John Miller, State Department senior adviser on trafficking in persons, speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington after the release of the sixth annual State Department Trafficking in Persons Report.(AFP/Getty Images/Mark Wilson)WASHINGTON (AFP) - The shattered dream of an Indonesian domestic maid, who lost her fingers and toes, following torture by her employer in the Middle East is being used by the US State Department to illustrate the seriousness of the human trafficking problem.
Nour Miyatis dream was simple: To provide a brighter future for her nine-year old daughter back home.
But after working as a domestic for four years in the Middle East, her luck ran out as her new employer last year confined her in his house, denied her pay and tortured her.
Injuries she suffered to her hands and feet resulted in gangrene that required the amputation of her fingers and toes and prevented her from working anymore, the State Department said in its annual "Trafficking in Persons Report."
Human trafficking -- which refers to the transportation of persons for sexual exploitation, forced labour or other illicit activities -- threatens to stifle the livelihood of many Asian workers, the report warns.
"I met with Nour Miyati in Riyadh -- a victim of abuse, servitude and torture," John Miller, a senior advisor on trafficking issues at the State Department, told reporters.
The 290-page report was dedicated to the young Indonesian woman and many other foreign migrant workers "who pursued dreams but found hell on earth."
The report, which analyzed trafficking for forced labor, prostitution, military service and other purposes in about 150 countries, blacklists countries that do not take adequate action to stem human trafficking.
Many Asian governments are trying to stem the problem but are not doing enough, the report said.
In the East Asia and Pacific region, prosecutions and convictions of human traffickers have leaped rapidly.
But in South Asia, gauging the seriousness of the problem has become a difficulty due to lack of data from India, the biggest country in the region.
Prosecutions in East Asia ballooned to 2,580 cases in 2005 from a mere 438 cases the year earlier. Similarly, convictions last year jumped to 2,347 from only 348.
Laos this year joined North Korea and Myanmar among Asian nations in the State Department's "Tier 3" list of worst offenders of human trafficking.
Countries in the blacklist could face sanctions if they do not take immediate measures within 90 days.
Others in the blacklist were Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan, Belize, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Cuba.
Cambodia, as a result of stepped up efforts by the government to arrest, prosecute, and convict traffickers, climbed from Tier 3 to a special "Tier 2 watchlist," comprising nations making "significant" efforts to deal with the problem.
India and China have remained on the watchlist from previous years and could be relegated to Tier 3 if they do not take prompt action to tackle the problem, Miller warned.
"This has to be a source of concern," he said.
Miller said that while the Indian government had taken some steps to check sex trafficking, there was "lack of action" on "bonded labor slavery" in the vast nation.
"This is a situation where a grandfather may incur a debt from an employer, gets them to come to work at a rice mill or a brick kiln. The son then continues working to pay off the debt. The grandson continues working," he explained.
The victims were not allowed to leave the mill and those who bolted were tracked down and beaten, said Miller, who had also met with survivors of such a rice mill when he was in India recently.
"I could not find an example while I was there of one owner of such a rice mill or brick kiln that had gone to jail," he said, highlighting India's weak prosecution of offenders despite having a tough law.
China was cited in the report for "forced labor" involving largely North Korean refugees.
"Some are trafficked after they get to China. A lot of them are trafficked to be brides, filling this imbalance that comes from this one child policy," Miller said, adding he had raised the issue with Beijing.
Malaysia and Indonesia were relegated from "Tier 2" to the watchlist. "This is not good news," Miller stressed.
The two Southeast Asian nations were penalized for their alleged failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking.
Nour Miyatis dream was simple: To provide a brighter future for her nine-year old daughter back home.
But after working as a domestic for four years in the Middle East, her luck ran out as her new employer last year confined her in his house, denied her pay and tortured her.
Injuries she suffered to her hands and feet resulted in gangrene that required the amputation of her fingers and toes and prevented her from working anymore, the State Department said in its annual "Trafficking in Persons Report."
Human trafficking -- which refers to the transportation of persons for sexual exploitation, forced labour or other illicit activities -- threatens to stifle the livelihood of many Asian workers, the report warns.
"I met with Nour Miyati in Riyadh -- a victim of abuse, servitude and torture," John Miller, a senior advisor on trafficking issues at the State Department, told reporters.
The 290-page report was dedicated to the young Indonesian woman and many other foreign migrant workers "who pursued dreams but found hell on earth."
The report, which analyzed trafficking for forced labor, prostitution, military service and other purposes in about 150 countries, blacklists countries that do not take adequate action to stem human trafficking.
Many Asian governments are trying to stem the problem but are not doing enough, the report said.
In the East Asia and Pacific region, prosecutions and convictions of human traffickers have leaped rapidly.
But in South Asia, gauging the seriousness of the problem has become a difficulty due to lack of data from India, the biggest country in the region.
Prosecutions in East Asia ballooned to 2,580 cases in 2005 from a mere 438 cases the year earlier. Similarly, convictions last year jumped to 2,347 from only 348.
Laos this year joined North Korea and Myanmar among Asian nations in the State Department's "Tier 3" list of worst offenders of human trafficking.
Countries in the blacklist could face sanctions if they do not take immediate measures within 90 days.
Others in the blacklist were Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan, Belize, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Cuba.
Cambodia, as a result of stepped up efforts by the government to arrest, prosecute, and convict traffickers, climbed from Tier 3 to a special "Tier 2 watchlist," comprising nations making "significant" efforts to deal with the problem.
India and China have remained on the watchlist from previous years and could be relegated to Tier 3 if they do not take prompt action to tackle the problem, Miller warned.
"This has to be a source of concern," he said.
Miller said that while the Indian government had taken some steps to check sex trafficking, there was "lack of action" on "bonded labor slavery" in the vast nation.
"This is a situation where a grandfather may incur a debt from an employer, gets them to come to work at a rice mill or a brick kiln. The son then continues working to pay off the debt. The grandson continues working," he explained.
The victims were not allowed to leave the mill and those who bolted were tracked down and beaten, said Miller, who had also met with survivors of such a rice mill when he was in India recently.
"I could not find an example while I was there of one owner of such a rice mill or brick kiln that had gone to jail," he said, highlighting India's weak prosecution of offenders despite having a tough law.
China was cited in the report for "forced labor" involving largely North Korean refugees.
"Some are trafficked after they get to China. A lot of them are trafficked to be brides, filling this imbalance that comes from this one child policy," Miller said, adding he had raised the issue with Beijing.
Malaysia and Indonesia were relegated from "Tier 2" to the watchlist. "This is not good news," Miller stressed.
The two Southeast Asian nations were penalized for their alleged failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking.
1 comment:
The messages from John Miller a State Department senior adviser to Cambodian women to wanted desperately to make money to support their family by taking nanny job around the world. This is what could happen to all you women out there!
Post a Comment