Hong Kong
Lawyers seek new ways to help Hong Kong's human trafficking victims
Date: 22 June 2015
Source: Thomson Reuters
Hong Kong courts narrowly define human trafficking as a crime only involving cross-border sex trafficking for prostitution. As a result there are few human trafficking prosecutions in Hong Kong, which the U.S. State Department in 2014 identified as a destination, transit and source territory for adults and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour.
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Trust Forum Asia
On 17 June 2015, the Trust Forum Asia took place at the Asia Society in Hong Kong.
Click here to see updates and photos from the event.
How Asia is a hub for 'silent crime' of modern-day slavery
Date: 7 June 2015
Source: SCMP
In the first of a two-part series on slavery, Sarah Lazarus talks to modern-day abolitionists who spoke at the inaugural Trust Forum Asia in Hong Kong.
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Filipina maid photographs 'modern slavery' in Hong Kong
Date: 26 May 2015
Source: Bangkok Post
A Filipina maid in Hong Kong has published stark photographs of burned and beaten domestic workers to highlight the "modern slavery" she says has long been the city's shameful secret.
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The accessibility of Hong Kong's CLEIC scheme to victims of human trafficking
Date: 18 May 2015
Source: Liberty Asia
This paper presents an analysis of the Criminal and Law Enforcement Injuries Compensation (CLEIC) Scheme in Hong Kong and illustrates why such scheme is not suited to the needs of victims of human trafficking. The paper then draws upon a similar compensation scheme in the UK and offers a comparative review of a system that is more accessible. A new scheme is recommended in order to provide a real opportunity for victims of human trafficking to claim compensation in Hong Kong.
Click here to access this resource.
Asia
After eight years in slavery, a bittersweet homecoming
Date: 19 June 2015
Source: CNN
Indonesian authorities clamp down on illegal fishing boats in their waters. CNN follows the story of one Thai man who is reunited with his parents after being discovered on an Indonesian island.
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Unicef fears surge in child trafficking after Nepal quakes
Date: 19 June 2015
Source: NY Times
Unicef expressed concern over a possible surge in the trafficking of Nepalese children who might have been orphaned, abandoned or sold in the nearly two months since two severe earthquakes struck Nepal. Trafficking in Nepalese children was a problem even before the quakes, with an estimated 12,000 spirited to India annually, Unicef officials said, quoting a 2001 study by the International Labor Organization.
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Facing pressure ahead of trade deal, Malaysia actually takes steps to improve human trafficking record
Date: 18 June 2015
Source: HuffingtonPost
The lower house of the Malaysian parliament passed an amendment to the country's anti-trafficking law that takes steps towards improving conditions for victims, as the nation faces pressure to improve its record on the issue in order to be included in a trade agreement with the United States and 10 other Pacific countries.
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Indonesia accuses Australia of bribing people smugglers
Date: 17 June 2015
Source: The Guardian
Indonesia and Australia are embroiled in a diplomatic row over allegations that people smugglers were bribed at sea by Australian officials to turn their boats around.
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Asia needs better data, more funding to stamp out modern day slavery
Date: 17 June 2015
Source: Reuters
The fight against modern day slavery in Asia's fishing industry needs more funding and better data on supply chains to succeed, campaigners had said. Recent investigations into the Thai fishing industry, in particular, have uncovered widespread abuses which have helped to raise awareness about the plight of migrant workers who make up most of the employees in the $7 billion industry.
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Indonesia's maid ban increases risk of human trafficking: campaigner
Date: 17 June 2015
Source: Reuters
President Joko Widodo announced in May that Indonesia would stop sending new domestic workers to 21 Middle Eastern countries after Saudi Arabia executed two Indonesian maids, local media reported. This ban will force women seeking an escape from poverty to migrate illegally, and put them at greater risk of human trafficking, a rights campaigner said.
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Asia's horrific human trafficking network is going out of business
Date: 7 June 2015
Source: Business Insider
The human trafficking chain was broken early last month when Thailand ordered a crackdown on trafficking after the discovery of 33 bodies in shallow graves near the border. Weeks later, Malaysia found 139 graves in abandoned jungle camps on its side.
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Malaysia ‘shocked’ about human trafficking despite evidence in plain sight
Date: 27 May 2015
Source: The Standard
Malaysia's government has expressed shock at finding migrant camps set up by human traffickers and graves near the Thai border, but for local villagers like Sani Hashim the human clues were right there in plain sight.
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Global
World's busiest airport helps fight human trafficking
Date: 20 June 2015
Source: CNN
Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, known as the world's busiest airport, joins the fight to end human trafficking.
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Number of displaced people hits record high, fuels boom in human trafficking
Date: 18 June 2015
Source: OCCRP
The number of people who have been displaced worldwide reached an all-time high in 2014, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), a statistic that also reflects a worrying number of recent high-profile human-trafficking cases. The UNHCR estimates that 59.5 million were displaced in 2014 – a sharp increase on the previous year’s estimated total of 51.2 million. It was the largest rise recorded in a single year, and nearly half of the displaced people were reported to be children.
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Drug cartels: Where human trafficking and human smuggling meet today
Date: 16 June 2015
Source: HuffingtonPost
Little attention has been devoted to the role that the empowerment of Mexican drug cartels has played in reshaping the human smuggling dynamics in the last years.
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Resources
How many slaves?
Date: 8 June 2015
Source: Thomson Reuters
How many slaves are there in the world today? The estimates are varied, but the raw numbers are staggering. Ms. Archana Kotecha, Head of Legal at Liberty Asia, explains that “there is an estimate on the conservative end of the range from the International Labour Organisation which comes in around 21 million, and on the high end we have a number from the Global Slavery Index of approximately 36 million.”
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The Giant Ocean Case: Challenges in Securing Justice for Exploited Fishermen
Date: 5 June 2015
Source: Youtube
This video describes the human trafficking ring behind the former recruitment agency Giant Ocean International Limited, now accused and convicted for human trafficking in Cambodia. USAID’s Counter Trafficking In Persons Program supports 97 victims in this case, which one of the few cases in the world where a licensed recruiting agency has been prosecuted under a Trafficking In Persons law for trafficking men on fishing vessels.