UK: gangmasters raided by Kent police
Felicity Lawrence joins police as they raid the Kent property of a gangmaster company, which later had its licence revoked. The raid was part of an operation that freed more than 30 Lithuanian workers, allegedly victims of trafficking. They were used by poultry farms in a chain that supplied premium free range eggs to companies including McDonald’s, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Freedom Food (via guardian.co.uk)
UK: human trafficking - ‘It can happen to anyone if you’re desperate
Mike was a personal trainer until the recession cost him his job. He ended up homeless, and took up the offer of work with lodgings. Gradually, he realised he was a victim of human trafficking. He was paid £20 a week and he could not flee for fear of violence. Here, Mike tells his story for the first time (via guardian.co.uk)
Around 100 street beggars remain in Finland
Around 100 street beggars from Romania and Bulgaria have remained in Finland for the winter. They have found shelter in overcrowded one-room apartments and on the streets as no new camp has been constructed. The National Bureau of investigation says some of the Romania Roma may be here against their will. However, claims of human trafficking are not being followed up as the Roma remain tight lipped.
Those working among the Romanian roma say that most of them stay overnight in small apartments housing dozens of people. In Vantaa, one person has given shelter to around ten people.
Each of them presents harrowing tales of difficult and poor conditions back home, and of their poor state of health. Thanks to the Helsinki Deaconess Institute, they are able to receive medical attention. At a day centre in the Sörnäinen district of Helsinki, the street beggars can wash, cook and rest.
All say they beg money to help their children back home. It has cost them between 150 and 300 euros to get to Finland, they claim.
According to the National Board of Investigation (NBI), over ten people were convicted in Romania for human trafficking last year. They had brought people to Finland and forced them to beg, play in the street, steal or work on building sites for low wages. The NBI took part in the investigations.
Since last summer, investigations have not continued. Romanian’s living in Helsinki say they have not heard of cases of human trafficking. (via YLE Uutiset)
Bucharest, Romania
Students dressed as caged brides attend an event to raise awareness to the risks of human trafficking and sexual exploitation faced by young girls lured by the prospect of a better paying job abroad (via Telegraph)
Speaking in a debate in the European Parliament on the Roma community in member states, Catherine Bearder choose to remind the Commission of the scale of human trafficking that exists within the community and that this cannot be tackled until they are fully welcomed into the European family.
Catherine’s speech was: ”I want to draw attention to the topic of human trafficking within the Roma Community.
The poverty of the Roma and the fact that they are marginalised, directly feed into the trafficking of large numbers of their population around Europe.
This begins a cycle of crime that continues with trafficked victims used for crimes ranging from pick-pocketing, prostitution and large-scale benefit fraud.
The scale of this problem was highlighted by the EU Joint Investigation, Operation Golf. A raid on just ONE Roma village last year saw the arrest of 26 people responsible for the trafficking of 272 Roma children - from just one village!
The sooner the Roma community are accepted and welcomed fully into their communities and given opportunities to become financial participants in society, the sooner they will be able to resist the predatory behaviour of the gangs that traffic them. The EU has much to do and a duty to ensure their rights are upheld.”
(source: Catherine Bearder MEP)
(via aj-rromale)
Netherlands: Amsterdam’s Red Light District gets new profile
Amsterdam City Council plans to shake up texts about the capital’s famous Red Light District on a number of tourist websites.
Christian Democrat councillors have complained that the descriptions lay too much emphasis on how exciting the area is, with attractions such as its legal prostitution and sex shops.
They want attention to be paid to the negative aspects of the sex industry, including abuses such as people trafficking and exploitation. They also want more said about the neighbourhood’s historical character.
Amsterdam council has been attempting to crack down on the abuses taking place in the Red Light District for some years. (via Radio Netherlands Worldwide)
Big Sister Watches Buyers of Prostitution in Iceland
A new underground movement called “Stóra systir” (Big Sister) has handed over a list to the Reykjavík Metropolitan Police containing 56 names, 117 telephone numbers and 29 emails of men who expressed interest in purchasing the services of prostitutes through the websites einkamal.is, mypurplerabbit.com, raudatorgid.is and classified ads offering “massages” in daily newspaper Fréttabladid.
The movement made its intention known, that Icelandic legislation on prostitution and human trafficking are followed (where the buyer of prostitution but not the prostitute can be prosecuted), at a press conference at Idnó in Reykjavík yesterday where its spokespersons wore cloaks, hoods and masks to remain anonymous, Morgunbladid reports.
The Big Sisters said the list is the result of three weeks of investigative work. They decided to take matters into their own hands after police authorities claimed they neither had the funds nor the manpower to fight prostitution which they conclude is clearly thriving in Iceland in spite of it being illegal. (via Iceland Review)
UK: ‘Slaves’ freed from caravan site
Twenty-four men believed to have been held against their will and forced to work have been freed from a caravan site in Bedfordshire.
Five people on the site, in Leighton Buzzard, have been arrested under suspicion of keeping 24 men from England, Romania and Poland as slaves in “filthy and cramped” conditions, police said. Four men and a woman were arrested after a long-running investigation by Bedfordshire police.
Officers believe a number of people were being held against their will – some for as long as 15 years – and being forced to live in squalid conditions and work for no pay at the Greenacre caravan site.
More than 200 officers raided the site at 5.30am on Sunday, releasing the 24 men, who were taken to a medical centre.
Dog-handling officers, helicopter and firearms support units were on hand to execute search warrants. The four arrests were made under the Slavery and Servitude Act 2010, and the suspects held at police stations across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. (via The Guardian)
The Cathedral of the Annunciation in Moscow by marantzer on Flickr.
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