Since Zimbabwe lost the support of many western nations, it has cultivated a deliberate “Look East” policy, to nurture relationships with Asian countries. This may have had some economic benefits, but it has also resulted in more opportunities for human traffickers to lure young Zimbabwean women with adverts on the internet and local papers for jobs in China and other countries, and then selling the women into forced prostitution. The Zimbabwe office of the International Organisation for Migration said that hundreds of Zimbabwean women are being targeted by traffickers.
”The opening up of business between Zimbabwe and Asian countries strengthened the deceptive power of the traffickers as they also opened new trafficking routes,” said Mohammed Adiker, IOM Zimbabwe chief of mission.
“I can confirm that we have heard cases of young Zimbabwean girls who were trafficked to China after being promised modelling jobs. I cannot say for certain whether they were rescued or not, but it is now happening in Zimbabwe,” said Justin MacDermott, IOM Zimbabwe project development officer. 

The trial of Michael Ng, the first person to be tried in Canada on human trafficking charges, has begun in Vancouver. A woman who alleges that he brought her from China to work as a waitress, but forced her into prostitution, has begun testifying. She claims that she was brought to Vancouver by Mr Ng and then told she would have to pay him $11,000 a month as a prostitute at his massage parlour. The woman was obviously distressed during her testimony, crying out in Cantonese “Michael is a bad guy, Michael is a bad guy.” She claims that she wanted to return to China, but she was afraid that if the police in Canada found her she would be put in jail. Ng had also taken all her identification papers and her passport from her. The trial is continuing.

A report funded by the Canadian government, and supported by six UN agencies and the International Organisation for Migration has concluded that Russia’s legislation against human trafficking is inadequate to deal with the problem. In Russia human trafficking is regarded primarily as a matter of women being sent across borders into sexual exploitation. Although this does happen in Russia, the majority of trafficking victims are sent both internally and transnationally into forced labour. The report gives the example of Chechen workers being attracted to Moscow in search of better wages, but ending in forced labour situations. Construction, light industry, tourism and entertainment  in particular are low cost low protection industries in Russia and may employ between 60% and 80% migrant workers. Russian police “regularly rescue citizens from Central Asian and former Soviet republics from slavery and labour exploitation in Russia,” the report says. The report criticises the law against trafficking in Russia saying that it is too vague, it deals in stereotypes of trafficked women and ignores internal trafficking in a country which spans 11 time zones. It also claims that the way the law is phrased does little to protect children.

Police in Vietnam have arrested four people in connection with an alleged human trafficking ring. The police also rescued dozens of young women during raids in several locations in Ho Chi Minh City. The gang had allegedly been trafficking women into prostitution in China, but more recently had concentrated on trafficking victims to Malaysia. 

Most of the women, aged 18-19 on average, are from the Mekong Delta and southeastern provinces such as Dong Thap, Kien Giang, Tien Giang, Ca Mau and Tay Ninh. When the traffickers arrived at the girl’s home they would promise labour contracts abroad, but when they reached Ho Chi Minh City it became clear that they were being prepared for forced prostitution. The police also recovered more than 50 passports and also the personal belongings of many women who had already been trafficked. The case is continuing. 

Human Trafficking has been on the rise in Macedonia for several years according to findings published by the Union of Women’s Organisations of Macedonia (SOZM).
”The main reason for the rising trends lie with the process of transition, the crisis in Kovoso, rising poverty and unemployment rates, rise in the organized crime figures, as well as the decreased border control in Central and Eastern Europe”, said Tanja Gjurovska, psychologist with SOZM.

SOZM is implementing programs of awareness raising amongst the young;

“The potential victims of trafficking rings are recruited from the ranks of the young population. Therefore, they need more information about this problem, to get educated and establish a protective system of their own”