UPCOMING EVENTS !!!!
"The Jammed" (2007) Film Screening
BEWARE - CHANGE OF TIME
Friday, January 30th at 12am
Large AV Viewing Room, Library
Inspired by court transcripts and actual events, THE JAMMED is a social thriller about trafficking and the sex slave trade in Melbourne. When a Chinese mother arrives in Melbourne to find her missing daughter, she enlists the help of Ashley Hudson. Ashley reluctantly agrees to help search, and is soon drawn into the dark underworld of this cultural city as she tries to rescue three girls from a trafficking syndicate. As the story unravels the sinister workings of illegal prostitution and governmental deportation is filled with twists and surprises.
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Open Discussion #1: Victimization vs. Agency
Thursday, February 12th, 3:30 pm
Russel Building Room 29
Agency refers to someone's ability or capacity to enact a decision he/she's made.
The purpose of this meeting is to explore the common conception of trafficking persons as 'victims', and to discuss the notion of 'choice'. To what extent are these individuals shaping their own destinies? Is it possible to choose to be exploited? What does exploitation mean anyway? we look forward to a lively debate!
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Trafficking Awareness Week
Monday May 4 - Friday May 9
University of Sussex Campus
Join us for a week of activities and discussion on the important issues related to human trafficking. SAHT will host academics and NGO speakers, hold film screenings, and engage in debates around this controversial and important issue.
More info will be made available at: http.//studentsagainsthumantrafficking.blogspot.com.
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Friday, 9 January 2009
BRAINSTORMING
On december 14th, SAHT held its last 2008 meeting... We figured it was time to brainstorm...
We wrote TRAFFICKING on a board and asked all present to throw words out there... anything that made sense and had a link to trafficking.. We then identified several dichotomies that we wish to develop in the future.. either through other brainstorming meetings, literature review and sharing, or by inviting speakers at our meetings... This will be decided and communicated very soon!
Here are the results of the session:
Stereotypes
Empirically problematic
Illegality
Victimization
Political agendas
Exploitations
Work vs. not work
Slavery
Vulnerability
Middle (wo)men
smuggling vs. trafficking
Corruption
International crime
Social networks
Agency
Supply & Demand
Inhuman
Immigration control
Children Camel jockeys
Prostitution
Risky work
Forced Political / academic trend
(2) Supply vs. Demand
(3) Slavery vs. Labour
(4) Political agendas / borer control vs. Illegality
(5) Feminization / masculinization vs. Stereotypes
(6) Visibility vs. Invisibility
(7) Trafficking vs. Smuggling
We wrote TRAFFICKING on a board and asked all present to throw words out there... anything that made sense and had a link to trafficking.. We then identified several dichotomies that we wish to develop in the future.. either through other brainstorming meetings, literature review and sharing, or by inviting speakers at our meetings... This will be decided and communicated very soon!
Here are the results of the session:
Trafficking
Stereotypes
Empirically problematic
Illegality
Victimization
Political agendas
Exploitations
Work vs. not work
Slavery
Vulnerability
Middle (wo)men
smuggling vs. trafficking
Corruption
International crime
Social networks
Agency
Supply & Demand
Inhuman
Immigration control
Children Camel jockeys
Prostitution
Risky work
Forced Political / academic trend
Dichotomies
(1) Vulnerability / victimization vs. Agency(2) Supply vs. Demand
(3) Slavery vs. Labour
(4) Political agendas / borer control vs. Illegality
(5) Feminization / masculinization vs. Stereotypes
(6) Visibility vs. Invisibility
(7) Trafficking vs. Smuggling
Friday, 2 January 2009
Refugees and Trafficking Nightmare
UNHCR News Stories
A childhood of rape and exploitation ends mercifully with a new life in Canada
DAMASCUS, Syria, Dec. 31 (UNHCR) – For any refugee, the chance to begin a new life in Canada is a coveted prize. But for Hiba,* wearing a huge smile as she approaches the departure gate at Damascus airport, the plane she's about to board means leaving behind the unimaginable horror of rape, exploitation, human trafficking and prison – a lifetime of torment lived by the age of 17.
Hiba's fate seemed to have been sealed when her mother left her with her father in Baghdad when she was just seven. When she was 15, he forced her into a mutaa marriage, or temporary marriage, with a cousin.
Under this traditional local custom, Hiba was informally married to her cousin for 48 hours, but he abandoned her after satisfying his lust. Her father refused to take her back.
Instead, he persuaded her they could find her mother in Syria, and set out to meet her. At the Iraqi-Syrian border, Hiba went to the restroom, only to discover her father was gone when she came out. Little did she know her father had sold her to a stranger. Hiba's nightmare was just beginning.
Trapped in a country where she knew no one, Hiba had no choice but to put her trust in the man who claimed he would protect her. Instead he brought her other men, who raped her in turn. A few days later she was taken to a club in Damascus, taught to belly dance provocatively to attract customers' attention, and was forced into sex work for nearly two years.
When she became pregnant, though, Hiba's captors abandoned her, leaving her on the streets to fend for herself. She was soon found by local social workers and put into the Damascus rehabilitation center for minors. Hiba felt safe for the first time in years and was comforted by the social workers at the center. It was clear that this could not become home though.
"When I first arrived, I was scared and terrified by what was going to happen to me next," Hiba said. "Soon, I was reassured by the presence of other girls in similar situations. We became sisters, they replaced my family. I also realized I was not an isolated case. A lot of girls need help and assistance."
Hiba remained in the centre for several weeks before being identified by a Syrian social worker who reported her plight to the UNHCR office in Damascus, which submitted her case urgently for resettlement. Canada answered the emergency call.
UNHCR protection officers say that in many asylum countries, an increasing number of Iraqi women and girls are being forced into sex work against their will, or are turning to it in desperation for economic reasons.
Aseer Al Madaien, UNHCR Protection Officer in Damascus, says UNHCR works hard to find women like Hiba who are being exploited. "With the support of Syrian institutions, we are constantly trying to increase our efforts in terms of prevention," says Al Madaien. "We are counting on the support of local partners, government offices and NGOs specifically targeting women at risk."
On the last day of 2008, the Syrian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and the International Organization for Migration announced the establishment of the first shelter for victims of trafficking like Hiba. It aims to provide a safe haven for survivors of trafficking, with Iraqi women and their children being one of the target groups for assistance. This project, which also involves other UN agencies and local NGOs aims to build referral networks for survivors and it is hoped that other shelters will be established in the future.
According to the Syrian government, there are around 1.2 million Iraqi refugees in Syria, of whom more than 220,000 are registered with the UN refugee agency. Of these, more than 2,800 are women at risk. In 2007, UNHCR in Syria requested resettlement countries to accept 945 women and children at risk, but would like to find places in third countries for even more.
For Hiba, the future is finally looking brighter. Living safely in Canada now with a foster family, she recently gave birth to a baby girl whom she named Zaman, which means "time". Perhaps Hiba was thinking of the time ahead of her – time to recover, time to heal and time to start a new life
By Dalia al-Achi
in Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
* Name changed for protection reasons
http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/495b6a2d4.html
A childhood of rape and exploitation ends mercifully with a new life in Canada
DAMASCUS, Syria, Dec. 31 (UNHCR) – For any refugee, the chance to begin a new life in Canada is a coveted prize. But for Hiba,* wearing a huge smile as she approaches the departure gate at Damascus airport, the plane she's about to board means leaving behind the unimaginable horror of rape, exploitation, human trafficking and prison – a lifetime of torment lived by the age of 17.
Hiba's fate seemed to have been sealed when her mother left her with her father in Baghdad when she was just seven. When she was 15, he forced her into a mutaa marriage, or temporary marriage, with a cousin.
Under this traditional local custom, Hiba was informally married to her cousin for 48 hours, but he abandoned her after satisfying his lust. Her father refused to take her back.
Instead, he persuaded her they could find her mother in Syria, and set out to meet her. At the Iraqi-Syrian border, Hiba went to the restroom, only to discover her father was gone when she came out. Little did she know her father had sold her to a stranger. Hiba's nightmare was just beginning.
Trapped in a country where she knew no one, Hiba had no choice but to put her trust in the man who claimed he would protect her. Instead he brought her other men, who raped her in turn. A few days later she was taken to a club in Damascus, taught to belly dance provocatively to attract customers' attention, and was forced into sex work for nearly two years.
When she became pregnant, though, Hiba's captors abandoned her, leaving her on the streets to fend for herself. She was soon found by local social workers and put into the Damascus rehabilitation center for minors. Hiba felt safe for the first time in years and was comforted by the social workers at the center. It was clear that this could not become home though.
"When I first arrived, I was scared and terrified by what was going to happen to me next," Hiba said. "Soon, I was reassured by the presence of other girls in similar situations. We became sisters, they replaced my family. I also realized I was not an isolated case. A lot of girls need help and assistance."
Hiba remained in the centre for several weeks before being identified by a Syrian social worker who reported her plight to the UNHCR office in Damascus, which submitted her case urgently for resettlement. Canada answered the emergency call.
UNHCR protection officers say that in many asylum countries, an increasing number of Iraqi women and girls are being forced into sex work against their will, or are turning to it in desperation for economic reasons.
Aseer Al Madaien, UNHCR Protection Officer in Damascus, says UNHCR works hard to find women like Hiba who are being exploited. "With the support of Syrian institutions, we are constantly trying to increase our efforts in terms of prevention," says Al Madaien. "We are counting on the support of local partners, government offices and NGOs specifically targeting women at risk."
On the last day of 2008, the Syrian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and the International Organization for Migration announced the establishment of the first shelter for victims of trafficking like Hiba. It aims to provide a safe haven for survivors of trafficking, with Iraqi women and their children being one of the target groups for assistance. This project, which also involves other UN agencies and local NGOs aims to build referral networks for survivors and it is hoped that other shelters will be established in the future.
According to the Syrian government, there are around 1.2 million Iraqi refugees in Syria, of whom more than 220,000 are registered with the UN refugee agency. Of these, more than 2,800 are women at risk. In 2007, UNHCR in Syria requested resettlement countries to accept 945 women and children at risk, but would like to find places in third countries for even more.
For Hiba, the future is finally looking brighter. Living safely in Canada now with a foster family, she recently gave birth to a baby girl whom she named Zaman, which means "time". Perhaps Hiba was thinking of the time ahead of her – time to recover, time to heal and time to start a new life
By Dalia al-Achi
in Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
* Name changed for protection reasons
http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/495b6a2d4.html
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Three arrested in human trafficking crackdown
The Independent
By Ellen Branagh, PA
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Authorities today cracked down on a human trafficking gang in what is thought to be the largest operation of its kind ever in the UK, police said.
More than 200 staff from nine different organisations took part in the crackdown on the organised crime group believed to be trafficking people into the UK for cheap labour.
Three men were arrested this morning at a field near Holbeach, South Lincolnshire, on suspicion of human trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation.
Northamptonshire Police said more than 60 men and women from Eastern European countries including Poland and Lithuania had been taken to Kettering, Northants, where they are now being treated as potential witnesses and victims.
Officers also searched 21 houses in Kettering and across the Midlands as well as a business premises in Market Harborough, Leics.
A spokeswoman said four men and a woman had also been arrested on suspicion of people trafficking and money laundering.
The huge crackdown, codenamed Operation Ruby, involved the East Midlands Foreign National Crime Team, Northamptonshire Police, the UK Human Trafficking Centre, the UK Borders Agency, the Migrant Helpline, Serious Organised Crime Agency and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority.
It centres on allegations people were recruited through advertisements and agencies in Eastern Europe to travel to the UK on the promise of work.
When they arrived, it is thought their documents were taken from them and a proportion of their wages was withheld to pay for housing and transport costs.
Det Supt Glyn Timmins, director of Investigations at Northamptonshire Police, co-ordinated today's operation.
He said it was the culmination of months of liaison, investigation and planning involving the agencies.
He said: "This has been a co-ordinated, large-scale operation as part of an investigation into the activities of what we believe is an organised crime group that has exploited people as cheap labour in fields across this region.
"The fact that so many organisations have come together to act in this way is a demonstration of how seriously we take our responsibility to support people who have been exploited in this way and to disrupt this unacceptable activity."
Nick Kinsella, chief executive of the UK Human Trafficking Centre said they had provided "tactical and strategic advice" and Simon Excell, UK Border Agency regional deputy director, added: "Human trafficking of any kind, whether for sexual or labour exploitation, is an appalling crime where people are treated as commodities and traded for profit.
"It is a modern form of slavery. But both UKBA and the police are determined, with our specialist foreign national crime teams, to stamp it out and catch the ringleaders."
He said they were taking tough action against employers who hire illegal migrants - naming and shaming them, imposing heavy fines, prosecuting and imprisoning them when appropriate.
More than 60 officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) were involved in the operation today.
Soca deputy director Andy Baker said: "Soca is also determined to tackle human trafficking by focusing on the countries migrants come from and the ones they travel through.
"We are working closely with our international partners to increase the risk to serious organised criminals in other countries and reduce the profitability of their activities."
Paul Whitehouse, Chairman of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority added: "Protecting vulnerable workers and dealing with rogue gangmasters is what we do.
"The action taken today shows that no gangmaster can get away with this abuse, the GLA and our colleagues in other agencies are watching and will deal with the unscrupulous individuals that use their control over the lives of their workers to cause misery."
The crackdown also involved Kettering Borough Council and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service.
Both helped police search premises in Kettering where it is believed workers were living in overcrowded and unsafe conditions.
Luke Hodson, of Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Inter-agency action such as this is vital and today's operation could be one of the most valuable life-saving pieces of work we carry out between now and Christmas."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/three-arrested-in-human-trafficking-crackdown-1023871.html
By Ellen Branagh, PA
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Authorities today cracked down on a human trafficking gang in what is thought to be the largest operation of its kind ever in the UK, police said.
More than 200 staff from nine different organisations took part in the crackdown on the organised crime group believed to be trafficking people into the UK for cheap labour.
Three men were arrested this morning at a field near Holbeach, South Lincolnshire, on suspicion of human trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation.
Northamptonshire Police said more than 60 men and women from Eastern European countries including Poland and Lithuania had been taken to Kettering, Northants, where they are now being treated as potential witnesses and victims.
Officers also searched 21 houses in Kettering and across the Midlands as well as a business premises in Market Harborough, Leics.
A spokeswoman said four men and a woman had also been arrested on suspicion of people trafficking and money laundering.
The huge crackdown, codenamed Operation Ruby, involved the East Midlands Foreign National Crime Team, Northamptonshire Police, the UK Human Trafficking Centre, the UK Borders Agency, the Migrant Helpline, Serious Organised Crime Agency and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority.
It centres on allegations people were recruited through advertisements and agencies in Eastern Europe to travel to the UK on the promise of work.
When they arrived, it is thought their documents were taken from them and a proportion of their wages was withheld to pay for housing and transport costs.
Det Supt Glyn Timmins, director of Investigations at Northamptonshire Police, co-ordinated today's operation.
He said it was the culmination of months of liaison, investigation and planning involving the agencies.
He said: "This has been a co-ordinated, large-scale operation as part of an investigation into the activities of what we believe is an organised crime group that has exploited people as cheap labour in fields across this region.
"The fact that so many organisations have come together to act in this way is a demonstration of how seriously we take our responsibility to support people who have been exploited in this way and to disrupt this unacceptable activity."
Nick Kinsella, chief executive of the UK Human Trafficking Centre said they had provided "tactical and strategic advice" and Simon Excell, UK Border Agency regional deputy director, added: "Human trafficking of any kind, whether for sexual or labour exploitation, is an appalling crime where people are treated as commodities and traded for profit.
"It is a modern form of slavery. But both UKBA and the police are determined, with our specialist foreign national crime teams, to stamp it out and catch the ringleaders."
He said they were taking tough action against employers who hire illegal migrants - naming and shaming them, imposing heavy fines, prosecuting and imprisoning them when appropriate.
More than 60 officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) were involved in the operation today.
Soca deputy director Andy Baker said: "Soca is also determined to tackle human trafficking by focusing on the countries migrants come from and the ones they travel through.
"We are working closely with our international partners to increase the risk to serious organised criminals in other countries and reduce the profitability of their activities."
Paul Whitehouse, Chairman of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority added: "Protecting vulnerable workers and dealing with rogue gangmasters is what we do.
"The action taken today shows that no gangmaster can get away with this abuse, the GLA and our colleagues in other agencies are watching and will deal with the unscrupulous individuals that use their control over the lives of their workers to cause misery."
The crackdown also involved Kettering Borough Council and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service.
Both helped police search premises in Kettering where it is believed workers were living in overcrowded and unsafe conditions.
Luke Hodson, of Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Inter-agency action such as this is vital and today's operation could be one of the most valuable life-saving pieces of work we carry out between now and Christmas."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/three-arrested-in-human-trafficking-crackdown-1023871.html
Thursday, 20 November 2008
UK policy against Human Trafficking: a step backward ?
The Independent – 10.11.2008
Police team that investigated tide of human traffic is closed
Investigators who saved victims of prostitution and child labour have funds withdrawn by Home Office
By Emily Dugan
JOHN STILLWELL/PA
Prostitutes cover their faces during a raid on an illegal brothel. Many women are forced into the trade each year in Britain by human traffickers
Trafficking police unit is being shut down just a year after it was set up because of Home Office spending cuts, The Independent has learnt.
The Metropolitan Police's Human Trafficking Team will cease work next year because its budget has been withdrawn following the decision by the Home Office to cut its yearly funding for human trafficking investigations from £4m to £1.7m.
Politicians and trafficking experts expressed anger at the Home Office's decision, saying it will leave a "gaping hole" in the policing of the crime. Privately, the police themselves are said to be furious about the decision.
The Met's Human Trafficking Team was set up in March 2007 and was designed to actively target gangs who bring women to the UK as sex slaves and children as forced labourers. It is estimated that more than 4,000 people are currently in the UK as a result of having been trafficked.
Britain is considered to be the destination of choice for gangs bringing women into the country from eastern Europe, China, Malaysia, Africa and South America to work in brothels.
It is notoriously difficult to convict criminals for human trafficking, but as the only specialist operational team in the country, the Met's dedicated human trafficking centre had claimed a series of successes.
News of the closure came as the unit claimed another major success last week which saw six sex traffickers jailed for a combined total of 52 years for deceiving a Slovakian teenager into a life of prostitution.
The Home Office yesterday insisted that the funding for the unit was always intended to be time-limited. However, when it was launched last year, the Home Office made no mention of this. Instead, the Home Office minister, Vernon Coaker, said: "This new team will be a specialist unit dedicated to targeting the global criminal networks that profit from this modern day slave trade. Those involved in the trafficking of men, women and children can expect to feel the full weight of the law."
The closure of the Met team has been met with anger. Critics say that it shows the Government is neglecting to take the proper steps to combat those involved in the trafficking trade.
The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, said he was "appalled" by the news, adding: "This is going to leave a gaping hole in investigating crimes that cause untold hardship to many thousands of people. Just as the unit was beginning to have real successes, the Home Office has pulled the rug out from under it. This is a terribly sad and foolish decision."
Christine Beddoe, director of End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking UK, said that as the entry point for the majority of trafficked people into the UK, London needed a dedicated team to combat the crime nationwide. "It's not just a local issue; London is an important gateway for traffickers across the UK.
"It's a really big blow and it contradicts so much of what the Government is saying about safeguarding victims of trafficking," added Ms Beddoe. "It's the only specialist operational team on human trafficking we have had."
Many anti-trafficking organisations say they are baffled by the timing of the team's closure, so soon after they had secured such notable prosecutions. Simon Chorley, of the pressure group Stop The Traffik, said: "The team were highly respected in terms of human trafficking; to close them down now is unfathomable."
The shadow Home Secretary, Dominic Grieve, said: "This is more evidence that despite the Government's rhetoric, they are not serious about tackling the scourge of human trafficking which ruins too many lives and shames our nation."
A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said: "The Met's Human Trafficking Team was launched in March 2007 as a result of being fully funded by money from the Home Office. From April 2009 that money will no longer be available and the Met does not have the additional funds to keep the team running in its current format whilst meeting other policing requirements."
A Home Office spokesman confirmed the unit was shutting but insisted that combating human trafficking remained a key priority. "The Association of Chief Police Officers has been able to administer a pot of some £4m last year and £1.7m this year to cover spending by forces," he said.
"This funding was always intended to be time-limited to support forces in mainstreaming organised immigration crime work, including that on human trafficking."
Case study 'I was kept locked in at all times'
*Ada, from Sierra Leone, was 23 when she was trafficked to the UK and forced into prostitution. She had been disowned by her parents in Africa after converting to Christianity and planned a new life in Britain with her boyfriend.
The couple moved to London. Ada, not her real name, said: "I was very happy. I thought I was leaving the past behind me and starting again." But she was met at the airport by three men and taken to a house where she was raped by one of them. Her boyfriend left and went back to Africa while Ada was forced to work in a brothel for the next six months.
She added: "There were five other women there. I had to have sex with two or three men a day and I was kept locked in at all times. I was completely exhausted as I had to see customers at whatever time they came to the brothel, so I was often woken up in the middle of the night.
"The men had guns and I was threatened a lot with physical violence, so I was afraid to say no. I was also too afraid to ask the customers for help because the men told me they would find out and kill me."
Eventually Ada escaped during a New Year party. She added: "I find it very hard to trust people now and I do not like myself. I can't believe my boyfriend did this to me."
Mark Hughes
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-team-that-investigated-tide-of-human-traffic-is-closed-1006612.html
Police team that investigated tide of human traffic is closed
Investigators who saved victims of prostitution and child labour have funds withdrawn by Home Office
By Emily Dugan
JOHN STILLWELL/PA
Prostitutes cover their faces during a raid on an illegal brothel. Many women are forced into the trade each year in Britain by human traffickers
Trafficking police unit is being shut down just a year after it was set up because of Home Office spending cuts, The Independent has learnt.
The Metropolitan Police's Human Trafficking Team will cease work next year because its budget has been withdrawn following the decision by the Home Office to cut its yearly funding for human trafficking investigations from £4m to £1.7m.
Politicians and trafficking experts expressed anger at the Home Office's decision, saying it will leave a "gaping hole" in the policing of the crime. Privately, the police themselves are said to be furious about the decision.
The Met's Human Trafficking Team was set up in March 2007 and was designed to actively target gangs who bring women to the UK as sex slaves and children as forced labourers. It is estimated that more than 4,000 people are currently in the UK as a result of having been trafficked.
Britain is considered to be the destination of choice for gangs bringing women into the country from eastern Europe, China, Malaysia, Africa and South America to work in brothels.
It is notoriously difficult to convict criminals for human trafficking, but as the only specialist operational team in the country, the Met's dedicated human trafficking centre had claimed a series of successes.
News of the closure came as the unit claimed another major success last week which saw six sex traffickers jailed for a combined total of 52 years for deceiving a Slovakian teenager into a life of prostitution.
The Home Office yesterday insisted that the funding for the unit was always intended to be time-limited. However, when it was launched last year, the Home Office made no mention of this. Instead, the Home Office minister, Vernon Coaker, said: "This new team will be a specialist unit dedicated to targeting the global criminal networks that profit from this modern day slave trade. Those involved in the trafficking of men, women and children can expect to feel the full weight of the law."
The closure of the Met team has been met with anger. Critics say that it shows the Government is neglecting to take the proper steps to combat those involved in the trafficking trade.
The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, said he was "appalled" by the news, adding: "This is going to leave a gaping hole in investigating crimes that cause untold hardship to many thousands of people. Just as the unit was beginning to have real successes, the Home Office has pulled the rug out from under it. This is a terribly sad and foolish decision."
Christine Beddoe, director of End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking UK, said that as the entry point for the majority of trafficked people into the UK, London needed a dedicated team to combat the crime nationwide. "It's not just a local issue; London is an important gateway for traffickers across the UK.
"It's a really big blow and it contradicts so much of what the Government is saying about safeguarding victims of trafficking," added Ms Beddoe. "It's the only specialist operational team on human trafficking we have had."
Many anti-trafficking organisations say they are baffled by the timing of the team's closure, so soon after they had secured such notable prosecutions. Simon Chorley, of the pressure group Stop The Traffik, said: "The team were highly respected in terms of human trafficking; to close them down now is unfathomable."
The shadow Home Secretary, Dominic Grieve, said: "This is more evidence that despite the Government's rhetoric, they are not serious about tackling the scourge of human trafficking which ruins too many lives and shames our nation."
A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said: "The Met's Human Trafficking Team was launched in March 2007 as a result of being fully funded by money from the Home Office. From April 2009 that money will no longer be available and the Met does not have the additional funds to keep the team running in its current format whilst meeting other policing requirements."
A Home Office spokesman confirmed the unit was shutting but insisted that combating human trafficking remained a key priority. "The Association of Chief Police Officers has been able to administer a pot of some £4m last year and £1.7m this year to cover spending by forces," he said.
"This funding was always intended to be time-limited to support forces in mainstreaming organised immigration crime work, including that on human trafficking."
Case study 'I was kept locked in at all times'
*Ada, from Sierra Leone, was 23 when she was trafficked to the UK and forced into prostitution. She had been disowned by her parents in Africa after converting to Christianity and planned a new life in Britain with her boyfriend.
The couple moved to London. Ada, not her real name, said: "I was very happy. I thought I was leaving the past behind me and starting again." But she was met at the airport by three men and taken to a house where she was raped by one of them. Her boyfriend left and went back to Africa while Ada was forced to work in a brothel for the next six months.
She added: "There were five other women there. I had to have sex with two or three men a day and I was kept locked in at all times. I was completely exhausted as I had to see customers at whatever time they came to the brothel, so I was often woken up in the middle of the night.
"The men had guns and I was threatened a lot with physical violence, so I was afraid to say no. I was also too afraid to ask the customers for help because the men told me they would find out and kill me."
Eventually Ada escaped during a New Year party. She added: "I find it very hard to trust people now and I do not like myself. I can't believe my boyfriend did this to me."
Mark Hughes
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-team-that-investigated-tide-of-human-traffic-is-closed-1006612.html
Monday, 17 November 2008
ROUNDTABLE ON LABOUR TRAFFICKING
SAHT will be holding a ROUNDTABLE on LABOUR TRAFFICKING
this wednesday the 19th of november at IDS Room 120, 4pm.
this wednesday the 19th of november at IDS Room 120, 4pm.
The idea of SAHT roundtables is that a certain subject is discussed by the group with the goal of engaging into constructive debates and discussions. All have a change to discuss and share their opinions!
Some questions to be thought about for this first roundtable..
- What is the difference between labour trafficking and labour smuggling?
- What is the link between labour exploitation and human trafficking?
- What are the main issues linked to labour migration?
- etc...
- What is the difference between labour trafficking and labour smuggling?
- What is the link between labour exploitation and human trafficking?
- What are the main issues linked to labour migration?
- etc...
To prepare this roundtable, members are advised to read a minimum about the chosen subject.. here are a few useful links to prepare this wednesday roundtable:
Trafficking in women, forced labor and domestic work- GTZ Report:
http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/resources/PDF/traffic%20women%20forced%20labour%20domestic%202006.pdf
Trafficking for force labour in Europe- Anti Slavery report:
http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/resources/PDF/trafficking%20for%20FL%20in%20Europe%204%20country%20report.pdf
Home Office Literature review on labour trafficking:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/rdsolr1007.pdf
Thursday, 13 November 2008
SAHT's New Logo!
SAHT activities and events will from nowon always have this logo visible!Many thanks to Karen for taking the time to make this!
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