International Orchestra for Freedom: 'Abandoning Silence' Concert Series

International Orchestra for Freedom 'Abandoning Silence' Concert Series

William Kunhardt conductor
Thomas Carroll cello
International Orchestra for Freedom
Purna Sen Head of Human Rights at The Commonwealth Secretariat

Programme:
Siddique: Prayer For Humanity (world premiere)
Gulda: Cello Concerto
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.6 'Pathétique'

'Abandoning Silence' is a dynamic new concert series presented by The Human Culture Collective, which aims to raise awareness to human trafficking through orchestral music, and is performed by the dynamic International Orchestra for Freedom, a group of some of the most talented young professional musicians from across the UK.

'Prayer for Humanity' composed by Julene Siddique is a symphonic narration of human rights and the honouring of universal values. This beautiful, innovative and powerful new commission receives its debut performance.

Renowned virtuoso cellist Thomas Carroll performs Friedrich Gulda's innovative and jazzy Cello Concerto, and Tchaikovsky's infamous final symphony, the 'Pathétique', completes the programme.

Tickets*:
£25, £20, £15, £12, £8

To buy tickets visit here or here.

About the International Orchestra for Freedom:

The International Orchestra for Freedom is one of the most exciting orchestras on the planet. It is the voice of an entire generation of young professional artists, filled with passion, commitment and stunning creativity. Far beyond that however, the orchestra is a force for international social change. Its mission is to travel the world, along with its global partners, performing in the most iconic venues and working in communities, with corporations, global leaders and world governments. Its goal: To mobilise the world in facing one of the greatest atrocities imaginable – Human trafficking.

Setting the Record Straight

Last week, the Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales, and Northern Island issued a report that found that nearly 10% of prostitutes in the UK are victims of human trafficking (that figure jumps to 15% for migrant women.

Release about the report:

The report, called Setting the Record, involved a widespread collaboration between a number of law enforcement agencies, non-government organisations and has been independently academically reviewed. It also has the support of government as providing the most comprehensive estimate of the levels of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

It found that around 17,000 of the estimated 30,000 women involved in off-street prostitution in England and Wales are migrants. Approximately half come from Eastern Europe and a third from Asia. These women were grouped into three categories: those who were trafficked, those who are vulnerable and those who meet neither threshold.

Of the 17,000 migrant women identified, 2,600 were deemed to have been trafficked and a further 9,200 were deemed vulnerable migrants who may be further victims of trafficking. Most of those trafficked (2,200) are from Asia, primarily China.

ACPO lead on migration and associated matters Deputy Chief Constable Chris Eyre said: “Human trafficking for sexual exploitation involves the most extreme abuse of individuals in our communities.

“We recognise that Project Acumen focuses on only one area of trafficking, but it clearly sets out the scale of the problems that those in law enforcement, victim support, social care and border protection, collectively face.

“It provides us with a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of how migrant women are involved in prostitution - how they are influenced, controlled, coerced, exploited and trafficked. “The publication of this report represents not the end of a process, but the start. We now have a better picture of the extent of trafficking and will look to support from Government to ensure we work effectively with all agencies to make the UK a more hostile environment for traffickers, to shut down trafficking routes into the UK and to prosecute those who are exploiting women for their own gains.”

Read the full report here.

Yoga Stop Human Trafficking

On March 13th 2010 Yogis around the world rolled out their mats for a mass sun salutation, to take a stand against trafficking and show their support to its millions of victims.

The central event was held in the Southern Indian city of Mysore, the world-famous birthplace of Astanga Yoga, and home to Odanadi Seva Trust, who have been working with exploited women and children in and around Mysore for the past 20 years. There were some 60 events in 20 countries taking place around the world.

This video is of the event organized by Sophie Cleere in Reading (England).

Video by David Wall

Trade as One: Fair Trade to Prevent Human Trafficking

From Trade as One:

Our Goals
There are two crises that keep us awake at night. First, the crisis of extreme poverty that defines much of the developing world. Second, the empty consumerism that has left much of the developed world bereft of meaning and purpose. We believe Fair Trade is a way to alleviate both.

Our Story
Our story is of people from all over the world deciding that they want to make the world more fair. It’s not rocket science, it’s just some men and women working together with the audacity to think they can actually change something.

Our Team
We’re diverse, we’re dedicated, we’re experienced, we’re in love (with the idea of a business that brings people together and makes the world better). Some of us are from the United States. Some of us are from the United Kingdom. All of us believe the way to enjoy our own prosperity and freedom is to offer a hand up to others.

Learn more about Trade as One

Listen to Me - Stories from marginalised children around the world

EveryChild and Save the Children UK, have collaborated with iceandfire to stage a new play based on real testimonies of vulnerable children around the world.

20 years on from the creation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Listen to Me tells the stories of children living on the streets, fleeing conflict, trapped in bonded labour and growing up in abusive households and will explore whether children have seen an improvement in their lives.

The play was performed for an invited audience of children's rights experts, charities, opinion formers and decision makers at the prestigious Unicorn Theatre, the UKs flagship theatre for young people in London, on 16 November.

Amnesty International Hobart Action Centre: Comfort Women Event

On the 1st of August, Amnesty International Hobart Action centre ran an action on the grounds of Parliament House, Hobart, in an effort to raise awareness for the "comfort women", a body of women put into sexual slavery by the Japanese Military during World War II.

World War II saw one of the largest cases of human trafficking in the 20th century.

Thousands of 'comfort women' were coerced into providing sexual services for Japanese armed forces across the Asia Pacific.

Many of these women are in their later years now, and are still campaigning for some sense of acknowledgment or compensation from the Japanese Government.

Japan still refuses to officially acknowledge its responsibility or legal liability for these crimes.

More info on comfort women

War Child: "I Got Soul" by the Young Soul Rebels

About the Music
Official video for 'I Got Soul' - War Child's single recorded by the 'Young Soul Rebels'

The track, a new, re-written version of the stirring Killers anthem "All These Things That I've Done", will be released on October 19th on Island Records. Proceeds go to help War Child's vital work protecting children from the brutal effects of war.

The Young Soul Rebels are:
N-Dubz
Pixie Lott
Tinchy Stryder
Frankmusik
V.V. Brown
Kid British
Chipmunk
Mpho
McLean
Ironik
Domino Go
Bashy
Egypt
London Community Gospel Choir

About War Child
War Child International is a network of independent organisations, working across the world to help children affected by war.

War Child was founded upon a fundamental goal: to advance the cause of peace through investing hope in the lives of children caught up in the horrors of war.

More info on War Child

From the Paper Birds Theater Company:

I just wanted to take this opportunity to introduce The Paper Birds Theatre Company; an all female collective based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. This week the company will be bringing our award winning production 'In a Thousand Pieces' to The Soho Theatre, London where it will be performed Monday 4th - Saturday 16th May at 8.00pm.

The show, which explores the sex trafficking of Eastern European women using live original music, visual, physical and verbatim theatre was a total sell out at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2008.

Having won a Fringe First and Fringe Review Award,The Paper Birds went on to be shortlisted for The Stage's 'Best Ensemble', Total Theatre's 'Best Young Company' and The Amnesty International 'Expression of Freedom Award' 2008.

For more information please see http://www.thepaperbirds.com/ or contact the company at info@thepaperbirds.com

Tickets available from Soho Theatre box office on : 0207 4780100

All the best,
Jemma Mc Donnell
Artistic Director

The Paper Birds

Can Legalizing Prostitution Help Prevent Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation?

Recently, a lot of attention has been paid to US drug policy, on the heels of comments by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on US complicity in the violence on the US-Mexican border and a recent President Obama town hall meeting which detoured to the role of marijuana in stimulating the economy. Amongst my friends, this has led to numerous discussions of the liberalization some of America’s more “puritanical” policies on drugs and commercial sex work. As a result of my experience in the immigrant advocacy and anti-human trafficking fields, I am somewhat leery of the legalization approach. What would happen if the US was to legalize sex work? What has been the experience of countries that have legalized prostitution? Would this somehow help victims of human trafficking?

I have had some exposure to the British and Swedish approaches to prostitution and models for fighting human trafficking during a 2007 fellowship in the UK and Albania with the Advocacy Project. The British model is somewhat similar to the US system where prostitution is illegal, although they do not have an option similar to the T-visa for victims of human trafficking. British policy was recently updated on April 1st when the Council of Europe Convention Against Trafficking in Human Beings took effect in the UK.

The Swedish approach to prostitution, much lauded by advocates in the UK, is somewhat different. Prostitution has been legal in Sweden since 1999 but it is illegal to buy sex or to pimp. Not only has Sweden made buying sex punishable by fines and jail time, they also humiliate the purchasers of sex by publishing their names in the newspaper. But what has happened in countries where prostitution is legal and the shaming approach of Sweden was not adopted? I recently ran across an informative opinion piece called “Does Legalizing Prostitution Work?” by Helen Mees, a Dutch economist and lawyer, that goes some way towards answering this question.

Mees argues that, even in the liberal city of Amsterdam with its open outlook on prostitution and soft drugs, women are forced into sex work while police stand by and watch. Even in the Netherlands, women and girls who sell their bodies are routinely threatened, beaten, raped, and terrorized by pimps and customers. In a recent criminal trial, two German-Turkish brothers stood accused of forcing more than 100 women to work in Amsterdam's red-light district (De Wallen). According to the attorney who represented one of the victims, most of these women come from families marred by incest, alcohol abuse, and parental suicide. Or they come from countries in Eastern Europe or Southeast Asia and have fallen victim to human trafficking, lured by decent job offers or simply sold by their parents.

These women are Amsterdam's leading tourist attraction (followed by the coffee shops that sell marijuana). But an estimated 50 to 90 percent of them are actually sex slaves, raped on a daily basis with police idly standing by. It is incomprehensible that their clients are not prosecuted for rape, but Dutch politicians argue that it cannot be established whether or not a prostitute works voluntarily. Appalled by their daily routine, police officers from the Amsterdam vice squad have asked to be transferred to other departments. Only this year, the city administration has started to close down some brothels because of their ties to criminal organizations.

According to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the average age of death of prostitutes is 34. In the United States, the rate at which prostitutes are killed in the workplace is 51 times that of the next most dangerous occupation for women, working in a liquor store. Other studies show that nine out of ten prostitutes urgently want to escape the job. Almost half have attempted suicide at least once.

Apparently Norway examined the Dutch and Swedish approaches to prostitution and decided that the Swedish approach was superior and changed its legislation accordingly. According to Mees, the shaming approach of the Swedish has been so successful because the fear of humiliation for purchasing sex is quite real.

According to a study in California, most men who bought sex would be deterred by the risk of public exposure. For example, 79 percent said that they would be deterred if there was a chance that their families would be notified. And a whopping 87 percent said that they would be deterred by the threat that the police might publish their photographs or names in the local newspaper.

Most of these men showed pathological behavior towards women. One in five admitted to having raped a woman, while four out of five said that going to prostitutes was an addiction.

While it is important to realize that prostitution and human trafficking are two separate phenomena that can sometimes intersect, the importance of protecting the safety of both sex workers and trafficking victims cannot be overstated. Ultimately, the approach to prostitution and fighting trafficking adopted by countries should be the model that best protects women and girls. Some argue that this is an approach, much like the Swedish model, that would humiliate and criminalize those that pay for sex or pimp women. The first step, surely, is to raise awareness and to realize that even in countries where prostitution is legal, sex trafficking and forced prostitution do not disappear.

From CNN:

Story Highlights

-UK government: Around 4,000 women trafficked in the UK for sexual exploitation
-Interior ministry introduces new proposals to clamp down on sex trade
-Minister: Measures will shift the focus onto sex buyers because they create demand
-Sex workers representative: Move is counterproductive, will force prostitution underground

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Paying for sex with trafficked or exploited women would become a crime under new laws proposed by the UK government Wednesday.

The act of purchasing sex is not currently a criminal offense in England and Wales -- although there are laws against paying for sex in a public place and persistently soliciting prostitutes.

Now UK Home Secretary (interior minister) Jacqui Smith says she is proposing the new measures to protect vulnerable women and tackle the demand for prostitution.

Britain's interior ministry, known as the Home Office, introduced the new measures Wednesday after a six-month review that looked at what else the government could do to protect women being exploited for sexual gain.

"I want to do everything we can to protect the thousands of vulnerable women coerced, exploited or trafficked into prostitution in our country, and to bring those who take advantage of them to justice," Smith said in a statement.

Smith said the new measures will shift the focus onto sex buyers because they create demand for prostitution and demand for the trafficking of women for sex.

"There will be no more excuses for those who pay for sex," she added.

As part of the review, the government looked at the experience of other countries including Sweden -- which has criminalized paying for sex -- and the Netherlands, where brothels are licensed.

The government estimates around 80,000 people are involved in prostitution in Britain, with about 4,000 women having been trafficked for sexual exploitation. It says the prostitution market nationwide is worth up to £1 billion ($1.52 billion).

Trafficking is the movement of women from one place to another for the purposes of sex. British Authorities have said trafficking usually involves the trafficker promising to bring a woman to Britain for a better life and then forcing her into prostitution.

The measures -- which must be approved by Parliament -- would mean that those committing the new offense would be given a criminal record and fined £1,000 ($1,520) -- even if it was a person's first offense and the offender did not know the prostitute was being controlled by a pimp or had been trafficked.

Police would also be given powers to close and seal premises suspected of being used for sexual exploitation, such as brothels, which the government said will prevent further exploitation and abuse from taking place.

Current law prohibits curb crawling, which involves soliciting prostitutes from a motor vehicle persistently or in a manner that causes annoyance to the neighborhood. It also prohibits "persistent soliciting," which is essentially curb crawling without a car.

But representatives of sex workers attacked the plans Wednesday, saying they will force prostitution further underground and make women more vulnerable to violence.

"It's going to really make it more difficult for men to use the sex industry, and it's going to mean that women are going to have to take more risks in order to earn the same money," said Cari Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the English Collective of Prostitutes. "It's also going to drive it underground. It's going to increase the stigma."

Mitchell said the government's figures are inflated, and that most immigrant women working as prostitutes have not been trafficked and are working independently.

The new measures, she said, confuse prostitution with trafficking and take the focus off those women who may be vulnerable.

"Of women who may be trafficked and forced, what they need is to be able to come forward and report to the police without any fear of being deported," Mitchell told CNN.

The new restrictions on curb crawling won't end the practice, Mitchell said, but simply give prostitutes less time to weigh up any potential dangers before getting in the client's car.

CNN provides a topics page with video and the most recent stories on human trafficking.

Human Trafficking Unit to Disband

From BBC:

November 10, 2008

A London police unit dedicated to tackling human trafficking will close after the Home Office withdrew £2.3m funding support.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed the Human Trafficking Team will disband in April 2009.

Critics say the unit is vital to protecting vulnerable men, women and children who are sold or lured into the sex trade, slavery or illegal working.

But the Home Office said the money was intended as one-off start-up funding.

A Home Office spokesman said the government's support for the policing of those who traffic people into the UK for the sex trade or as low-cost illegal workers will continue.

"The Met does not have the additional funds to keep the team running in its current format whilst meeting other existing policing requirements." Charities that attempt to rescue those trafficked into the UK against their will estimate that as many as 4,000 people are currently in the country as a result of being trafficked. Many are used as slave labour or forced into prostitution.

Slave labour
"We have made it clear that trafficking should be core police business and a high priority, and the Home Office is continuing to support forces' effort, notably through funding the UK Human Trafficking Centre with £1.7m this year."

But in a statement, the Met said the dedicated team launched in March 2007 will have to cease operations because it does not have the money to keep it open.

Read the full article

Sex Trafficking Gang Jailed in UK

From the Guardian:

By Rachel Williams
November 4, 2008

A gang of human traffickers, brothel keepers and pimps received substantial jail terms yesterday over the ordeal of a teenage virgin tricked into travelling to the UK for a life of sexual "slavery".

Their Slovakian victim had cried in the dock as she described spending nearly a year-and-a-half working as a prostitute after being lured to Britain at the age of 16 with the promise of a job in a pub. She told of being sold on from owner to owner, raped by one who was never identified, beaten and threatened.

Six men received sentences of up to 14 years for what the judge called a "terrible story of betrayal".

One, Turkish-born Ali Arslan, was also involved in the plight of a second victim. He was convicted of running a brothel in Hackney, east London, where the 22-year-old woman was forced to work after leaving her six-month-old baby daughter with relatives in Lithuania, having been convinced by one of her brother's school friends that she could earn good money in a warehouse in Britain to provide her child with a better future.

London's Southwark crown court heard she was instead sold for £4,000 to a man who raped and assaulted her before putting her to work as a prostitute. He was never caught.

Read the full article

Total Ban for Sex Soliciting and Curb-Crawling

From the Guardian:

By Nicholas Watt
September 22,2008

Kerb-crawling and soliciting for prostitutes on the streets are to be outlawed as part of a wide-ranging tightening of the law, the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, annnounced yesterday.

Warning of the "blight" of prostitution, Smith outlined a three-point plan at the Labour conference that will:

· Remove the requirement that only persistent kerb crawlers and men who solicit on the street can be prosecuted. An alternative requirement for kerb-crawlers - that they act "in a manner that is likely to cause annoyance to people in the neighbourhood" - is also to be removed. The changes will mean that kerb-crawlers and men soliciting sex on the street can be prosecuted after a first offence.

· Give new powers to councils and the police to close down brothels for at least three months if prostitutes are being run by a pimp or have been trafficked. At the moment, police can only close brothels if there is anti-social behaviour and if Class-A drugs are involved.

· Change the law so that men can be prosecuted if they pay for sex with women who are exploited - "controlled for another person's gain", as Smith said. Currently, police can only pursue a prosecution if they can prove that the women did not consent to sex, which means they have to compile evidence of rape.

The home secretary also announced that communities will be given more say in lap-dancing clubs opening in their areas. Smith criticised the Tories for sending delegates to their conference in Birmingham next week a £10 voucher to visit such a club. "I want to know what the Tories have to say for themselves," she said.

Smith announced the new measures on prostitution after a six-month government review into prostitution that focused on how Sweden and the Netherlands deal with the problem.

Read the full article

A Shocking Story

By Ayesha Ahmad
September 14, 2008

The UK media has recently covered two instances of human trafficking.

Police Raids
The first story reported a series of raids involving over 50 polices forces across England and Wales. Some 500 people were arrested and almost 200 people including women and children were, as the newspaper reported, “released”.

The next day the story had disappeared from the media despite the enormous scale of the police operation. The operation was conducted to crack down on human trafficking, but the perspective is still that the way to do this is blaming the trafficked rather than the traffickers.

What happened to the men, women and children who were released? One can only assume that they were deported. And upon returning home, there may be no emotional reunion with their family; instead, these people who had already endured so much exploitation and abuse are sometimes and not uncommonly placed straight back into the hands of the traffickers linked to the gang masters in the UK that were imprisoned.

Imprisonment of trafficking victims or even traffickers does not erase the “debt” that will have issued to each trafficked victim. This is a debt that either has to be repaid in money or death. Returning a trafficked victim to their home country is only a continuation of their journey, the journey that they were enticed into with the prospect of providing a “better life” for their family.

Forced Labor
The second story in the media recently reported a shocking murder trial of four men who were part of a trafficking gang in Wales, UK. All four men were found guilty of manslaughter following the death of a Vietnamese man. The report describes how the 44 year old was dumped in a hospital with severe head injuries. A large police operation followed his subsequent death, tracing back to the perpetrators and revealing the following chain of events.

After entering the country illegally via the Ukraine and entering the UK in the back of a lorry, the trafficked man was provided work in an illegal cannabis factory. Two months later he was accused of using the produce and tortured before being left at the hospital entrance.

The focus of the police operation concentrated on prosecuting those responsible for the man’s death, yet no charges were made against them for trafficking. In fact, the issue of trafficking was entirely bypassed except for mentioning the illegality of the victim in the country.

Again, the traffickers are not viewed as responsible for trafficking people, which brings attention to an apparent societal lack of comprehension of the vulnerability rendered by poverty and war that allows traffickers to deceive or coerce their victims. The first step in changing the opinion of society, including that of the media and how the media portrays human trafficking, must stem from distinguishing between the traffickers and the trafficked in terms of vulnerability and violation.

In the above two examples, both parties were viewed as criminals. This approach has got to change.

Blue Blindfold Trafficking Awareness Campaign in the UK

From Precision Marketing:

By Sara Kimberley
July 28, 2008

The United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC) is launching an integrated campaign to raise awareness about the crime of human trafficking. The drive, ‘Blue Blindfold’ created by Principles Agency aims to raise awareness of modern day slavery.

The integrated campaign will include online activity, posters and outdoor advertising and use the strapline, ‘Don’t close your eyes to human trafficking’. The campaign urges the general public, victims of human trafficking, staff in all areas of public life, the authorities and employers to be extra vigilant in their daily activities, and to be aware of the nature and scale of the problem.

Principles Agency creative director Keith Lishman comments: “Our creation of the Blue Blindfold campaign demonstrates that we are serious about our corporate and social responsibility. We felt passionate about helping UKHTC to promote their very worthwhile work.

The campaign engages the public and promotes the important signs associated with this serious crime. It will evolve over time, having the potential to be promoted at an international level.”

More info on the Blue Blindfold Campaign

Reality TV: Introducing UK Youth to the India Garment Industry

Trafficking Between Britian and India

From Thaindian News:

The latest sting operation on illegal immigrants in Britain has exposed a well-oiled network in human trafficking from Punjab, but the state authorities do not seem bothered about taking corrective measures at the ground level, say those involved in highlighting the fraud. Despite scores of tragic stories every month of men, women and even children being trafficked, the number of illegal immigrants from Punjab continues to rise.

Congress legislator from Qila Raipur, Jassi Khangura, who gave up his British citizenship in 2006 to come back to Punjab, says the state government lacks the will power to stop illegal immigration. Khangura has been involved with several activities to curb illegal immigration.

“The BBC investigation has shown how sophisticated the network is. The Indian and British governments have to initiate action at their respective ends. Effective measures need to be taken on the Indian side,” Khangura said.

In an undercover investigation in Britain, the BBC has exposed a London-based criminal network that used fake passports, identity documents and human carriers to bring in illegal migrants, mostly from Punjab, into Britain.

These immigrants were settled in around 40 safe houses in Southall, home to a large concentration of immigrants from India. Nearly all of the illegal migrants - called “faujis” in criminal parlance - are said to be from Punjab.

Khangura told IANS here: “Given my experience, this illegal immigration is going to create such a mess that the British and other authorities will become very strict about immigration, and the genuine people will suffer.”

“Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the Punjab Police know of the brokers in all corners of the state but don’t want to take action. It is not difficult to identify people who are playing fraud with hundreds of youths by taking millions of rupees with the promise of taking them to western countries,” he added.

The two passport offices at Chandigarh and Jalandhar, which cater to the state, and the latest one at Amritsar which opened this month, are already termed as “passport factories”. The Chandigarh and Jalandhar passport offices churned out 350,000 passports in 2007.

Read the full article

Child Sex Trafficking Within UK

From the Press Association:

British-born children are being trafficked for sexual exploitation within the UK.

Police officers involved in a project which targeted human trafficking said it was a mistake to believe that all children targeted by pimps had been brought in from other countries.

A Government report said there was an "emerging issue" of British children, usually teenage girls, being trafficked within the UK.

It also emerged that new measures are underway to tackle the problem of children being forced into criminal activities such as working in cannabis farms and street crime gangs.

Further measures are under way to combat the trafficking of children into Britain to make fraudulent welfare claims.

Figures released at the end of a six-month crackdown on people traffickers showed 167 victims were rescued across Britain and Ireland and 528 suspected traffickers were arrested. It included 13 children aged between 14 and 17 who were rescued from sexual exploitation and two children who were under forced labour.

Home Office minister Vernon Coaker said it was difficult to establish the scale of the problem with internal trafficking.

Gloucestershire Chief Constable Dr Tim Brain, who co-ordinated the major trafficking crackdown known as Operation Pentameter Two, said it had revealed a large number of brothels in apparently ordinary suburban locations.

Read the full article

Turkish Takeaway

By Ayesha Ahmad

In the UK, the weekend night routine is very much the same in cities North, South, East and West of the small island. People rush off to clubs and pubs after a week’s work and swap their spirits with the alcoholic kind. By closing time, there are groups of tired friends jumping into taxis or stumbling their way through town.

Stopping off at the local takeaway (that's "take out" for you non-Brits) is customary at the end of a long night to indulge in a variety of gastronomic treats, chief among them the infamous kebab- a recipe for a heart attack, but what else is hidden in the takeaway that the British love so much?

But how would we react if modern day slavery was kebab's number one ingredient?

Enter a typical Turkish takeaway in a quiet Cathedral city. Six or seven Turkish men hurry to serve and complete orders. One could assume that their tired faces and disengagement from the rowdy laughter and chatter of the customers is from the late and busy hour.

Outside a police car pulls up, its driver and his colleague on a break and ready for a snack. Everything passes by; the greeting and serving of the customers. People stand around, cash in hand waiting to be fed, before returning home to their families. The whole scenario appears so normal, so ordinary.

So equal.

When a person is enslaved, often the only power they have is in their mind. The person can retreat to their mind and be free to think of their home or their family or the life they dream of having; however, slavery breaks even the mind and the person performs each task empty of their spirit and personality.

Perhaps some of these Turkish migrants are thinking of their wife and children in Turkey, whom they are working half the legal wage for to feed, clothe and provide education for their children at the expense of being apart from their family. Perhaps others are too tired and are just working because they need the shelter their “boss” provides above the takeaway shop for him and the other “staff.”

Turkey has yet to join the European Union, which means that migrants fall into the trap of being dependent on gang masters who allow them to work in their businesses without official papers. Often migrants will work alongside local workers participating in the same work during the same hours yet only receive a fraction of the pay that the local workers receive.

In addition, the demand on migrants to work longer hours for less pay coupled with a low level of English language ability means they often remain segregated from the rest of society. Assimilation is difficult: making friends or feeling like a part of the community is a major challenge. The stress of their maltreatment also weighs on their expectations of earning a good living for their family. One Turkish immigrant working in the UK asked "how could my children understand that I had to leave my country, my home and their lives because of how much I love them?"

The decision to leave home, immigrate and enter a life where they will be potentially undocumented and exploited has changed the nature of modern-day slavery. People no longer need to be forced to leave their homes through displacement or kidnapping. Supplying counterfeit work permits and travel documents is big business. Droves of people across the world desperate to escape stagnant economies and unemployment and seek work abroad can now do so, even if it means pursuing illegal channels. In the end all it takes is money. Yet when they arrive, all many of them find is slavery and exploitation.

Modern day slavery does not necessarily require an active trafficker to coerce people into exploitation- the need to care for one's family, coupled with poverty and unemployment, often provide more than enough incentive for people to seek work away from home, whether in a major urban center in one's own country or relocating to another country entirely. In both cases, the migrant leaves home for another city or country and risks disappearing into the collective void of enslavement.

Chew on that.

For more information on migration and exploitation click here

Pressure Grows for Guardians to Protect Trafficked Children in the UK

By Robert Booth

From the Guardian:

Leading politicians from the three main parties are putting pressure on the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, to halt the disappearance from care of hundreds of suspected victims of child trafficking.

The Guardian revealed last month that more than 400 foreign children vulnerable to exploitation in prostitution, the drugs trade and domestic servitude went missing from care around major British ports and airports between 2004 and 2007. But the government has rebuffed calls for a system of professional guardians to look after every suspected victim of child trafficking - a crime the United Nations has described as "a modern-day slave trade".

Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, which is investigating human trafficking, said he was "shocked by the number of children going missing". He added that a system of guardians to look after every child now looked "very attractive".

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman, called on the government to drop its opposition and fund a system in which every suspected victim of child trafficking is provided with a guardian who "specifically looks out for them and ideally speaks their language".

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said Smith should implement the Council of Europe convention on action against trafficking in human beings. It requires each child to have "a legal guardian, organisation or authority ... which shall act in the best interests of the child".

"It is disgraceful that this 21st-century version of trading in human misery is still taking place without real action to stop it," said Davis. "It is outrageous that so many cases involving the most vulnerable of victims have been lost."

The children's commissioner, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, and Ecpat UK, a coalition of charities including the NSPCC and Anti-Slavery International, also want the guardianship system brought in.

Local authorities have admitted they are losing the battle to keep trafficked children from falling back into their traffickers' hands. Child protection campaigners complain that there are no safe houses in England and suspected victims are housed in less-secure foster homes or council residential blocks. Advocates of a guardianship system claim it would ensure secure housing, education and legal support to stop trafficked children falling back into the hands of their exploiters.

The proposals are based on the Dutch system, which has €25m (£20m) a year in public funding.In Britain, local authorities have lost children from a dozen African countries including Liberia, Somalia and Sudan. The Middle East and Asia are equally well represented, with missing under-18s from Iraq, Afghanistan, China and India. From Europe, young Moldovans, Albanians and Romanians have gone missing.

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