Get tough on firms trafficking migrant workers, US official urges

In a recent news , LUIS CdeBaca, ambassador at large for the US State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, urged Thailand on August 6th 2013 to impose harsh sentences on employers found guilty of trafficking migrant workers.

The Anti-Human Trafficking Act calls for four to 10 years in prison and fines of Bt80, 000-Bt200, 000 against those convicted of such crimes.

CdeBaca expressed his concern over the seizure of migrant workers' passports and docking of their pay to cover middlemen's commissions.

CdeBaca said, “The US would send an advisory team to help improve the Thai Labour Ministry's worker-inspection system and human-trafficking prosecution process which was rather slow, not strict enough, and encouraged employers to repeatedly commit trafficking offences".

C deBaca wished stricter controls on employment agencies, some of which charge Thai workers placed in jobs overseas fees so high they fall within the framework of human-trafficking offences. He also urged the government to ensure that a good worker-protection system was in place before it goes forward with its plan to import 50,000 Bangladeshis to work in the Thai fishery industry.

Acknowledging that most employers faced only fines and civil lawsuits, Labor Ministry permanent secretary Somkiat Chayasriwon said he would speak to the minister about stricter measures and criminal charges for those who commit human trafficking. He would also talk with the departments of Employment and Labour Protection and Welfare about a probe into agencies that overcharge Thais for placement in overseas jobs, and the possibility of prosecuting these agencies under the criminal code.

Courtesy : The NATION - Thailand news

Human Trafficking of Uganda, Rescued in South India

(According to Times of India, Bangalore, Aug 3, 2013, 06.58PM IST)

Prostitution, the system that commodities and dehumanizes the bodies and persons of women and children of both sexes for the use and profit of men, is today the object of an intense and international mainstreaming campaign that is working for the social and political acceptance of the hugely profitable industries of sex.

 Prostitution in India is a serious social problem and its solution has been rendered difficult by the problem of poverty, illiteracy, Poverty, Unemployment, High government corruption, Political instability, Organized crime, armed conflict, Natural disasters (Eg. Tsunami in Indonesia; earthquake in Haiti).  Prostitution is widely rampant in India and its main markets are in the big cities. The statistics available on the number of prostitutes operating in the country is not exact because there is so much of clandestine prostitution, in spite of such undetected prostitution the situation is horrifying. A very accurate, comprehensive picture of prostitution in India is not available since sexual exploitation and sale of women and children are mostly unreported crimes.

(Recently a case has been found in bangalore, below are the details..)

The women and narcotics cell of the central crime branch rescued 11 Ugandan women from two of their countrymen in a raid on a house in Srinivasapura Main Road near Bengaluru on Friday night. 

The operation, conducted on a tip-off, revealed that the women were promised jobs in India and brought here. "The women complained they were forced into prostitution. Of the 11 women, only one had a valid passport and visa. Others didn't possess passports and visas or didn't have it with them when they were rescued," ACP (crime) Pranav Mohanty said. The arrested men are Brian Albert, 23, of Kampala, and Kawuta Michael, 23, of Entebbe. 

"Besides rescuing them, we found the house they were staying in was stocked with liquor bottles worth Rs 1.25 lakh. The liquor was allegedly sold to their customers. Seven mobiles were seized from them," an officer said. 

Police said an alert had been sent to the Ugandan embassy in New Delhi to ascertain the identity of the women. It's not clear when they entered the country. The women are sent to a shelter and they'll soon be deported home, police said. A case was registered at Bengaluru police station.