The Asia Pacific region predominates in the numbers of victims of modern slavery. The region had 55 percent of the victims of forced marriage worldwide.This is the second of a 2-part series on trafficking and modern slavery in the Asia Pacific region.
A trafficked survivor reunites with family in Vietnam. Courtesy: Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation
SYDNEY, Australia, May 18 2020 (IPS)* – A single mother, Mai (name changed) had the responsibility of providing for her young son and grandparents, who had brought her up in a poor rural province in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.
Vienna (Austria) (UNODC)* – COVID-19 travel and movement restrictions are not stopping the movement of people fleeing conflict, human rights abuses, violence and dangerous living conditions, while the economic consequences of the pandemic are likely to lead to an increase in smuggling of migrants and trafficking in person flows from the most affected countries to more affluent destinations, according to a report launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on 14 May 2020.
6 May 2020 (UN News)* — Lockdowns, travel restrictions, resource cutbacks and other measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus are putting victims of human trafficking at risk of further exploitation, while organized crime networks could further profit from the pandemic, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
New information on child labour, forced labour and human trafficking in global supply chains is revealed in a report compiled by the ILO, OECD, IOM and UNICEF – members of the Alliance 8.7 partnership on child labour, forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking. (*)
The autumn sun lights the classroom in Ternopil, Western Ukraine, where children laugh as Mr. Possum asks 11-year-old Sasha to deliver a package to his nephew in another country. Sasha hesitates, while her classmates give her advice: some suggest that she should help a stranger, others believe it’s risky.
Liza and Her Friends Travelling the World is a board game developed by IOM to help children and young people become aware of human trafficking. Photo: Studii Rozvytku
It’s all a game, but with a deeply serious subtext. “Liza and Her Friends Travelling the World” was developed by IOM, and Mr Possum is Sasha’s teacher.
SAN SALVADOR, Nov 8 2019 (IPS)* –– Central America is an impoverished region rife with gang violence and human trafficking – the third largest crime industry in the world – as a major source of migrants heading towards the United States.
An older woman panhandles on a street in San Salvador. Criminal trafficking groups take advantage of vulnerable people, such as the destitute, to force them to beg. But in Central America, 80 percent of the victims of trafficking are women and girls, for purposes of sexual exploitation. Credit: Edgardo Ayala/IPS
There’s compelling evidence that all have become source countries for a brutal business – the trafficking of women and girls for sale in China as brides.
23 August 2019 (UN Environment)* — The multipurpose rosewood tree is famed for its beautiful smelling and sturdy ruby-colored wood used in the manufacture of furniture, walking canes, boats, musical instruments, agricultural tools and religious artefacts.
Photo by Wikimedia Commons
The tree species, whose name is a generic one for several dark-red hardwood species found in tropical regions across the globe, fetches very high prices because it’s strong, heavy, has a beautiful red hue and takes well to polishing.
Luiza Karimova. Photo: UN Women Europe and Central Asia/Rena Effendi Luiza Karimova. Photo: UN Women/Rena Effendi.
29 July 2019 (UN Women)* — Across the world, millions of women and girls live in the long shadows of human trafficking. Whether ensnared by force, coercion, or deception, they live in limbo, in fear, in pain.
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