Thursday, June 21, 2007

MOROCCO

Morocco Child Maids Toil for Pittance, Face Abuse

5 years ago Khadija's mother sent her 8-year old daughter to work as a housemaid in the city, where her first employer beat her.
more >>

Reuters

EAST AFRICA

Human Trafficking 'On the Rise'

Conflict in northern Uganda, where rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army have been widely accused of abducting thousands of children during the past two decades, made the country stand out as the state worst affected by trafficking in eastern Africa. more >>

Reuters

EUROPE

Europe's Immigration Stance Spurs Trafficking-Experts

Easier to conceal than drugs or guns but just as lucrative, the global trade in human trafficking will flourish as long as rich nations close their borders to desperate migrants. more >>

Reuters

SIERRA LEONE

Landmark Convictions for Use of Child Soldiers

The war crimes court for Sierra Leone has handed down the first convictions by a UN-backed tribunal for the crime of recruiting and using child soldiers. more >>

Reuters

CHINA

China Slave Scandal Brings Resignation Calls

Chinese media demanded official resignations amid popular outrage over the virtual enslavement of workers in scorching brick kilns that reports said had operated with government complicity. more >>

Reuters

THAILAND

Beggars Can be Choosers

The study on foreign child beggars in Bangkok - found that 80 per cent of the Cambodian children came to Thailand with their mothers or relatives. Nine per cent of them were disabled and 41 per cent were infants and toddlers. more >>

The Nation

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

UNITED STATES

US Adds 7 Nations to Human Trafficking Blacklist

The list includes several key U.S. allies in the Middle East. The new countries getting failing grades are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Algeria, Equatorial Guinea and Malaysia. more >>

News 8 Austin

AUSTRALIA

US Attacks Sex, Labour Trade

The United States has criticised Australia for not doing enough to crack down on allegations some bosses are exploiting workers imported from overseas to fill skills shortages. more >>

The Daily Telegraph

ARGENTINA

Argentine Woman Fights Trafficking with Indomitable Hope

It is hope and courage that have sustained Susana Trimarco de Veron ever since she launched the search for her 23-year-old daughter Marita, who was kidnapped in April 2002. more >>

PressZoom.com

SWAZILAND

Human Trade at Siphofaneni

In what may seem as a who’s fooling who game, defaulting employers put blame squarely on government for promoting human trafficking in the Siphofaneni water project. more >>

The Swazi Observer

IRAQ

State Dept Reports on Forced Labor in Iraq

In its 2007 Human Trafficking Report released Tuesday, the US State Department criticizes the Iraqi government for not doing enough to combat the influx of low-wage workers being brought in from South and Southeast Asia under conditions of involuntary servitude. more >>

IraqSlogger

BANGLADESH

Religious Groups Alarmed at Treatment of UN Trafficking Expert

A top U.N. official in Bangladesh is facing charges of corruption, but critics say the military backed government is trying to prevent her from carrying out her mandate as the world body's special investigator on human trafficking. more >>

CNSNews.com

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

BOSNIA

Bosnia Arrests Turk for Human Trafficking

Bosnia has arrested a Turk suspected of leading a human trafficking ring smuggling people from the Balkans and Turkey into Western Europe. more >>

Javno

ALBANIA

Albania Cracks Down on Human Trafficking

Albanian authorities arrested nine on Sunday, including four policemen, in a crackdown on a human trafficking ring. more >>

B92 News

SOUTH AFRICA

SA Hotbed of Human Trafficking

Across Southern Africa today men, women and children are being deceived. more >>

Mail & Guardian Online

INDIA

India Struggles to Combat the Trafficking of Poor Women

Meena discovered she had been sold by her boss while riding in an auto-rickshaw headed to New Delhi's red-light district. more >>

International Herald Tribune

Saturday, June 2, 2007

NIGERIA

Human Trafficking Syndicate Uncovered in Isoko

A human-trafficking syndicate with the kingpins in Libya has been uncovered at Uro-Irri community in Isoko South local government area of Delta State. more >>

Vanguard

CANADA

Human Trafficking: a 'Growing’ Form of Crime

A Laval couple accused of mistreating an Ethiopian woman who was working as their in-house help faces life in prison. more >>

Chomesday News Online

CAMEROON

Cameroonian Couple Sentenced on Human Trafficking Charges

Evelyn and Joseph Djoumessi, both Cameroonian nationals, were sentenced late last night by a judge in Detroit, for holding a young girl from Cameroon in involuntary servitude. more >>

PressZoom.com

SERBIA

Police Crack Balkan Human Trafficking Ring

Balkan police broke a major human trafficking ring smuggling people from the Balkans and the East into European Union countries, officials said on Friday. more >>

Scotsman.com

UNITED STATES

Details Emerge in Human Trafficking Case in San Antonio

You want to marry a rich man who will buy you anything you want? How's $600 to buy what you'd like simply for accompanying men on trips? more >>

MySA.com

SIERRA LEONE

Guns, Rap and Coke - Story of a Boy Soldier

When Ishmael Beah got caught up in Sierra Leone's civil war he was a 12-year-old boy obsessed by rap music. Within a year, he was a drugged-up killing machine. more >>

Reuters

Sunday, May 27, 2007

EUROPE

Scope of Human Trafficking Remains Largely Unknown

"We operate in an information fog," Antonio Maria Costa, director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, told reporters last month. more >>

DW World-DE

MOLDOVA

UN's Fight Against Moldova Sex Slavery

Moldova is among the countries singled out as the worst offenders, but Chisinau will not officially collaborate with Tiraspol to help diminish the problem. more >>

Tiraspol Times

SWITZERLAND

Human Trafficking Fight Steps up a Gear

European efforts to crack down on human trafficking and protect victims appear to be bearing fruit. more >>

NZZ Online

UNITED STATES

Woman tells Students of own Human Trafficking Ordeal

In high school, Theresa Flores was an upper-middle-class teenager who did well in school and ran track. Underneath Flores had a secret: She was a victim of modern-day human trafficking. more >>

The Advocate

CANADA

Some Hope for Victims of Human Trafficking

While there has never been a human trafficking conviction in Hamilton, police are certain it does exist here. more >>

Hamilton Spectator

EGYPT

Egypt Works As "Middle Man" In Human Trafficking

Hassan Eissa said "street children are a phenomena that has existed in Egypt for many years, still in the last 10 years it has spread wide and they are estimated to be 3 million kids now." more >>

AHN

IRELAND

Authorities 'Failing to Stop Child Trafficking'

A lack of police and immigration officers is allowing the trafficking of children into Northern Ireland. more >>

Belfast Today News

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

UNITED STATES

Human Trafficking Investigation Leads to Johnson County Raids

Authorities rescued 15 women from Johnson County businesses that an FBI spokesman characterized as massage parlors. more >>

Kansas City Star

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

NORWAY

Crackdown on Organized Prostitution

A series of police raids on Tuesday resulted in ten arrests in a Bulgarian prostitution ring. more >>

Aftenposten

Sunday, May 13, 2007

AFRICA

Trafficking of African Women is Thriving

Trafficking of women from west Africa to Europe for sexual exploitation is thriving amid inaction from African governments. more >>

IOL

THAILAND

The Misery of Male Slavery

Amid despair at the trafficking of women and children, men too are being treated as less than sub-human. more >>

The Nation

BRAZIL

Brazil's Ethanol Slaves

200,000 migrant sugar cutters who prop up the renewable energy boom. more >>

Guardian

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

CHAD

Chad Signs Deal to Demobilise Child Soldiers

Chad pledged on Wednesday to work to demobilise hundreds of child soldiers fighting in the ranks of the government army and rebel groups across the conflict-torn central African country. more >>

Reuters

Monday, May 7, 2007

JAPAN

Modern-Day Comfort Women Face a Hell on Earth

Lee Ok-sun was 16 when she was grabbed off a dark street, tied up by two men and thrown into a truck with 5 other girls. more >>

Asia Sentinal

SUDAN

Islamic Slavery in Sudan

The ICC this week issued warrants for the arrest of Ahmed Haroun, the minister for humanitarian affairs of Sudan, and Ali Kosheib, a leader of that country’s notorious janjaweed militia. more >>

Human Events.com

THAILAND

Course to Save Hilltribe Girls from Flesh Trade

Human trafficking has been inducted as a course in the school curriculum in some schools in the northern province of Chiang Rai to prevent hilltribe girls from being lured into the flesh trade. more >>

Bangkok Post

ISRAEL

Brothel Owner Sentenced to Five Years in Jail for Human Trafficking

A Haifa District Court on Sunday sentenced a brothel owner to five years in prison for human trafficking and pandering. more >>

Haaretz.com

THAILAND

Of Human Bondage

The girl was forced to work from 4am to midnight every day, serving 50-year-old Wipaporn Songmeesap and her family of six. more >>

Bangkok Post

WORLD

Human Smuggling and Trafficking in the era of Globalization

The increasing incidents of human smuggling and trafficking in the wake of the arrest of an MP belonging to the Bhartiya Janata Party have become a major topic of discussion. more >>

ZNet

Thursday, May 3, 2007

UNITED KINGDOM

Man Guilty of Human Trafficking

A 24-year-old man has been found guilty of trafficking two Brazilian women into the UK to make them work in a brothel. more >>

BBC News

SOMALIA

Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking in Somalia

Human smuggling continues unabated from the northeast coast of Puntland, Somalia, resulting in the death of hundreds of Ethiopians and Somalis. more >>

Reliefweb

MEXICO

Child Pornography and Human Trafficking: Cancun's Dark Side

A conversation with human rights activist Lydia Cacho Ribeiro on the coastal city's violence and abuses -- and her lifelong mission to combat them. more >>

Alternet

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

WORLD

Child Soldiers: "A Four-Foot Tall Killing Machine"

From Sierra Leone to Congo, from Afghanistan to Kosovo, child soldiers are the war weapon of choice, "easily manipulated, intensely loyal, fearless and, most important, in endless supply." more >>

Reuters

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

NEPAL

NGOs Concerned at Lack of Action to Release Child Soldiers

Local child protection agencies in Nepal are concerned over the lack of action to trace and release child soldiers in the country. more >>

Reuters

Friday, April 27, 2007

MALAYSIA

Foreign Workers Also Victims of Human Trafficking

Hundreds of foreign workers who are duped by agents and brought into the country are also victims of human trafficking. more >>

The New Strait Times Online

Thursday, April 26, 2007

THAILAND

Child Laborers Toil in Thai Seafood Factories

Human rights groups say thousands of children and illegal Myanmar migrants are working in Thailand's $2 billion-a-year shrimp export industry, often in conditions little short of modern-day slavery. more >>

Reuters

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

UNITED STATES

When the American Dream Leads to Servitude

Martina Okeke, 68, says that she was fooled into coming to America as a servant by a family on Staten Island that refused for 12 years to pay her. more >>

The New York Times

UNITED KINGDOM

Migrants 'Deceived and Exploited'

Migrant workers are being lured to Britain by deception and are forming a new exploited underclass. more >>

BBC News

MACEDONIA

Police Finds Another 11 Girls

9 Bulgarian, 1 Serb and 1 Macedonian girl, suspected of having been forced in to prostitution, were found in a night club. more >>

Makfaxonline

UNITED STATES

Las Vegas: Growing Hub For Sex Trafficking

Authorities say Las Vegas is one of the worst cities in the world for sex trafficking. more >>

LasVegasNOW.com

UNITED STATES

Across the Border, but into a Locked Room

Inside the single-family home, they say they found eight illegal immigrants imprisoned in a back bedroom. more >>

voiceofsandiego.org

MALAYSIA

Malaysian Gov't Presents First Bill Against Human Trafficking

The Malaysian government has presented its first anti-human trafficking bill to provide the legislation necessary to fight trafficking in human beings. more >>

People's Daily Online

CANADA

Quebec Man Faces Human Trafficking Charge

A 22 year old Quebec man faces a series of prostitution-related charges, as well as human trafficking and assault. more >>

680 News

WORLD

UN Anti-Trafficking Drive Hits Culture Barriers

Global efforts to crack down on human trafficking are handicapped by lack of information from countries whose cultures have not deemed some forms of slavery to be a crime. more >>

Scotsman.com

UNITED STATES

U.S. Seeks To Intensify Global Fight Against Child Exploitation

The United States is urging UN member states to criminalize all aspects of child sexual exploitation. more >>

Media Newswire

Friday, April 20, 2007

BULGARIA

Shock Human Trafficking Case

10 Bulgarians involved in trafficking women to France to work as prostitutes have been arrested following a joint operation by Bulgarian and French authorities. more >>

IOL

Thursday, April 19, 2007

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Slavery of Children and Women in Persian gulf Countries

With camel racing being heavily patronized by the oil rich rulers, thousands of small children from the Indian sub-continent face a bleak future. more >>

Persian Journal

ITALY

Italian Police Break up Human Trafficking Ring

Italian police arrested 14 people across the country in raids against a human trafficking ring that brought in illegal immigrants from Africa then abducted some of them for ransom. more >>

Ireland On-Line

SWEDEN

Four Russians Arrested in Sweden Over Human Trafficking

Swedish prosecutors have charged a group of 24 Russians and Swedes with human trafficking, pimping and buying sex from 9 Russian women. more >>

Mosnews.com

UNITED STATES

Conference Speakers Shed Light on Human Trafficking

Poverty and civil strife play off each other, taking away people’s rights and livelihoods, said speakers during the first day of South Texas College’s Human Trafficking Conference. more >>

The Monitor

SPAIN

Police Arrest 60 People in Crackdown on Human Trafficking Ring

Authorities raided 5 brothels and 9 homes in the province of Almeria, arresting 13 people suspected of leading the ring. more >>

EiTB24

CZECH REPUBLIC

Rape Revealed Human Trafficking

A woman from the Czech Republic who was lured to England and made to work as a prostitute was raped in a Lancashire restaurant, a court has heard. more >>

BBC News

INDIA

Lawmaker's Arrest Exposes Major Racket in Human Trafficking

The arrest of BJP MP Babubhai Katara, who was attempting to smuggle out a woman and a boy to Canada, has taken the lid off a flourishing human trafficking racket. more >>

Gulfnews.com

SUDAN

Sudan's Young Endure "Unspeakable" Abuse

Children in Sudan are press-ganged, coerced to join armed groups, raped and used as forced labor or sex slaves, according to a new report by humanitarian groups. more >>

Reuters

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

SUDAN

South Sudan Children Still Suffering Despite Peace

Sexual violence is at "wartime levels" with reports of tens of thousands of incidents. more >>

Reuters

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

UNITED KINGDOM

Israelis Arrested in UK for Sex Trafficking

Two brothers suspected of operating brothels worth over $2 million; police free eight women in raid. more >>

Ynetnews.com

LIBERIA

Two Arrested for Child Trafficking in Nimba

The Liberia National Police in Nimba County have arrested and detained 2 suspects in connection with child trafficking. more >>

allAfrica.com

Monday, April 16, 2007

UNITED STATES

St. Joe's Students Raise Money to Free Children

Working with the non-profit organization, Free the Slaves, the students are trying to raise $23,000 in order to rescue 40 children who are enslaved in Ghana, Africa. more >>

Community Press

JAPAN

Documents Show Japan Directed Sex Slavery

Newly discovered documents from post-World War II trials of Japanese war criminals offer fresh proof the military directly forced Asian women into sexual slavery. more >>

The News

FINLAND

Man Remanded on Suspicion of Aggravated Human Trafficking

The Finnish Guard suspects that at least two men with an Indian background have forced another Indian-born man to work without pay in Finland. more >>

Helsingin Sanomat

BULGARIA

Two Men Detained Over Women Trafficking

They tried to bribe Bulgarian and Romanian border policemen and traffic three Bulgarian women out of the country. more >>

Focus News Agency

Sunday, April 15, 2007

UNITED STATES

Trafficking Victims Spurn Help

In the 6 months since World Relief got a $450,000 grant from the U.S. DOJ to help survivors in the region, none have been found. more >>

St. Petersburg Times

Saturday, April 14, 2007

WORLD

Girls Tell UN Panel of Grim Struggles

A 16 year old Nepalese girl burst into tears describing her work in a match factory to help support her mother. more >>

Associated Press

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

INDIA

India on US 'Special Watch List' for Human Trafficking

India figures among 39 countries placed on a US 'special watch list' of nations deemed to warrant special scrutiny of their anti-trafficking efforts. more >>

Hindustan Times

Sunday, April 8, 2007

UGANDA

Anti-Trafficking Law Coming

When lawmakers return to the House after the Easter recess, a unique bill is expected to come to the floor; a law against trafficking in persons. more >>

The Monitor

VIETNAM

Human Trafficking on the Rise in Vietnam

More and more Vietnamese women and children are being sold into slavery by human traffickers. more >>

VNS

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Cabinet Approves Committee to Combat Human Trafficking

The Cabinet yesterday approved the setting up of a National Committee for Combating Human Trafficking as part of the UAE's efforts to tackle the menace. more >>

Gulfnews.com

Saturday, April 7, 2007

SPAIN

Spanish Police Arrest 7 for Human Trafficking

Spanish police arrested 7 people in a crackdown on a human-trafficking ring that allegedly forced Eastern European women into prostitution. more >>

Khaleej Times Online

Friday, April 6, 2007

SUDAN

No Return for Sudan's Forgotten Slaves

Akech Arol Deng has not seen his wife and son since they were seized by Arab militias from their home in south Sudan. more >>

BBC News

WORLD

Child Slavery

Around 8.4 million children around the world are enslaved today. Now, in a remarkable journey across three continents, 5 of them tell their stories. more >>

BBC News

INDIA

Bonded to the Sari Loom

Seated at old wooden weaving looms, workers are toiling away. The conditions in their huts are like something from medieval times. It is dark, dingy, everything operated by hand. more >>

BBC News

HAITI

Haiti's Hidden 'Child Slaves'

Haiti was the first country in the Americas to abolish slavery, when it won its independence in 1804. But thousands live a life of near-slave labour because of poverty and social breakdown. more >>

BBC News

NEPAL

Desperate Plight of Nepal 'Slave Girls'

In the undergrowth, 13-year-old Junu Shrestha hacks away to gather fodder for her landlady's cattle. more >>

BBC News

IVORY COAST

'Slavery' Behind Easter Chocolate

Thousands of children are working as slave labour on West African cocoa farms to help produce Easter chocolate for the UK, campaigners warn. more >>

BBC News

JAMAICA

$8.83 Million to Fight Trafficking in Persons

The Trafficking in Persons project has been allocated $8.83 million in the 2007/08 Estimates of Expenditure, which is now before the House of Representatives. more >>

JIS

SOUTH AFRICA

UN Taps African Religious Leaders in Fight Against Trafficking

The UN is seeking to enlist religious groups in Africa in the war against human trafficking. more >>

VOA News

CHINA

Rising Incidence of Child Trafficking in China

Rural Chinese children increasingly risk being sold or forced to become beggars, petty thieves or sex workers as their farmer parents flock to cities looking for work. more >>

Taipei Times

CAMBODIA

Cambodia Launches Task Force Against Human Trafficking

The Cambodian Ministry of Women's Affairs launched the kingdom's first national task force to tackle human trafficking. more >>

People's Daily Online

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

VIETNAM

Vietnam’s Human Trafficking Plague Still on the Rise

The trafficking of Vietnamese women and children, mainly across borders with China and Cambodia, has continued increasing as perpetrators have come to disguise their trade more cleverly. more >>

Thanh Nien News

UNITED STATES

Lawmakers Say I-10 is Major Slave Trafficking Route

At least 1 out of of every 5 men, women and children trapped in sexual slavery or indentured servitude in the United States has passed through Texas. more >>

Austin Bureau

ISRAEL

Israel's Sex Slaves

Israel of all places has turned into an international center of modern-day slavery. more >>

ynetnews.com

ZAMBIA

Dehumanising Tales of Human Trafficking

Maoleen (not real name), 20, is in desperate need for a well paying job and her dream is to join her peers in their journeys to look for greener pastures across the borders. more >>

allAfrica.com

MOZAMBIQUE

Trafficking Thriving in Moz

Daring human traffickers are taking advantage of Mozambique’s weak adoption laws in order to traffic children out of the country for the purposes of prostitution or cheap labour. more >>

Sunday Times

SOUTH AFRICA

Smooth-Talking Conmen Lure Victims for Profitable Syndicates

For Letty, a young woman from Gauteng - the offer was irresistible. Forced to drop out of college because of financial constraints at home, she thought her friend Angela's call was a lifeline. more >>

allAfrica.com

UNITED STATES

State Needs Law That Bans Trafficking in Humans

A document published by the Sisters of the Divine Savior states "in recent major trafficking cases, there have been reports of trafficking instances in every state." more >>

Times Union

UNITED KINGDOM

Migrant Workers Face New Slavery

The modern day incarnation of slavery - which sees unscrupulous gangmasters exploiting migrant workers with threats of violence - is alive and well in 21st Century Britain. more >>

BBC News

MOLDOVA

Lower Prices Behind Sex Slavery Boom and Child Prostitution

Two American TV crews have investigated Moldova's growing sex slave trade. In Chisinau, human traffickers now charge as little as $500 for delivering a child prostitute into a life of slavery abroad. more >>

Tiraspol Times

UNITED KINGDOM

Sex Shame Case Ends Before Trial

Legal recognition that Sheffield police turned a blind eye to prostitution means staff and owners of the Omega will not face a jury trial. more >>

Sheffield Today News

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

WORLD

UN Launches Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking

The UN, some governments and NGOs have jointly launched an initiative to wipe out the practice of human trafficking, which currently entraps about 27 million people world over. more >>

India Times

UNITED STATES

Delegates Must Stand up to Human Trafficking

When you think of human trafficking, what comes to mind? Are they children forced to prostitute in Thailand, living with HIV, growing up in a brothel? more >>

The Examiner

GERMANY

Germany Arrests 9 Iraqis for People Trafficking

German police said on Tuesday they had arrested 9 Iraqis suspected of helping to run a human trafficking ring. more >>

Reuters

Monday, April 2, 2007

INDIA

CBI Files Chargesheet Against SI, 3 Others for Human Trafficking

The CBI has filed a chargesheet against 4 persons, including its own sub-inspector, for allegedly cheating several persons with the promise of sending them abroad for employment. more >>

Express News Service

AZERBAIJAN

Human Trafficking Cases Registered in Azerbaijan

The Deputy Chairman of the Office for the Fight against Human Trafficking said that in 2006, the Ministry registered 211 cases of human trafficking in Azerbaijan. more >>

Trend News Agency

ROMANIA

Romanian Police Break Up Human Trafficking Ring

Romanian authorities have dismantled a trafficking ring that transported women to Germany and sold them to Turkish citizens. more >>

Reuters

THAILAND

Human Trafficking of Children in Tak Province

On the Myanmar border, Mae Sot, in Tak Province has recently been in the news as being a centre of human-trafficking, specifically of children. more >>

Pattaya Daily News

UNITED STATES

Legislators Take on Human Trafficking

Some state legislators believe that coerced sex slavery could exist in Ohio because the state lacks a law specifically targeting human trafficking. more >>

Associated Press

ARGENTINA

Power of a Mother’s Love Saves Women from Traffickers

Marita Versn, a 23-year-old mother of a young child, was less than a block away from her home when she was kidnapped from the streets of San Miguel de Tucumn, Argentina. more >>

Gulf Times

PHILIPPINES

'Chairman' Reveals Seedy World of Trafficking

Correspondent Andrew Harding has a rare encounter with a conscience-stricken Philippines gangland boss who runs a network trafficking underaged girls to work in brothels. more >>

BBC News

UGANDA

Ugandan Children Smuggled to UK

Ugandan children are among those trafficked and smuggled into the UK, experts have said. The children work as domestic servants, sex slaves and as labourers in restaurants and car washing bays. more >>

New Vision Online

THAILAND

Corrupt Police Linked to Human Trafficking

In a case related to adult trafficking, a high ranking military officer, and his team have arrested 2 individuals: a police officer who works for the Maetor village, Tak Province, and his friend. more >>

Pattaya Daily News

UNITED STATES

Prosecutor Takes Aim at Human Trafficking

US Attorney Reggie Lloyd plans an increased push against human trafficking after authorities broke up a prostitution ring run by 3 illegal immigrants.
more >>

Associated Press