Cracking down on human trafficking

From: Subject: Cracking down on human trafficking Date: Wed, 3 May 2006 18:39:09 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C66EE0.DD4A94E0" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2869 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C66EE0.DD4A94E0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/bc.cgi?bc/bccn/0406/01cracking Cracking down on human trafficking

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Cracking = down on=20 human trafficking=20

Altered for security reasons, this = image=20 depicts several young victims of human trafficking. = They are=20 seen in the doorway of a brothel in South Asia, during = a=20 rescue operation conducted by International Justice = Mission.=20 Photo copyright: International Justice=20 Mission.

By Steve Weatherbe=20

WHEN Vancouverite Donald Bakker pleaded guilty to 10 = counts of=20 sexual assault - seven of them under Canada's hitherto = untested sex=20 tourism law - much of the credit was due to a heroic group = of=20 Christian undercover investigators, who secretly tracked = down his=20 underaged victims and videotaped the Cambodian brothels = where Bakker=20 committed his assaults.=20

Donald = Bakker
But British=20 Columbian men don't have to fly to Indochina for sex. A huge = criminal enterprise has enveloped the globe, designed to = deliver=20 women and children to the customer's door. Most are illegal=20 immigrants duped with the promise of jobs as restaurant = workers,=20 janitors or maids.=20

The RCMP estimates 600 women and children are brought = into Canada=20 yearly, mostly to slake the sexual appetites of Canadian = men; while=20 1,500 more are brought through Canada to the United States.=20

As recently as 2004, these victims of what is known as = human=20 trafficking were treated by B.C. law enforcers as criminals = and=20 deported, in violation of an international treaty.=20

But now the RCMP's border integrity unit is close to = establishing=20 a victim protection program which will not only allow the = women to=20 stay, but will provide opportunities to train, to work and = to=20 immigrate.=20

"If we send them back, we are sending them to be = re-trafficked,"=20 says RCMP spokesman Corporal Normand Massie. "But if we want = them to=20 stay in Canada, we've got to rehabilitate them."=20

To keep seven women involved in still-unresolved = prosecutions in=20 this country, the RCMP had to secure agreements from a host = of=20 federal, provincial and non governmental agencies, providing = everything from health care to visas, training and housing. = Two of=20 the women are witnesses against Wai Chi Ng, the first man = charged=20 with human trafficking under the Immigration and Refugee = Protection=20 Act; Ng is currently on trial in B.C.=20

Now in the works - and nearly ready - Massie announced = March 2,=20 is a set of agreements which will apply to all victims of = human=20 trafficking. Massie described it as part of a comprehensive = approach=20 of "prevention, protection and prosecution." It boils down = to this:=20 to make charges stick against the traffickers, and deter = future=20 offences, the police need the women's testimony. Deportation = won't=20 get it.=20

The RCMP is looking for help from doctors, nurses and = staff at=20 non-profit agencies, many of them faith-based, which provide = front-line care - and are therefore in a position to = identify=20 victims of human trafficking. They can help, says Massie, in = cases=20 involving "a woman who can't speak English who's been = assaulted, or=20 a man who brings a woman in with other health problems and = does all=20 the talking for her."=20

Church-based organizations have already offered housing = to the=20 RCMP. One of the more prominent ministries involved is the = Salvation=20 Army, which is part of an international consortium = campaigning=20 against human trafficking. Kevin Lowe, a Vancouver = spokesperson for=20 the Army, said the organization is a natural ally in the = police=20 program, because its social arm is the province's biggest = provider=20 of women's shelters.=20

But the organization which probably had the most to do = with the=20 RCMP announcement - or at least with its timing - is the = Future=20 Group. The organization is a non-religious group devoted to = fighting=20 against human trafficking, which was founded by = Calgary-based=20 Christian law student Ben Perrin.=20

On the very day the RCMP issued its press release about = its=20 nearly-ready program, the Future Group released its 'Falling = Short=20 of the Mark' report condemning the Canadian government for = its=20 failure to protect the victims of human trafficking, and = immigration=20 officials for deporting them.=20

"The situation in Canada is so bad," said the report, = "with=20 respect to a failure to provide basic support to trafficking = victims, that individual law officers are attempting to = approach=20 local hospitals and NGOs to cobble together funding to = provide the=20 most basic medical assistance."=20

In B.C. at least, the RCMP announcement knocked the = Future=20 Group's report right out of the headlines; it was mentioned = in one=20 RCMP story - in paragraph 11.=20

Elsewhere, Canadians read that Canada was rated last = among=20 developed countries the Future Group surveyed for its = treatment of=20 victims. As well, said the report, cabinet ministers in the = Liberal=20 government had avoided all questions from the Future Group = since=20 late 2004 about its compliance with an international treaty = it=20 signed to protect victims.=20

However, Perrin told BC Christian News he was "very = encouraged"=20 with the new Conservative government's reaction to the = report.=20

Perrin, a member of Calgary's Bethany Chapel, said the = Future=20 Group originated around a post-graduation campfire in = Ontario a few=20 years ago - where he expressed the desire to make a = difference in=20 the world, and others challenged him to do something.=20

Operating on a shoestring budget of $50,000 per year, = raised from=20 church bake sales and similar fundraisers, the Future Group = has sent=20 unpaid research and education teams to Thailand and Cameroon = to help=20 local communities protect their members from traffickers = promising=20 legitimate jobs in the developed world or elsewhere in = Southeast=20 Asia.=20

Asked about the fate of women lured into the = international sex=20 trade, Perrin said: "They are thrown out like garbage when = they are=20 too old or sick." In Cambodia alone, he added, there are = tens of=20 thousands - and only 100 recovery beds.=20

Perrin said Christians and Christian organizations should = get=20 involved, "because it is our duty to alleviate suffering, = and to=20 fight evil."=20

Even more directly involved than the Future Group is the=20 International Justice Mission - which sends undercover=20 investigators, mostly retired police, into brothels around = the=20 world.=20

"They videotape the madams and pimps, they show the = police taking=20 bribes," said Jamie McIntosh, executive director of IJM's = Canadian=20 branch. "It's very dangerous work."=20

After police arrested Vancouver hotel worker Donald = Bakker in=20 2004, emerging from a Vancouver park with a prostitute in = tow, they=20 found in his home pictures of him having sex with minors in = a=20 Southeast Asian locale.=20

Without more evidence, however, the police were unable to = charge=20 Bakker under new provisions against traveling abroad for sex = with=20 minors.=20

They liaised with IJM operatives in Cambodia - who, = within weeks,=20 had identified the brothels and located several of the girls = involved. IJM had, it turned out, rescued them among 37 = minors set=20 free in a massive 2003 operation which brought convictions = against=20 13 pimps, madams and police on the take - one of the group's = big=20 successes.=20

With the ironclad evidence from IJM, Vancouver police = were able=20 to persuade Bakker to plead guilty.=20

The two cases, Ng and Bakker, stand in stark contrast to = the=20 record of the American government, which the Future Group = rated=20 highly. Since 2001, president George W. Bush announced March = 16, the=20 U.S. has charged 100 traffickers.=20

He estimated that at least 14,500 victims of trafficking = cross=20 U.S. borders annually. "This trade in human beings brings = suffering=20 to the innocent and shame to our country, and we will lead = the fight=20 against it" he said.=20

Bush also announced $25 million in new funding to fight = human=20 trafficking worldwide, and reminded his audience of the $295 = million=20 already spent since he took office.=20

McIntosh identified several ways Christians could support = IJM,=20 apart from funding. "We covet your prayers," he said. As = well,=20 Christians can lobby governments to pass tougher laws and, = even more=20 importantly, to provide the resources and the will power to = enforce=20 them.=20

Christians, McIntosh stressed, "led the fight against = slavery in=20 the past - and should do so again."

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