Human Trafficking for Begging: Old Game, New Name

Press Release: Beggars are a part of the street landscape of any major European city. ‘But don’t be fooled’, warns Iveta Cherneva, author of Trafficking for Begging: Old Game, New Name. ‘The children and elderly women begging on the street are often forced beggars – victims of human trafficking.

They are a part of a ring with organizational complexity comparable to that of a medium-size business enterprise’, adds the author whose latest research is also based on observations of the operations of begging traffickers in Geneva, Switzerland.

‘For their destination, traffickers chose high wealth concentration cities, such as Geneva, the world’s capital of luxurious watches.

There is a physical archetype that traffickers follow when choosing beggars. Often they chose children with handicaps’, explains the author. In a number of reported cases cited in the study traffickers hurt and mutilate beggars on purpose. By maiming and deforming them they create more revenue. A handicapped child earns three times more than a healthy child.

A survey by the Stop Child Begging Project in Thailand found that disabled children earn as much as 1000 baht a day, as opposed to a healthy child beggar who earns 300 baht a day. ‘An ugly industry is quietly sitting on the pavement and we don’t even notice it’, explains Iveta Cherneva. ‘The revenues from this illegal activity are huge’, she adds. The US State Department trafficking report cites the findings of an undercover reporter who learned in 2005 that a man in Shenzhen, China could earn between $30,000-$40,000 per year by forcing children to beg. ‘Organized begging is a form of human trafficking, although admittedly not all begging is human trafficking.

A few questions first need to be asked and answered, and a few legal parameters – examined, in order to prove that organized begging is indeed trafficking in persons. Under international law there are five elements of trafficking, which need to be met – action, means, exploitation, transnational nature and organized criminal group. Familial forced begging, for example, is difficult to prove as human trafficking. Another problem is that very few legal cases are available and this is an area where the police and the courts need to do better’, explains the author. The demand side of begging is still a largely unstudied topic.

The study looks into the psychological explanations behind begging in attempt to answer the question why people give money to beggars. ‘We need to realize that by giving money to beggars on the street we only encourage the vicious cycle, which fuels the criminal activity. This is why we need to stop and in that way cut the cycle of this trafficking activity’, the author concludes.

Trafficking for Begging: Old Game, New Name is available as an Ebook in Amazon Kindle Store. For more information Contact the author at ivetacherneva@yahoo.com.

Descent Into Slavery, and a Ladder to Another Life

From the New York Times:

He wore a satin suit onstage, so new that a tag was still fixed to the cuff. His 2-year-old daughter wiggled in his arms. The crowd cheered. Lifting his right hand to his lips, Jose Gutierrez seemed to blow a kiss to the audience. But it was more.

Mr. Gutierrez had gotten to the other side of slavery, climbing a ladder of second chances.

More than a decade ago, he was part of the nameless, unseen cast of a horror story. Lured from Mexico on promises of prosperity, he and 56 other people lived as prisoners in two row houses in Queens. By day, they sold key chains and miniature screwdriver kits in the subways, at airports, on roadsides. At night, they turned over every penny to the bosses of the houses.

All of the peddlers were deaf. Mr. Gutierrez, the youngest, had arrived in the United States at age 15, fluent only in Mexican Sign Language.

On Tuesday morning, 13 years after two of the deaf Mexican peddlers walked into a police station in Queens with a letter describing the conditions, Mr. Gutierrez was honored for his diligent work at a company that has cleaning contracts with federal agencies.

Mr. Gutierrez’s assignment: janitor at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

“I remembered playing with a car when I was a little boy, and seeing a picture of her,” he said. “When I found out that I was going to work there, it moved me. Thrilled me.”

There are, it turns out, second acts in American lives. Mr. Gutierrez leaves his home in Astoria shortly after 5 a.m., catches a ferry at 6:30, lands on the island 15 minutes later. He cleans bathrooms, empties trash, dusts a giant globe that shows the journeys of people to the United States.

His own odyssey began in 1995, when he heard from a friend about opportunities for deaf people in the United States. He was the seventh child in a family of eight, the only one who was deaf. “My friend’s father drove us to San Diego,” Mr. Gutierrez said. “I was very awkward. I didn’t know anything. We were supposed to go around and sell things. The money we collected we had to give to the boss.”

After a year in Los Angeles, he moved to a house in New York City that ran under the same terms, led by the Paoletti family, many of whom were also deaf. They would order a box of novelties, like miniature balls and bats, paying $75. The items would be attached to cards explaining that the seller was deaf. The peddlers would spend 12 to 16 hours a day in subway cars, dropping the trinkets in the laps of riders. Each box would bring in $485 in revenue. The bosses would swap bundles of single dollars at Atlantic City casinos for $100 bills, making the money easier to smuggle into Mexico, where it was banked.

Mr. Gutierrez depended entirely on the bosses for a bed and food. They took his money. “We were like slaves,” he said. “It was very frustrating. We couldn’t talk to the cops. It was heartbreaking.”

One day in July 1997, two of the peddlers went into the 115th Precinct station house in Queens, bringing a letter they had composed with help from a couple they had met at Newark Airport. “The police brought interpreters in to get the story told,” said Maria V. Pardo, a job counselor for the deaf with Fedcap Rehabilitation Services. The police found $35,000 in cash in one of the houses and 57 imprisoned peddlers. Federal prosecutors indicted 20 people on charges that included slavery and smuggling, and ultimately, they all pleaded guilty to some wrongdoing.

The peddlers, who were in the country illegally, were subject to deportation, but the administration of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani stepped in; the era of zero tolerance for illegal immigrants had not yet begun. They were put up in a motel by the city, and slowly found places to live, schools to attend, jobs to go to. “They were given special permission to work,” Ms. Pardo said. Nearly 40 people decided to stay in the United States.

Mr. Gutierrez, 17 at the time that the slavery ring was broken up, went to the Lexington School for the Deaf. “The support I got there was wonderful,” he said, and he also fell in love with another student, Christina Gonzalez, who was born in the United States. “I had no family here; her family has been so good to me.”

She pointed him to Fedcap, which provides training and employment for people with disabilities. In 2007, Fedcap sent him to work on Liberty and Ellis Islands under a janitorial services contract administered by AbilityOne, a federal program. He makes $20 an hour plus benefits, and now has a green card.

So on Tuesday, Mr. Gutierrez was brought back to receive a special honor at the Fedcap graduation ceremony.

With him onstage were Ms. Gonzalez and their daughter, Gloria. He lifted his fingers to his mouth, as if he were blowing a kiss. His audience knew better: it was a symbol from American Sign Language, repeated over and over.

“Thank you,” he said. “Thank you.”

What an absolutely fantastic story. This case, for all of its particular depravity for targeting people with disabilities, is one that was important for the creation and passage of the TVPA; we reference it often during trainings. It is hard to imagine in today's climate around immigration, what would have happened to the survivors in this case if there were no relief options for survivors. As the article mentions, the Mayor's office (and I'm sure other advocates) had to step in and prevent their deportation and luckily, that was more feasible at the time because "zero tolerance" had not yet begun.

I think the story is important as well, because when people are quick to assume that victims are weak individuals and that is why they are "so easily manipulated," we see the personal strength and determination in so many survivors who go on to achieve great things.

Government Regulated Begging in Thailand

From the Bangkok Post:

By Apinya Wipatayotin
August 21, 2008

Beggars believe a bill licensing their activity will improve their standard of living, but activists warn the proposed law does not solve the root of their problems.

Sitthina Kaewkammi, a 46-year-old blind female beggar from Kalasin province, said that the idea of beggar registration under the act was good if it could help her improve her quality of life. ''No one wants to be a beggar if he or she has a better choice,'' she said. ''If registration improves things for me, I will accept it.'' She wanted to run her own lottery shop, but that was not possible as she has no capital to invest.

A 29 year-old disabled man who called himself Tee and is a beggar at Soi Ari said he was willing to cooperate if the legislation is passed. He said he earned about 300 baht a day from begging.

Under the bill, approved by cabinet on Tuesday, local authorities would issue a beggar's licence if the beggar can prove he is underprivileged, disabled, homeless or elderly without care. However, the licensed beggar will be confined to a particular ''working place''.

For example, a beggar registered in Phetchaburi would be allowed to work in that province only, not other places such as Bangkok.

Eakarak Loomchomkhae, chief of the anti-human trafficking programme of the Mirror Foundation, said the bill was designed based on the belief that begging is the main cause of human trafficking. ''In fact, many beggars do their job without involvement in illegal activity. But their opportunities would be limited by such a bill.''

Many children, and disabled and elderly had been forced to beg despite enactment of a law on human trafficking prevention and suppression since June.

BBC special on child slavery

BBC World is re-airing the special, Child Slavery with Rageh Omaar.

Around 8.4 million children around the world are enslaved today. Now, in a remarkable journey across three continents, five of them tell their stories. This documentary is presented by reporter Rageh Omaar.

Mawulehawe

Twelve-year-old Mawulehawe has been sold by his mother to a local fishermen in Ghana for $40 (£25). He may not see his mother again for many years.

She will use the money to buy cooking oil to fry the fish she sells on the shore at Ada, a small fishing town a couple of hours drive east of the capital, Accra.

The fishermen to whom Mawulehawe is sold, Aaron, will take him away to serve a three-year apprenticeship. Mawulehawe, like many others in the region, is being sold to help alleviate his family's poverty.

He has several brothers and sisters and has had some schooling, but there is not enough money for him to continue. It is now his younger brother's turn to go to school instead. Mawulehawe insists he is happy with the deal. Fishing has always been part of his life. And his family toast the "sale" with a strong drink, it is clear he sees his new life as a new adventure.

While many of the children working on Lake Volta go enthusiastically, most have no idea the dangers that lie ahead.

The long, unregulated hours and dangers such as getting tangled in the nets underneath the water's surface can lead to accidents and fatalities.

Ali

Six-year-old Ali was picked up by the Saudi authorities for begging on the streets of Jeddah. He was smuggled into Saudi Arabia from Yemen in order to beg.

Ali says he ended up begging after physical abuse involving metal wire attacks on his back. He says he was beaten up when he said he did not want to beg all day.

Ali is one of thousands of Yemeni children sold to gangs and forced to beg each year. These children are often sold by families who are duped into believing their offspring will get a better life.

Many of the children who are smuggled over the Saudi/Yemen border are beaten and sometimes even mutilated to become better, more effective beggars.

It is hard to be exact about figures, but in 2005 the Yemeni Ministry of Social Affairs acknowledged that about 300 children were crossing the border every month.

Rahul and Amit

The Kumar cousins - Rahul, 12 and Amit, seven - thought they were leaving their remote village in the north east of India to go to school and learn a trade. They had no idea their parents had sent them to one of the most populated cities in the world - Delhi - to work in a sweat-shop.

The boys hated sewing beads on fabric for 18 hours a day.  They lived, worked and slept in the same tiny room and only saw daylight when they were allowed out on Sunday under the supervision of a minder. Their hands are blistered and their feet deformed because of the repetitive nature of the work. They were beaten and had little food.

Children like Rahul and Amit who work in the zari units are classified as "bonded labourers", often working to clear obscure debts usually incurred by their families. "Bonded labour" has been illegal in India since 1976 but legislation is largely unenforced and charitable organizations have taken on the burden of investigating illegal labour.

A non-governmental organisation helped the Kumar boys to escape and return home... but the welcome they received was not quite what they were expecting.

Dalyn

When Dalyn was only 12 years old, she was tricked and forced into prostitution. She recalls now how she was approached by a woman who asked her if she would like to work at a garment factory in Kompong Cham.

But when she arrived, she was sold to a brothel in Cambodian capital Pnomh Penh for $150 (£78). Locked up in a cage with others underneath the brothel, she was starved, beaten and threatened at gun point until she agreed to service clients.

Many of the children at the shelter where Dalyn is, became infected with HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases after being sold into sexual slavery, and all have been severely traumatised.

Dalyn was rescued by the police and an aid agency but it is only now, at 17 years old and after substantial amounts of therapy, that she feels able to tell her story. 

Aid agencies are only able to scratch the surface of the problem of child sex slaves in Cambodia. In the first six months of last year, of the 186 raids carried out on brothels by the agency, only two resulted in convictions being made. And in South East Asia alone, Unicef says one million children are involved in the commercial sex trade.

There are more stories on the link, and the show goes into more detail about each of the above stories with interviews with these children. Rageh Omaar also wrote an article in The Somaliland Times discussing the meaning of slavery and the purpose behind the documentary. 

Trafficking in the USA

From the Daily O'Collegian:

Last month, a Romanian couple living in New York City were accused of enslaving a teenage baby sitter and others, forcing them at gunpoint and by rape and assault to become beggars on the streets.

Each beggar would work upward of 12 hours a day and would make about $400, all of which went to the Romanian couple.

They had been doing this as early as 2004, according to a report filed by FBI Special Agent Evan Nicholas.

In 2006, the Department of Health and Human Services provided government assistance to 234 foreign victims of trafficking. Also, the Department of Homeland Security issued 729 visas to survivors of human trafficking.

“The United States has estimated 800,000 people a year are trafficked internationally. That’s not only sexual exploitation, but all other forms of trafficking into labor exploitation, as well. But that really is an estimate; it can’t be said to be an accurate figure, because again, the difficulties of this hidden crime make it impossible to know actually how many are being trafficked,” Mary Cunneen said.

Cunneen, formerly the director of Anti-Slavery International, also says that the “Trafficking in Persons Report” is flawed in one major way. “…the report does not deal with trafficking in the United States, and there are serious problems with trafficking in the United States, and perhaps the report should also look at what the American government is doing and if their policies are being implemented, if they’re looking at other countries.”

Child Trafficking in Spain

Madrid, Spain

From EITB:

There are 1.2 million child victims of human trafficking per year around the world, according to data given by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Children are used as an economic profit source by organized crime. Trafficking of minors is a prosperous business, which moves 40 billion dollars a year. For under age children alone, the profit reaches 23.5 million euros a year.

"Children are easier to recruit, convince and move and therefore, due to the low costs, they generate an enormous economic profit."

"A child begging in Vienna or Madrid can earn a hundred euros a day, while girls who are forced to prostitute themselves generate profits of 1,000 to 3,000 euros a week. If we take into account that a procurer pays around 3,000 euros a day for each girl, he will have paid off the purchase in a week and he will obtain profits from then on."

In declarations to journalists before taking part in a child trafficking congress organized by Save the Children, Liliana Orjuela, who is in charge of the organization has explained that child exploitation does not only happen in the Global South but also in Europe, especially in poor countries like Romania or former Soviet republics, where there are many at risk minors.

According to local police, in Spain there are around 20,000 minors who have been forced into prostitution, begging or who have been victims of international crime nets which have used them for labor exploitation, illegal adoptions or even organ trafficking. According to Save the Children and Spanish Net against human trafficking data, 50,000 women and girls are victims of human trafficking in Spain. They come from Morocco, Sub-Saharan Africa, eastern countries, Brazil and Central America, and are brought to Spain where "there is great demand."

*Edited for readability