United Nations Wire
Thursday, March 30, 2000
UN Launches First Pilot Project; More
An international conference in Manila brought more than 20 Pacific Rim countries and the United States together to discuss a regional plan of action to stop the trafficking of women and children. The conference heard that human trafficking is the third largest source of money for organized crime, after drugs and guns, but is a problem that is largely ignored.
Organizers said that in Asia alone, some 250,000 people are bought and sold every year, most of them women and girls. The United States estimates that 50,000 victims from the former Soviet states, Southeast Asia and Latin America enter the United States every year. Anita Botti, the principal deputy director of a US inter-agency council on women, said these women and children in Southeast Asia were "bought and sold" like slaves for approximately $6,000 to $10,000 (John McLean, BBC Online, 29 Mar).
Indonesian teenage girls are sold by their impoverished parents and brought to Malaysia on forged passports to work illegally in "all types of work, including prostitution," said a representative of the Foundation for Justice and Help for Indonesian Women. She said many were employed as maids but were often abused by their employers (Agence France-Presse/Singapore Straits Times, 21 Mar).
In the first pilot project by the UN Center for International Crime Prevention to halt human trafficking, the center and the Philippines on Tuesday agreed to improve law enforcement against organized crime groups involved in human trafficking (UN Newservice, 28 Mar). The United States will donate $200,000 for the project (UN Wire, 28 Mar).
In another UN effort, the UN International Police Task Force in Bosnia on Tuesday monitored a raid on a nightclub aimed at cracking down on prostitution, the harboring of illegal aliens and possible trafficking of women. Five Romanian women were found hidden in a secret room. The police are investigating whether they were held against their will and were victims of trafficking, according to the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UN Newservice).
The Associated Press lists the top eight places where smugglers are trafficking women:
* GERMANY: A suspected key point for central European smugglers forcing women into prostitution. Undercover police operations have led to the dismantling of some gangs and several convictions for forced prostitution.
* GREECE: Traffickers sneak women over back roads and mountain passes on the northern frontier. Police are stepping up raids on suspected brothels and conducting document checks on foreigners.
* ITALY: Gangs bring Albanian and Nigerian women for forced work in brothels or as prostitutes. The coast guard and border police are increasing patrols.
* KOSOVO: The region is seeing a growing number of women from Central and Eastern Europe being forced into prostitution. Weak law enforcement creates easy transit points for immigrant-smuggling groups.
* NETHERLANDS: Prostitution is legal, but a new law seeks to crack down on illegal immigrants and underage girls working in the sex trade.
* SPAIN: Authorities are increasing raids on roadside brothels staffed mostly by Latin American women who claim they were lured abroad with promises of legitimate jobs.
* TURKEY: Istanbul is a hub for some groups accused of forcing illegal immigrants into prostitution, mostly Moldovans, Ukrainians and Russians. Corruption is hampering police efforts to crack down.
* UNITED STATES: A bill before the US Senate seeks to provide temporary asylum for women and children victimized by immigrant traffickers and calls for halting US aid to countries linked to the sex trafficking trade (Brian Murphy, AP/Washington Times, 27 Mar).
