Police in Suriname are investigating an alleged case of human trafficking. Brothel owner Henry Kunath has been arrested in the city of Paramaribo on charges of embezzlement and people trafficking. Police are investigating claims that Kunath invited a Brazilian woman to come and work in his brothel as a waitress. When she arrived she was told she had to work as a prostitute. The woman refused but claims her travel documents were removed and she was allegedly forced to have sex with clients in order to repay her travel expenses. Kunath has recently returned to Suriname after serving a jail sentence in Brazil for trafficking women.
Despite recent improvements, Suriname still has work to do to combat human trafficking. In particular it needs to make more prosecutions against human traffickers and also avoid summary deportation of victims who could help with cases against traffickers.

A recent report by NGOs Fundajia Romana Pentru Copii Communitate Si Familie and Casa Dei Diritti Sociali Focus and sponsored by the international NGO Terre Des Hommes has shown that many hundreds of children are being trafficked into prostitution, begging and forced labour in Rome.
One girl said;
“I was alone, my mum died and my father left to go to live with another woman.
When I was 15 years old I decided to leave to Rome with my aunt who was already living there and came to Romania during the holidays. She told me she would help me to find a job and she paid my journey to Italy. Once we arrived here my aunt found me a job as a cleaner in a private house. She took all my money, telling me she had to pay the rent and buy me food. After two months she told me that the money I was earning was not enough and that I had to leave her house. She took me to a house where there were two other Romanian girls and one boy. She left me there and disappeared. I never thought she could leave me alone. The girls in the house were always sleeping with different men. They made me do the same thing in order to pay for rent and food. I stayed there for about four months then one of my friends helped me to escape. He was also Romanian and helped me go to the police and denounce them”.
The report concluded that of the 5101 unaccompanied minors accounted for in Rome in 2003, 47% were from Romania. The report also noted a shift from begging as one of the main activities to prostitution, with younger children moving towards petty crime. Although the report commends the anti-trafficking activities of both Italy and Romania, it strongly urges the two countries to co-ordinate their efforts to protect Romanian children who are still being exploited in large numbers in the Italian capital.

Police in Russia have detained five men on charges of trafficking children as sex slaves. It is alleged that the gang operated in the Russian Urals region for several years. As part of the police operation, a police officer bought a 15 year old boy for $1000 in order to have access to an orgy arranged by the gang. The orgy took place in Ekaterinburg and was filmed by the gang to sell as pornography. It will now be used as evidence against the traffickers. It is alleged that the gang lured children into having sex, often violently raping them and then forced them into prostitution threatening to tell their parents. The men detained on charges of human trafficking, having sex with minors and involving people in prostitution include a lawyer, a worker from an orphanage and a former policeman.

The National Council of German Women’s Organisations is concerned that the World Cup in June will see thousands of women and children being trafficked into the country from Eastern Europe to be used as prostitutes. Berlin alone already has 10,000 prostitutes in a country which has legalised prostitution, but the flood of visitors to the World Cup is likely to see many more trafficked and abused in Germany. The National Council of German Women’s Organisations is so concerned about the threat of trafficking that they plan to set up stalls outside all the World Cup stadiums asking men to think twice before they use prostitutes.

The US government is proposing that the US linked Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas be used as a safe haven for Vietnamese victims of human trafficking. The plan is that the victims be allowed to stay on the pacific islands in order to recover from their ordeal and undergo rehabilitation. The population of the Northern Marianas are not fully behind the proposal, however, and he deadline has been extended for acceptance.
The Attorney General, Pamela Brown said;
“The safe haven project is something that is a little scary for the indigenous population as well as Im sure there’s some discussion going on the US mainland officials regarding this proposal. Hopefully when we get through with the public hearing and comments and these kind of interviews, people will realise that it is being done to provide an answer to what is a hole in the in the global protection of these victims.”
Vietnam has a significant human trafficking problem with women and children being trafficked into China from the north of the country and into Cambodia from the south. There is also a problem with women being offered marriages in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and China only to discover that they have been trafficked into prostitution.