafficking, especially the poor. Higher education must be made accessible to all income groups. The bottom line is that the estimated $20 billion generated annually by international labor migration can do a great deal in spurring local development, creating local jobs, and eventually minimizing the need to leave the country for work; however, these funds must be managed and invested properly to be truly effective.


Money changers are a popular channel through which to send remittances (Source: Corbis)

The Philippine government currently has no control over how remittances are spent. With the rampant corruption that runs through its hallways; however, perhaps this is a good thing. Nevertheless, there needs to be an organization or coalition that can help migrants manage their funds back home in ways that help not only their families and friends, but their community and ultimately their country. In the absence of government initiatives, microcredit, social entrepreneurship-based non-governmental organizations like Unlad Kabayan become integral in organizing and distributing remittances for local economic benefit. Although distribution of remittances for local economic development would, under ideal circumstances, be the responsibility of the government because of superior funding, national reach, networks, etc., existing government corruption is a deal breaker when managing a resource that can play a large part in reviving the local economy.


Filipinos are a large part of the global sea farer industry (Source: Corbis)

Balikbayans, or overseas migrant workers, are called the heroes of the Philippines and in many ways they are having staved off economic troubles through the strength, and wages of foreign markets. But sending money home is only the first step. Remittances can truly transform the Philippine economy and over time, potentially turn the country from a labor export country into a labor import country if its economy can be brought back to life. If remittances are used to create local businesses, create local jobs, raise local wages, and in general invested in the Philippines instead of buying imported goods and focusing solely on training people to leave the country, then the Pearl of the Orient will be taking the first step towards economic independence and improving quality of life at home, including the eradication of trafficking.

An Uncertain Future

Makati, Manila- an island of wealth in a sea of poverty (Source: Corbis)

Has the Philippine government made a mistake by emphasizing the role of international labor migration in the economy? This depends on how the benefits of this decision, in this case remittances, are managed. The local economy is weak, jobs are few, and wages are low. The government cannot ignore the local economy while depending on foreign markets to keep it afloat. Migration labor is not open to all. It is mainly the rich who benefit from remittances. The government continuing to support international labor migration and ignoring local development is almost equivalent to them supporting the gap between rich and poor, which will only worsen if international migration continues in its present pattern. Higher education must be made more accessible to all. The benefits of remittances must trickle down to all levels of society.

Currently the Philippine government has been signing free trade agreements on the condition of relaxed migration laws. While this may benefit those who can afford to become nurses, accountants, computer specialists, etc. abroad, the poor are left out in the proverbial cold at home to survive in a broken economy. They are left desperate and vulnerable to the schemes of traffickers. Further, the cheap imported foreign goods that flood local markets once these agreements are signed will only further shrink local business and make it increasingly difficult for the country to stand on its own.


The Philippine Stock Exchange (Source: Corbis)

The future of trafficking in the Philippines is intertwined with international labor migration because the resulting remittances are an integral factor to the development and survival of the local economy. Policy makers must consider the long-term effects of international labor migration and its impact on the local economy as well as its influence on poverty and trafficking. The government must institute and implement policies that protect its migrants and ensure maximization of remittances to fuel local economic growth. It must stop looking to the exchange rate as a barometer of economic health and develop serious measures towards poverty alleviation and job creation at home. Trafficking is a solvable problem. It cannot be fixed overnight, far from that, but significant progress can be achieved through executing well-planned development strategies that utilize existing resources to improve the local economy.

For now, the Philippines has the potential to change for the better; however, whether it meets this potential remains to be seen.

Sources:
Labor Mobility and East Asian Integration
Siow Yue CHIA
Singapore Institute of International Affairs
Asian Economic Policy Review (2006) 1, 349–367

The Economic Impacts of International Migration: A Case Study on the Philippines
Tereso Tullao, Jr., Michael Angelo Cortez, Edward See
Center for Business and Economics Research and Development
De La Salle University- Manila, Philippines

Let's Get Free

Human Trafficking 101

Slavery was officially abolished in the United States with the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution in 1865.

Yet today slavery remains a thriving industry...

Human trafficking (trafficking) is modern day slavery. Trafficking generally involves organized crime syndicates who profit tremendously from the forced prostitution and/or labor performed by its victims. Trafficking has become so profitable that it has superseded the traditional cash cows of drugs and arms trade in some criminal organizations.

Source: Corbis

Defining Human Trafficking

The U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 defines trafficking as:

1) Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion or in which the person induced to perform such an act is under 18, or

2) The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of subjecting that person to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

The keywords to understanding trafficking are: deceit, coercion, forced labor, and sexual exploitation.

Filipina domestic workers in Kuwait escape to their embassy after suffering
violence and sexual advances at the hands of their employers. Source: Corbis

Trafficking vs. Smuggling

Trafficking and smuggling are often confused, but are NOT the same. Smuggling is the illegal crossing of a national border, and is a criminal act for the both the smuggler and the person smuggled. Trafficking, on the other hand, is the crime of slavery-like labor or commercial sexual exploitation, and may not involve any transportation at all. It is a crime committed by the trafficker against a victim, and so only the trafficker has committed a criminal act (Polaris).

Regarding forced migration or movement, while a trafficked person may experience forced movement during the trafficking, the forced movement or confinement is not by itself trafficking, absent other factors. It is the slavery-like labor exploitation or commercial sexual exploitation that determines whether trafficking has occurred. In some trafficking cases, little to no movement or transportation occurs (Polaris).

Trafficking does not necessarily require transportation, but it does always signify someone being deceived or coerced into a situation where they are forced to do some kind of labor against their will.

Trafficking is an umbrella term for persons being forced into activities such as:

• Prostitution
• Forced labor (factories, sweatshops)
• Domestic servitude
• Begging
• Soldiering
• Commercial or illegal adoption
• Camel jockeying (young boys)
• Organ trading

Chinese migrant laborers work 12-hour shifts at construction sites for
little pay amidst miserable work & living conditions. Source: Corbis

Source Countries vs. Destination Countries

Trafficking is an issue that connects poor countries to rich countries, the supply to the demand. The flow of trafficking victims is generally south to north, and east to west- in other words the poor moving to meet the demands of the rich. Victims are generally from South East Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Approximately 80 percent of trafficking victims are women and girls, and up to 50 percent are minors. This can be attributed to the feminization of migration. As demand for domestic help and entertainers, among other female-oriented jobs, has increased around the globe, the vulnerable population of poor women and girls from developing countries seeking employment abroad has kept pace offering up a steady stream of migrants hoping to escape poverty and support their families back home.

Child beggars in Mexico. Often girls like these are part of a larger network
of older women and young children recruited to beg. Source: Corbis

Causes of trafficking

• Lack of economic opportunity- with no jobs at home, people are forced to go abroad or starve
• Feminization of migration- as the international labor market shifted its focus to women-staffed occupations, the population vulnerable to trafficking ballooned
• Organized crime syndicates- elusive and adaptive, crime syndicates have maximized their profits from trafficking by taking advantage of the large number of people seeking work abroad
• Government corruption- trafficking will be difficult to solve with customs officials and other government staff accepting bribes to facilitate the trafficking
  
• Poor education- many uneducated, desperate men and women are duped into trafficking by manipulative recruiters
• Low awareness of trafficking- the fewer people that know about trafficking, the less awareness there is, and the less chance that an effective movement can be mobilized to effectively fight the issue

Illegal organ trade in Pakistan: men selling their kidneys. Source: Corbis

Stakeholders

• Governments- Integral in creating anti-trafficking legislation and enforcing it through a strong justice system, governments also have the resources to develop effective awareness campaigns to educate the public and outgoing migrants on trafficking as well as provide direct services to victims.
• Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)- Key in advocating to create or amend existing legislation, developing new legislation in conjunction with governments, and, because of their in-the-trenches perspective, training law enforcement and social workers about trafficking as well as running awareness campaigns, providing legal assistance to victims, and offering direct services to victims of trafficking. The shortcoming of NGOs is that they often work with extremely limited resources and because of this, operate at the whim of grant stipulations, which can alter their programming and put the stability of their services in jeopardy without guarantees of long-term funding.
• Law Enforcement- Integral in conducting raids to free victims and enforcing anti-trafficking legislation on the streets. Training on recognizing trafficking situations is needed to have a well-informed police force that is aware of the issue in its various forms.
• The Media- Plays a key role in raising awareness and framing the issue in the public's eye. It is important for the media to portray trafficking as not only limited to sexual exploitation but also forced labor and its other forms. Further, the media should portray trafficking not as an exotic, isolated issue but, where appropriate, as an ongoing problem that exists within our communities.
• The Public- Everyday people can do much to stem the tide of trafficking. Awareness by itself is a big step- we cannot begin to effectively address this issue unless we know of it. Further, the more people that are educated about trafficking, the more eyes and ears there will be to recognize a trafficking situation, making it harder for traffickers to conduct their business.

A child soldier in Africa. Often times children can be forcibly removed
from their communities and forced to join armies. Source: Corbis

To Be Continued...

Sources:
Polaris Project. What Is Human Trafficking? Retrieved February 2nd, 2007 from http://www.humantrafficking.com/humantrafficking/trafficking_ht3/what_is_ht.htm.