Nafis Sadik, special envoy of the UN secretary general for HIV/Aids in Asia and the Pacific has warned of the human trafficking problem in North East India and Asia generally and its link to the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region. The UN envoy emphasised the vulnerability of Asian migrant workers to being trafficked into sexual exploitation,
“Nearly 10% of the people in the Philippines are migrant workers of whom nearly 60% are women working as domestic help and doing odd jobs in the Gulf and other countries. Nearly 23% of the migrants who have returned home were found to be HIV positive and this is a real big problem,” she said.
There is a huge problem with women and children being trafficked from the North East of India into the main cities such as Mumbai where they are sold into sexual exploitation. Because they are in a situation of slavery they have no control of their own sexual health and are therefore at risk of becoming HIV positive. To read more about this and related subjects, please visit Gulf Times by clicking here.

Florida’s new laws against human trafficking which require law enforcement personnel to be trained in recognising the difference between human trafficking and illegal immigration have been a great step forward, but many reports suggest that  victims are still afraid to come forward for fear of imprisonment and deportation. Reports show also that while people are increasingly aware that women might be trafficked into sexual exploitation, they still might dismiss those trafficked into forced agricultural labour as simply being part of the illegal immigration issue.
Lucas Benitez, of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers said “Trafficking isn’t just about immigrants. It’s about the most vulnerable,”
Often workers have to pay around US$1500 to be taken into the US, and then are sold  to a work crew for around US$800 to US$1000. The crew leader is clear that the worker has been bought and is in their debt. They are in a situation of slavery. Confusion exists in the minds of some victims because they have entered the country illegally, and so they feel they have no recourse to the law. This is not the case, and it is important that the message gets across that victims of human trafficking will not be treated as criminals.
For more on this and related issues, please visit HeraldToday.com by clicking here and Naples News by clicking here.

The Scotsman newspaper has reported comments from Detective Sergeant Mike McCormack who leads the Strathclyde organised crime immigration team, claiming that there is a growing problem with child prostitution in Glasgow, with children as young as 12 being trafficked to the city from Slovakia and China. He claims that the children are being trafficked by Albanian criminals.
“We have heard of a 12-year-old girl being prostituted for £10. Others cost £20-£30. They are good looking. Half of the local prostitutes are junkies charging £60. The punters are anyone - people coming out of pubs are offered girls. There is a huge child prostitution issue.” Said McCormack.
To read more on this or related issues, please visit The Scotsman by clicking here.

It is being reported that the Ukrainian City of Odessa is becoming a major hub city for women being trafficked into forced prostitution and men being trafficked into forced labour. The Economist magazine has reported that there is a constant flow of women from countries such as Moldova, Romania and the province of Transdniestria. Many of the women have been promised good jobs in countries such as Turkey, but they end up in sexual exploitation. One woman claimed that she had been sold into prostitution in Istanbul and then sold to a pimp in another town, where she had been forced to have sex, and given only enough money for food. The police had rescued her and she was now on her way home through Odessa. Often women are simply deported by the Turkish authorities.
To read more about this and related articles, please visit The Economist by clicking here.

In Kansas City, USA, prosecutors have charged five people with allegedly trafficking eight Russian students from Voronozh, Russia. The students were offered a student work program where they could earn up to US$10,000, but when they arrived they were allegedly held as virtual slaves, and forced to work as drivers for the Frosty Treats ice cream truck company. The students are said to have worked 13 hour days, and earned as little as 87 cents an hour. They were allegedly cut off from all forms of communication and threatened if they tried to leave. The students had paid $US 2,500 to come on the scheme. To read more about this and related subjects, please visit The Kansas City Channel by clicking here.