Up to 27 million trapped in slavery worldwide

Found on: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/5026077/Up-to-27-million-trapped-in-slavery-worldwide

Up to 27 million people are modern-day slaves, and migrants fleeing violence in North Africa are among those most at risk of being exploited, a senior US official said on Wednesday.

Countries where migrants arrive should try to identify potential victims and protect them, rather than opting for immediate repatriation which often sends them back into the hands of human traffickers, US Ambassador-at-Large Luis CdeBaca said.

Tens of thousands of migrants are fleeing turmoil in North Africa, with many trying to reach Europe by boat, but the problem of slavery exists all over the world and India, Thailand and Malaysia are among the worst-affected countries.

The European Union has urged African border authorities to bolster controls to prevent human smugglers taking advantage of the situation.

But CdeBaca, who directs the US Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, said it was more effective to fight slavery in the countries where the victims are exploited.

“You don’t fight trafficking on the borders, because people don’t yet know they are trafficking victims, it’s only when they get to where they are going that they are enslaved,” he said at a conference organised by the US embassy to the Vatican.

“People should be keeping an eye on where these refugees end up, what kind of jobs they are being put into and how they are being treated,” he said.

He estimated between 12.5 and 27 million people are trapped in slavery around the world, ranging from children forced to work as domestic servants or in sweatshops to women coerced into prostitution.

Speakers at the conference stressed the need for more cooperation between governments, companies and religious groups to prevent more people from falling victim to the slave trade.

“The criminal organisations that prey on men, women and children are highly organised and well connected from one part of the world to the other,” said Sister Estrella Castalone, who co-ordinates anti-trafficking group Talitha Kum.

“It is only through an equally well organised network that links the countries of origin to those of transit and destination, that we can prevent the weakest and the most vulnerable from becoming a human commodity.”

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility said it was pressing businesses to scrutinise their supply chains and ensure their labour contracts included clear language to prevent human trafficking.

It called for more public reporting on the measures firms are taking to fight slavery.

- Reuters

About Human Trafficking

What is Human Trafficking?

Human trafficking is what slavery, as a business, looks like in the 21st century. It describes the procurement of people against their will through force or deception, to be transported, sold and exploited for:

• Sex and forced prostitution
• Forced labour in sweatshops, farms and construction sites
• Slavery or domestic servitude
• Illegal international adoption
• Forced marriage or child brides
• Child soldiers
• Forced begging
• Sale of human organs
• Sacrificial worship
• Sports (e.g. child camel jockeys or football players)

Trafficking victims are stripped of their basic human rights and treated as commodity.

A single victim can be bought and sold many times.

Human Trafficking – Some Key Facts

• Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world^[1].
• Its total annual revenue is estimated at between US$5 billion to US$9 billion^[2].
• Rough estimates suggest that between 700,000 to 2 million women are trafficked across international borders annually^[3]—more than one person per minute.
• Approximately 80 per cent of those trafficked are women and girls^[4].
• An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked every year^[5].
• Those trafficked often come from poorer areas, ethnic minorities, or are displaced persons such as runaways or refugees.
• The most common destination countries are Thailand, Japan, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Turkey and the US^[6]

What’s the difference between Human Trafficking and People Smuggling?

• A smuggled person voluntarily pays a fee to the smuggler to be transported (illegally) to another country, and is usually freed upon arrival.
• A trafficking victim is exploited and enslaved, often for purposes of forced labour and prostitution.
• Trafficking can happen both internally and across borders, whereas smuggling is always transnational.
• Smuggling and trafficking may at times overlap, such as when an initially smuggled person is later threatened and forced to work for extraordinarily low wages to pay for the transportation.

What’s life like for trafficking victims?

Victims face many risks and are often without access to legal assistance or medical help. Every day, they may face:

• Physical and sexual violence
• Appalling living conditions
• Unsafe workplaces
• Long working hours and no holidays
• Poverty due to wage deprivation
• Social alienation
• Risk of STDs, HIV/AIDS

Where does The Pixel Project fit in in the fight against Human Trafficking?

Glad you asked! Find out more about what we are attempting to do here via the campaign and in the context of the Violence Against Women cause.

Would you like to know more about Human Trafficking?

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it is a start. If you would like to find out more, go here.

==============================

The entire article was published on http://www.thepixelproject.net/vaw-facts/about-human-trafficking/

 

 

US Department of State Trafficking of Persons Report 2010: MALAYSIA (Tier 2 Watch List)

Watch video here.

Malaysia is a destination, and to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced prostitution and for men, women, and children who are

in conditions of forced labor. The majority of trafficking victims are foreign workers who migrate willingly to Malaysia from Indonesia, Nepal, India, Thailand, China, the Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam in search of greater economic opportunities, some of whom subsequently encounter forced labor or debt bondage at the hands of their employers, employment agents, or informal labor recruiters. While many of Malaysia’s trafficking offenders are individual business people, large organized crime syndicates are also behind some of the trafficking of foreigners in Malaysia. A significant number of young women are recruited for work in Malaysian restaurants and hotels, some of whom migrate through the use of “Guest Relations Officer” visas, but subsequently are coerced into Malaysia’s commercial sex trade. Many Malaysian labor outsourcing companies apparently recruited excess workers, who were then often subject to conditions of forced labor.

Malaysia is a destination, and to a lesser extent, a sourceand transit country for women and children subjected totrafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forcedprostitution and for men, women, and children who arein conditions of forced labor. The majority of traffickingvictims are foreign workers who migrate willingly toMalaysia from Indonesia, Nepal, India, Thailand, China,the Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan,and Vietnam in search of greater economic opportunities,some of whom subsequently encounter forced laboror debt bondage at the hands of their employers,employment agents, or informal labor recruiters. Whilemany of Malaysia’s trafficking offenders are individualbusiness people, large organized crime syndicates are alsobehind some of the trafficking of foreigners in Malaysia.A significant number of young women are recruited forwork in Malaysian restaurants and hotels, some of whommigrate through the use of “Guest Relations Officer”visas, but subsequently are coerced into Malaysia’scommercial sex trade. Many Malaysian labor outsourcingcompanies apparently recruited excess workers, whowere then often subject to conditions of forced labor.

Read more from page 31 onwards about Malaysia’s latest status on the Trafficking of Persons Report 2010.

MALAYSIA CONTINUES TO SUSTAIN MODERN DAY SLAVERY IN DOMESTIC WORK

PRESS RELEASE

May 20, 2010

MALAYSIA CONTINUES TO SUSTAIN  MODERN DAY SLAVERY IN DOMESTIC WORK

The Malaysian government, in spite of loud statements that it will combat trafficking in persons, continues to sustain modern day forms of slavery in domestic work.  It has refused to recognize domestic work as work and a decent minimum wage for all domestic workers when Prime Minister Najib Razak and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met in Kuala Lunmpur recently.  As a result, the Memorandum of Understanding between Malaysia and Indonesia is  hanging with no conclusion.

Numerous discussions have been held to discuss the new terms and conditions of a new MOU.  Malaysia has so far agreed to a day off for domestic workers and a separate bank account.  It has not conceded to a minimum wage structure.  Malaysian government’s refusal to a basic decent minimum wage reflects that the Malaysian government wants to maintain acute exploitation of domestic workers in the country .

Indonesian domestic workers who form more than 80% of all domestic workers earn shamefully low wages, between RM400-600 but work very long hours a day. They do not get their wages for six  or more as deductions are made to repay the exorbitant recruitment fees charged by recruitment agencies.  The work conditions and tasks are undefined and thus many of them not only take of babies and household chores but also cook and even take care of the elderly. These practices tantamount to a form of modern day slavery.  Do we want to continue practicing such form of slavery?

There have been far too many abuses and non payment of wages by domestic workers.  Tenaganita has handled more than 285 cases with 1995 human rights violations from domestic workers alone. The US  government, in its 2009 report placed Malaysia in tier 3 and one of the key reasons was control and confinement, debt bondage and extreme form of violation(servitude) and the maltreatment and denial of access to justice for domestic workers in the country.

Malaysia also practices discrimination in the recruitment and employment of domestic workers.   Filipina domestic workers in Malaysia earn the highest salary at US$400 a month because of requirements imposed by the Philippines government. Malaysia offers the lowest wages in comparison to other countries employing large numbers of Indonesian domestic workers. For example, Indonesian domestic workers in Saudi Arabia are entitled to a salary of 800 riyals ( about RM700 ) per month without any deductions.

The Malaysian economy needs to continuously harness the labor of Malaysians and thus there is the demand for domestic workers to fill the vacuum left when women work outside their homes. But this need cannot be met through exploitation that is equivalent to slavery.  Malaysian families need to recognize that they need to be decent employers and treat their domestic workers with justice.

Malaysia must move forward to ensure basic rights are upheld in the new MOU.  It has to take into consideration the  recommendations put to the Human Resources Ministry by the Malaysian Bar Council and Tenaganita together with various organizations for a commitment to extend equal protection under Malaysia’s labor laws to domestic workers, under Section XII of the Employment Act of 1955; provision for a standard contract that ensures minimum labor protections, including a 24-hour rest period each week, a fair and decent minimum wage, a limitation on weekly hours of work, and benefits; and stronger regulations governing recruitment agencies, including eliminating salary reductions to repay recruitment fees, and providing mechanisms to monitor and enforce these standards.

If Malaysia fails to meet the basic standards of protection for domestic workers, then the government is mapping the path to forced labor and slavery like conditions which are factors that constitute a crime as defined in our Anti trafficking in persons Act 2007.

Malaysia is now represented in the UN Human Rights Council for a second term.  It can no longer be complicit about the protection of rights of women and of domestic workers. The path to economic competitiveness and real growth is not through the enslavement of workers and exploitation but through equal treatment and rights protection.

Signed:

Dr.  Irene Fernandez

Executive Director.

TENAGANITA

2010 UNHCR country operations profile – Malaysia

(excerpt)

Key targets for 2010

• Timely registration, fair and efficient RSD procedures and issuance of UNHCR ID cards for asylum-seekers and refugees.
• Legal counsel provided to 500 asylum-seekers and refugees charged with immigration offences in court.
• “Best Interest Determination” procedures are applied in the cases of 2,000 unaccompanied minors.
• Enhanced support programmes and targeted interventions help 30,000 women and children.
• Advocacy is conducted with key government counterparts to develop a legal and administrative framework to deal with refugees.
• Medical care is provided for 90,000 people of concern nationwide.
• The risk of HIV and AIDS is reduced and the quality of response improved through community health education for 81,000 people.
• Non-formal education or skills training is provided for 3,800 adolescent youth.
• At least 3,000 children of primary-school age have access to learning opportunities.
• Resettlement referrals are made for 15,000 refugees.

2010-11 UNHCR planning figures for Malaysia
TYPE OF POPULATION	ORIGIN	JAN 2010		DEC 2010 – JAN 2011		DEC 2011
		TOTAL IN COUNTRY	OF WHOM ASSISTED BY UNHCR	TOTAL IN COUNTRY	OF WHOM ASSISTED BY UNHCR	TOTAL IN COUNTRY	OF WHOM ASSISTED BY UNHCR
Total		201,900	74,500	220,100	106,800	221,200	119,900
Refugees	Myanmar	61,500	61,500	88,500	88,500	100,400	100,400
	Various	4,000	4,000	5,000	5,000	5,800	5,800
Asylum-seekers	Myanmar	7,000	7,000	10,800	10,800	10,800	10,800
	Various	2,100	2,000	2,500	2,500	2,900	2,900
Stateless		40,000	-	40,000	-	40,000	-
Others of concern	Myanmar	26,000	-	12,000	-	-	-
	Philippines	61,300	-	61,300	-	61,300	-

Note: This article is linked under the “Important Documents and Statistics” category.

Read more…