By JOHN C. BERSIA
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Of all the voiceless people on Earth, I can think of few more unfortunate than the multitudes - mostly women and children - who toil as modern-day slaves. They typically suffer cruelty, deprivation of their rights and unspeakable living conditions. And they face only two certainties, both unpleasant: that they will wake up tomorrow to more of the same or die.
Along the way, some - such as Somaly Mam (http://www.somaly.org/), a Cambodian human-rights activist who was sold into brothel slavery as a child - essentially die inside. Mam is one of the lucky ones, however, for she managed to escape her tormentors and move to another continent. Others like her who are orphaned as children and shunned easily slip into slavery's shadowy grip and accept their fate. In a perverse sort of way, they have a place, are welcome and find companionship. But their place is grim, their welcome good only so long as they obey and their companionship for sale to customers from around the world.
For a while, Mam reveled in her new, safe life. But she could not ignore a nagging impulse deep inside her being. It quickly crescendoed, pulling her back to the land where she had experienced no peace, privacy or personal dignity. She knew how many thousands of Cambodians - and millions of others around the world - lived in misery, whether in brothels or in similar conditions of forced servitude. Her hapless compatriots needed a voice. They needed an inspiration. They needed a champion.
It was no easy task. Mam found herself confronting both tradition and the indifference of too many, thereby guaranteeing opposition and danger. Still, she proceeded with her work, rescuing women and girls, offering shelter, and providing training and other assistance. Her former abusers, angered and indignant that someone - especially a former victim - would dare stand against them, struck back with all the nastiness that craven minds can muster. They issued insults and death threats, burned Mam's home and, worst of all, kidnapped and brutalized her teenage daughter.
Yet Mam was unfazed. When you have already died inside, she says, there is nothing left to kill. Thus, she and her supporters have persisted, rescuing hundreds of Cambodians from slavery each year - for a total of more than 6,000 to date.
Some critics question such tactics, pointing out that recovery is difficult for many freed slaves. Besides, they argue, the results are at best mixed because of the absence of reliable systems of law enforcement and criminal justice, which is part of the problem. Further, there is a large and easily accessible supply of replacements; for every woman or girl who breaks free, another can be taken.
Mam acknowledges that not all of the rescued slaves recover and reenter the mainstream. Some cannot cope and take their own lives. Others return to the brothels. But most revel in and take full advantage of their freedom, as Mam herself did.
Of course, activists such as Mam and her kindred spirits in other countries operate at a severe disadvantage. They are still building their anti-slavery campaigns and have modest resources, whereas the traffickers are well-organized and amply financed. The global recession, which has helped drive the average price of a slave well below $100, also rises against them.
Thankfully, the abolitionists are not discouraged. They need and deserve armies of supporters and sympathizers, as well as the help of governments and international organizations. If the effort were global, persistent and decisive - with the goal of eradicating human trafficking within a generation - then the slaves of Cambodia and other countries would finally wake up to a less-desperate reality.
ABOUT THE WRITER
John C. Bersia, who won a Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing for the Orlando Sentinel in 2000, is the special assistant to the president for global perspectives at the University of Central Florida. Readers may send him e-mail at johncbersia@msn.com.
Along the way, some - such as Somaly Mam (http://www.somaly.org/), a Cambodian human-rights activist who was sold into brothel slavery as a child - essentially die inside. Mam is one of the lucky ones, however, for she managed to escape her tormentors and move to another continent. Others like her who are orphaned as children and shunned easily slip into slavery's shadowy grip and accept their fate. In a perverse sort of way, they have a place, are welcome and find companionship. But their place is grim, their welcome good only so long as they obey and their companionship for sale to customers from around the world.
For a while, Mam reveled in her new, safe life. But she could not ignore a nagging impulse deep inside her being. It quickly crescendoed, pulling her back to the land where she had experienced no peace, privacy or personal dignity. She knew how many thousands of Cambodians - and millions of others around the world - lived in misery, whether in brothels or in similar conditions of forced servitude. Her hapless compatriots needed a voice. They needed an inspiration. They needed a champion.
It was no easy task. Mam found herself confronting both tradition and the indifference of too many, thereby guaranteeing opposition and danger. Still, she proceeded with her work, rescuing women and girls, offering shelter, and providing training and other assistance. Her former abusers, angered and indignant that someone - especially a former victim - would dare stand against them, struck back with all the nastiness that craven minds can muster. They issued insults and death threats, burned Mam's home and, worst of all, kidnapped and brutalized her teenage daughter.
Yet Mam was unfazed. When you have already died inside, she says, there is nothing left to kill. Thus, she and her supporters have persisted, rescuing hundreds of Cambodians from slavery each year - for a total of more than 6,000 to date.
Some critics question such tactics, pointing out that recovery is difficult for many freed slaves. Besides, they argue, the results are at best mixed because of the absence of reliable systems of law enforcement and criminal justice, which is part of the problem. Further, there is a large and easily accessible supply of replacements; for every woman or girl who breaks free, another can be taken.
Mam acknowledges that not all of the rescued slaves recover and reenter the mainstream. Some cannot cope and take their own lives. Others return to the brothels. But most revel in and take full advantage of their freedom, as Mam herself did.
Of course, activists such as Mam and her kindred spirits in other countries operate at a severe disadvantage. They are still building their anti-slavery campaigns and have modest resources, whereas the traffickers are well-organized and amply financed. The global recession, which has helped drive the average price of a slave well below $100, also rises against them.
Thankfully, the abolitionists are not discouraged. They need and deserve armies of supporters and sympathizers, as well as the help of governments and international organizations. If the effort were global, persistent and decisive - with the goal of eradicating human trafficking within a generation - then the slaves of Cambodia and other countries would finally wake up to a less-desperate reality.
ABOUT THE WRITER
John C. Bersia, who won a Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing for the Orlando Sentinel in 2000, is the special assistant to the president for global perspectives at the University of Central Florida. Readers may send him e-mail at johncbersia@msn.com.
2 comments:
I believe that this article is most accurate about the current situation about Cambodia. I too know of Hun Sen evil sins. He murdered people during the Khmer Rouge era. HUN SEN stage A SCHEME TO KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE TO ANGER BOTH HANOI AND POL POT to fight each other so he can use them both to gain power.
I believe that someday HUN SEN will be put to KR TRIAL. MY PARENTS KNOW WHAT YOU HENG SAMRIN AND HUN SEN DID IN 1979. THAT WHY WE RAN AWAY. MASS MURDERERS AS MOST KNOW HE tell people me HUN SEN GOOD, BUT ONLY FOR YOUR MONEY AND WIFES PANTS.
ALSO HUN SEN WAS PEEPING TOM AT A GIRLS TAKING BATH THATS WHY HIS EYE WAS POKED BY KHMER ROUGE LEADERS AND HE EXAGGERATED THE STORY PORTRAYING HERO AND ALL.
Our gov't needs to be more focus on unity, team work, collaboration and as well as learn to ignore from all personal conflicts otherwise it will slow down us in term of community building processes. At the sometime, we don't want other races to take advantage of us because we are too busy fighting with one another. Therefore please, promote unity, love, compassion, share and respect among each other. This is the only way to run the country. Everyone is existed for a purpose, so, accept them all as one. I would like to make a request to all of our Khmer editors to call upon all leaders to come together as one and to discuss about what else need to be done, especially about “national security”.....Aust
Post a Comment