Global human trafficking roundup (April 27, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Hawaii: An anti-human trafficking bill passed its conference committee. The new bill, if implemented, will criminalize labor trafficking in Hawaii. According to the report, the bill may well be on its way to the governor's desk for his signature after the final reading at House. Hawaii reminds as one of the four states with no comprehensive anti-human trafficking legislation.

New York: Hilton Worldwide signs a tourism Code of Conduct to combat child trafficking and sexual exploitation. Though thousands of hotel industries signed the Code worldwide, Hilton worldwide is only the fourth U.S. company to agree to work with ECPAT-USA.

EUROPE

Czech Republic: Authorities announced that the number of human trafficking cases has increased over the past. The authorities uncovered 24 cases in 2010, an increase from seven in 2009. Also, police rescued 76 victims last year, up from 42 victims in 2009. In particular, the report notes that victims of labor exploitation include Mongolians, Romanians, Bulgarians, and Vietnamese.

ASIA

Tonga: The court made the first conviction in a human trafficking case. A Chinese national was convicted of multiple charges, including human trafficking, keeping a brothel, and running a prostitution ring. The Chinese national is facing maximum penalty of 25 year jail sentence.

India: A former cricketer was charged with human trafficking on Wednesday. According to the report, he allegedly trafficked Indian children to UK with a promise of allowing them to play cricket abroad. He also collected money from the children. Police however discovered that he was traveling with a forged passport, and the cricket team he claimed does not exist.

Malaysia: Law enforcement made over 700 arrests up until March this year. They also rescued 50 women, 55 men, and 23 children during the same period.

Azerbaijan: Authority announced that three women are charged in connection with three human trafficking cases. One woman was charged with trafficking other women for sexual exploitation in UAE, and the other two women were charged with sex trafficking young females to Turkey.

Global human trafficking roundup (March 2, 2011)

NORTH AMERICA

Canada: A sex trafficking case involving two Fijian women failed to fall through after the prosecutor couldn't locate two key witnesses. The two women came to Canada to find a better job opportunity, but ended up being forced into prostitution at a massage parlor. They were rescued after the police raided the parlor. However, because of lack of key witnesses available, the prosecution had to drop multiple charges against the alleged trafficker, including human trafficking, unlawful confinement, etc.

Iowa: A special agent says that sex trafficking is a problem in Iowa. He said that since Craigslist was censored, the traffickers moved their venues to other sites to carry out online prostitution. Many victims do not realize that they were in sex slavery because of pimps' manipulation. Also, pimps recruit many young people from Iowa City.

EUROPE

Azerbaijan: The national authority reports that 70 out of 183 criminal cases were related to human trafficking. According to the report, there were 39 individuals who were prosecuted for human trafficking, and 34 victims were rescued.

ASIA

Qatar: A nonprofit in DOHA says that it received over 140 complaints from trafficking victims last year. The victims requested assistance for different needs including shelter and lodging, but many of them were asking for legal remedies against their traffickers. According to the advocates, Qatar is on the process of implementing an anti-human trafficking legislation.

The Philippines: The U.S. citizen was charged with child pornography and human trafficking. He allegedly videotaped seven topless women, including three minors. Police seized the camera and a battery pack that he used to record pornographic images of the women. The victims are currently taken into the shelters, and the man was denied on bail.

AFRICA

Uganda: A 58 year old witchdoctor was sentenced to 50 years in jail for trafficking a boy. He was convicted of kidnapping a seven year old boy and cutting off his genital with his three accomplice. The arrest was made after the boy identified him to the police before he lost his consciousness.