trafficking in persons report june 2003 trafficking in persons report june 2003

177 Pages·2003·4.52 MB·English

TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS REPORT
JUNE 2003
TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION ACT OF 2000
Dear Reader:
The Annual Trafficking in Persons Report is about modern day slavery and slave trading.
It is appalling that in the twenty-first century hundreds of thousands of women, children,
and men made vulnerable by civil conflict, dire economic circumstances, natural disasters
or just their own desire for a better life are trafficked and exploited for the purposes of
sex or forced labor. The deprivation of a human being’s basic right to freedom is an
affront to the ideals of liberty and human dignity cherished by people around the world.
The President, members of Congress, and I share a commitment to end modern day
slavery. This report is an important diplomatic tool towards that goal. The report details
international and U.S. efforts to end trafficking in persons, to protect and help victims,
and prosecute those who treat people like commodities or keep them in slave-like condi-
tions. The report emphasizes the human side of trafficking through victim stories and
highlights innovative measures some countries are using to prevent trafficking in per-
sons, prosecute those who traffic in human misery, and protect those most vulnerable to
this transnational crime. The Department of Justice is issuing a report this Spring that
will assess the United States Government’s efforts to combat trafficking domestically.
This year, because of tough provisions in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000,
there is a cost for turning a blind eye to trafficking in persons. Some countries could
potentially lose some forms of U.S. aid if their anti-trafficking efforts do not significantly
improve between the issuance of this report and a sanction decision by later this autumn.
I hope that this report will be informative and lead countries to strengthen their efforts to
combat trafficking in persons. All of us can and must do better in this struggle for
human liberty and dignity.
Sincerely,
Colin L. Powell
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................5
Who Is Being Trafficked?....................................................................................6
Who Are the Traffickers?....................................................................................6
What is the Scope and Magnitude of the Problem? ..........................................7
Why is Trafficking Flourishing? ..........................................................................7
Poverty and Desire for a Better Life...........................................................7
Ignorance of Trafficking’s Consequences ..................................................7
Disruption of Societal Values ....................................................................8
Political and Economic Instability .............................................................8
Demand for Cheap Labor...........................................................................9
High Profits ...............................................................................................9
Low Risk ....................................................................................................9
The Toll of Trafficking ..............................................................................10
Trafficking Is A Human Rights Violation and A Crime .............................10
Trafficking Increases Social Breakdown ..................................................10
Trafficking Deprives Countries of Human Capital ...................................10
Trafficking Undermines Public Health .....................................................11
Trafficking Subverts Government Authority .............................................11
Trafficking Funds Illicit Activities, Organized Crime................................11
About the Report
Definition of Severe Forms of Trafficking Box ..........................................12
What the Report Is and Is Not .................................................................13
Why This Year’s Report is Different..........................................................13
How the Report is Used ...........................................................................14
Methodology ............................................................................................14
The Tiers ..................................................................................................15
Minimum Standards................................................................................15
Penalties .................................................................................................16
Tier Movement .........................................................................................16
Areas for Improvement ............................................................................17
II. INTERNATIONAL LOW-COST BEST PRACTICES .........................................................18
III. TIER PLACEMENTS.................................................................................................21
IV. COUNTRY NARRATIVES...........................................................................................22
V. SPECIAL CASES ...................................................................................................165
VI. USG EFFORTS ......................................................................................................169
VII. RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS–MATRIX ...............................................172
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These women from
Southeastern Europe
were found during a
raid of a night club
after the police raid-
ed the club in search
of trafficking victims.
INTRODUCTION
trafficker recruited Nina, a 19-year-old from southeastern
AEurope, to work as a waitress, but then raped, beat, and
drugged her, forcing her into prostitution. After a daring escape, her
trafficker hunted her down and kidnapped her. Taken into custody during a
police raid, Nina agreed to be a witness against her trafficker. The police
officer assigned to protect her gave away her location and her trafficker
threatened her life. At the trial, she was forced to sit next to her traffickers
and was insulted and humiliated by the judge and defense counsel. Her
pimps were found guilty but released on appeal. For her own survival, Nina
has fled to another country and assumed a new identity.
AS UNIMAGINABLE AS IT SEEMS, SLAVERY situations of forced labor and sexual slavery
and bondage still persist in the early twenty- with virtually no risk of prosecution. The
first century. Millions of people around the traffickers also exploit lack of political will
world still suffer in silence in slave-like sit- by governments to tackle trafficking and its
uations of forced labor and commercial sex- root causes. Corruption, weak inter-agency
ual exploitation from which they cannot free coordination, and low funding levels for min-
themselves. Trafficking in persons is one of istries tasked with prosecuting traffickers,
the greatest human rights challenges of our preventing trafficking, and protecting victims
time. It is, as the International Labour also enable traffickers to continue their oper-
Organization (ILO) points out, the “under- ations. The transnational criminal nature of
side of globalization.” trafficking also overwhelms many countries’
Human trafficking not only continues but law enforcement agencies, which are not
appears to be on the rise worldwide. Many equipped to fight organized criminal net-
nations are touched by it in some way, serv- works that operate across national boundaries
ing as source, transit, and destination coun- with impunity.
tries where human beings are
procured, transported, and A young 10 year old boy
enslaved through forced labor or shows his badly scarred
forearm at his home vil-
forced sexual exploitation.
lage in South Asia. He
Traffickers exploit the aspira- was bitten by a camel
tions of those living in poverty after being abducted and
and those seeking better lives. trafficked to a Near
Eastern country four years
They use dramatic improve-
ago and forced to work as
ments in transportation and
a camel jockey.
communications to sell men,
women, and children into
5
UZMA WAS TRAF-
FICKED FROM SOUTH This young girl was kid-
ASIA to a Middle napped, raped at gun-
Eastern country to point, and tortured by a
work as a domestic. rebel group in Eastern
Her employer took Africa. Her father and
her papers, beat her brother were murdered
regularly, and gave by the rebels and her
her little food. Male four sisters abducted.
relatives began sexu- Some rebel groups have
ally abusing her and been known to abduct
then took her to African women and
hotels, forcing her to girls to use them for
have sex with up to servants and sex slaves.
ten men over the
course of a few days.
She was locked in the
house and never
paid. She escaped
when a young boy opened the door. She the language and unfamiliar with the culture.
was picked up by police, who ordered Most importantly, the victims lose their sup-
her employers to send her back to her port network of family and friends, thus
country. The employers sent her back, making them more vulnerable to the traffick-
but only after three more days of prosti- ers’ demands and threats.
tuting her.
MERCY ESCAPED HER SLAVERS LAST YEAR.
Who Is Being Trafficked? Women, children Like many West African women smug-
and men are trafficked into the international gled or lured into Italy with the promise
sex trade and into forced labor situations of jobs, Mercy was forced into prostitu-
throughout the world. Women are lured by tion to earn her freedom. She was able
promises of employment as shopkeepers, to escape with the assistance of a reli-
maids, seamstresses, nannies, or waitresses gious order. Escape did not end her
but then find themselves forced into prostitu- nightmare. Three weeks after speaking
tion upon arrival to their destination. Many publicly to human rights groups about
victims are unaware that their travel docu- her experience, her sister was reported
ments will be seized, they will have to repay dead in Florence, true to the threats
an enormous debt, or that they will be sub- made by her former captors.
ject to brutal beatings if their earnings are
unsatisfactory. These victims do not know Who Are the Traffickers and How Do They
how to escape the violence or where to go Recruit Individuals? Traffickers use threats,
for help. The victims generally avoid author- intimidation and violence to force victims
ities out of fear of being jailed or deported, to engage in sex acts or to labor under con-
especially if they have fraudulent documents. ditions comparable to slavery for the traf-
Traffickers often move victims from their fickers’ financial gain. Traffickers may be
home communities to other areas—within freelancers or members of organized crimi-
their country or to foreign countries—where nal networks. They may recruit and find
the victim is often isolated, unable to speak potential victims through advertisements in
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local newspapers offering good jobs at high estimate includes men, women, and chil-
pay in exciting cities or use fraudulent trav- dren trafficked into forced labor and sexual
el, modeling and matchmaking agencies to exploitation as defined in the Trafficking
lure unsuspecting young men and women Victims Protection Act of 2000. This esti-
into trafficking schemes. A trafficker may mate does not include internal trafficking.
be a family friend or someone well-known The new figures were generated from a
within the community who is able to con- database that examined reports of specific
vince the families that their children will be trafficking incidents, counts of repatriated
safer and better taken care of in a new victims, estimates for victims worldwide,
place. Traffickers often mislead parents and victim demographics derived from
into believing that their children will be analysis of information from press, govern-
taught a useful skill or trade—but the chil- ments, non-governmental and international
dren end up enslaved in small shops, on organizations, and academic reports from
farms, or in domestic servitude. Traffickers 2000 to the present.
also promise parents that they will marry
their daughters—but the girls are forced Why Is Trafficking Flourishing?
into prostitution. Traffickers also kidnap Poverty and Desire for a Better Life.
and abduct victims. Traffickers exploit impoverished and vulnera-
ble individuals seeking a better life. In coun-
What Is the Scope and Magnitude of the tries with chronic unemployment, widespread
Problem? No country is immune from traf- poverty or a lack of economic opportunities,
ficking. A recent U.S. Government estimate traffickers use promises of higher wages and
indicates that approximately 800,000- good working conditions in foreign countries
900,000 people annually are trafficked to lure individuals into their schemes. Many
across international borders worldwide and times the individuals have jobs or advanced
between 18,000 and 20,000 of those victims degrees but believe the traffickers’ promises
are trafficked into the United States. This because they want better lives.
Ignorance of Trafficking’s
A young Southeast Consequences. Most fami-
Asian girl cries on lies and victims are unaware
the back of a police of the dangers of trafficking
truck after being because of the “success sto-
convicted of illegal ries”, displays of wealth, or
entry. She was one remittances back to villages
of 14 young prosti- from relatives working
tutes, who social abroad or in urban areas that
workers claim were provide powerful incentives
trafficked into the for others to migrate for
commercial sex trade work. The negative conse-
against their will. quences of trafficking and
horror stories do not often
enough trickle back to rural
areas or at-risk populations.
Trafficking victims are often
ashamed or afraid to return
home if they have not made
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good money, have not
fulfilled the terms of the
This seven-year-old
working arrangements
boy washes tea
imposed by traffickers,
glasses in South
have contracted a sexual-
Asia. Child workers,
ly transmitted disease or
many of whom are
have lost social status.
trafficked, are seen
in nearly every
Disruption of Societal
industry from carpet
Values. Greed and the
weaving to candy
widespread subjugation
factories. Police also
of women in much of
report that boys are
the world facilitate traf-
being driven into
ficking. Poor countries
prostitution.
have been flooded with
images of wealth and
prosperity beamed in
through television or
radio and lavish displays
of wealth send powerful
messages to impover-
ished citizens about the
benefits of material acquisition. More often rebels killed him. Jonah is now four-
than not, an “ends justifies the means” teen, the civil war is over, and he lives
rationale has taken root within communities in the streets hawking goods because he
to legitimize the source of the wealth, has nowhere else to go.
regardless of how acquired. The low status
of women and girls in some societies con- Political and Economic Instability. Areas
tributes to the growing trafficking industry of conflict and post-conflict as well as tran-
since female lives are not as highly valued sitioning states are easy targets for those
as those of men and boys. Often, ethnic interested in plundering a country’s
minorities or lower class groups are more resources, including exploitation of its peo-
vulnerable to trafficking. In some societies, ple. Sudden political change, economic
the practice of entrusting poor children to collapse, civil unrest, internal armed con-
more affluent relatives may lead to abusive flict, and natural disasters greatly increase
and exploitative situations. the likelihood that a country will become a
source of trafficking victims as displaced
THE REBELS CAME TO JONAH’S VILLAGE populations are highly vulnerable to
in Sierra Leone when he was 10 years exploitation, abuse, and trafficking. In
old. Jonah’s mother refused to go with these environments, the victims may be one
the rebels and was raped and killed. of the few resources of marketable wealth.
Jonah and the other children were Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and
forced to walk days without food while children have been exploited in armed con-
carrying heavy supplies. When they flict zones, where government militaries
reached the rebel camp, they were and rebel commanders profit from the serv-
trained to kill and taught to loot vil- ices of child soldiers, porters, and sex
lages. His friend tried to escape but the slaves, and in post-conflict and transitioning
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states where organized criminal groups High Profits. Modern-day slavery also
often fill power vacuums created by war, thrives because of its profitability. United
political change, and economic upheaval. Nations estimates indicate that trafficking
in persons generates $7 to 10 billion annu-
AN EMPLOYMENT AGENCY HELPED ally for traffickers. Human cargo can often
SUTINAH migrate within Southeast Asia be moved across borders and past immigra-
to work as a domestic. Upon arrival, her tion officials easier than narcotics or
documents were seized and she was told weapons caches, which are often seized
by the recruiting agency she had to work when found. Trafficking victims, even if
off a severely inflated debt. Her employ- caught, can be re-trafficked. Traffickers
er beat her, burned her with a hot iron, can make additional money off victims by
and refused to pay her. Unaware of her re-selling them to another employer after
rights, fearful she would never get paid their often-inflated debt is paid. Traffickers
if she complained, and knowing that if may earn a few hundred to thousands of
she left her employer she would have dollars for a trafficked child laborer and
only two weeks to find another job brothel owners may make a few thousand to
before being deported, Sutinah endured tens of thousands of dollars for each
the situation for three years. She even- woman forced into prostitution.
tually escaped this exploitation with the
assistance of a workers union. Low Risk. Traffickers often go unpunished
for their crimes where there is little rule of
Demand for Cheap Labor. Changes in for- law, lack of enforcement of existing anti-
mal and informal economies have increased trafficking laws, and corruption of law
the global demand for cheap and malleable enforcement institutions. Cases regularly
labor in many areas of the world. In many fall apart due to a lack of protection for wit-
countries, development patterns and imbal- nesses, family involvement in sending a son
ances between labor supply and the avail- or daughter away, or fear of deportation.
ability of legal work have created the Victims of trafficking are afraid of retalia-
demand for highly mobile workers to fulfill tion from the traffickers, recrimination with-
low-skill and service sector jobs. Lack of in their families and villages, and in cases of
employment and educational opportunities trafficking for sexual exploitation, the stig-
in villages or poor urban areas create a ma of prostitution. Governments and rebels
ready pool of vulnerable workers. are rarely held responsible for the forcible
These workers sew at a
maquila, or sweatshop in
Central America. Many
Central Americans have
been trafficked into forced
labor situations, including
sweatshops, where they
toil under harsh conditions
of indentured servitude.
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