A 22 year old Romanian woman living in Malta has appeared in court on charges of human trafficking. It is alleged that Simona Ortansa Bostan trafficked people under the age of 21 into forced prostitution and conspired with others to do so during the month of November. The woman has pleaded not guilty and the case is continuing.
Malta has often been identified as a transit country for illegal immigration from Africa into Europe, but it is now emerging that human trafficking, which is the process by which people are deceived or forced to go to another place where they end in a situation of slavery either by forced labour, forced prostitution or forced begging, is also occurring on the island. To read more about this and related subjects, please visit The Malta Independent Online by clicking here.

The European Union and the United Nations Development Plan have agreed to jointly fund efforts by the police in Bangladesh to combat human trafficking, a crime which is rife in the country. Ambassador Stefan Frowein, Head of the Delegation from the Commission of the European Union said;
“I am delighted that the European Commission and UNDP are working together to tackle human trafficking. It is a crime that has destroyed the lives of countless women and children in Bangladesh. The police force is in the front-line of efforts to fight trafficking and it is therefore vital that the police are well-resourced and well-trained in this field. This project with the UNDP will contribute to ensuring that this is the case,”
The project will include the funding of research, effective prosecution, and victim support. To read more about this and related subjects, please visit AHN by clicking here.

In a recent police action against street prostitution in Oakland, USA, police made 48 arrests including 8 minors who were working as prostitutes. The police claim that it is organised human trafficking rings which are behind the rise in child prostitution in this area of California. Police are finding that one in ten prostitutes are underage with some as young as 12 years old.  One mother of a victim complained that her daughter needed help rather than experience arrest, “She’s been raped, how was she supposed to act? No one has come to help her, she’s being held here, sitting in a cell.”
There is a human trafficking ring running from Sacramento to Oakland and the local police are now having to use federal money to try to combat it, so serious is the problem. To read more about this and related subjects, please visit ABC7news by clicking here.

The Law Society of Kenya has said that the lack of adequate legislation covering human trafficking in the country has lead to Kenyans becoming easy prey for traffickers. According to the US State Department Trafficking in Persons report 2006, Kenya is a “ source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for
forced labor and sexual exploitation. Kenyan children are trafficked within the country for domestic servitude, street vending, agricultural labor, and sexual exploitation, including the coastal sex tourism industry.” Kenyan adults are also trafficked abroad into sexual exploitation and forced labour, as well as people being trafficked into the country to be exploited.
Jane Kamangu, an advocate with the Law Society of Kenya said;
“Kenyans should not vote for MPs who do not want to implement the human trafficking laws,”
For more on this and related subjects, please visit allafrica.com by clicking here.

US company Trans Bay Steel, of California, has agreed to pay an estimated $1 million to 48 Thai workers who the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claims were exploited. It is alleged that their travel documents taken were taken, their movements were restricted and their pay was withheld. The company denies that they broke the law, claiming rather that they were defrauded by the employment agencies Kota Manpower Co. and Hi Cap Enterprises who, they allege, were implicated in trafficking the men. While denying blame, the company said that “they feel they need to step up and accept the responsibility of trying to help the people who were damaged.” The terms of the agreement mean that the workers will receive financial compensation, the right to continue to work for the company, vocational training, housing and sponsorship to stay in the US. To read more about this and related stories, please visit Business Legal Reports by clicking here.