Sri Lanka News-Adaderana-Truth First - Lanka making significant efforts to eliminate human trafficking - US report June 28, 2011 03:38:PM
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Lanka making significant efforts to eliminate human trafficking - US report June 28, 2011 07:13 am
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin-top:0in;mso-para-margin-right:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0in;line-height:115%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Although Sri Lanka does not fully comply with the minimumstandards for the elimination of human trafficking the country is makingsignificant efforts to do so, the 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report releasedMonday by the United States Secretary of State Hilary Clinton which placed SriLanka among Tier 2 countries said. Tier 2 countries are the countries whose governments do notfully comply with the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims ProtectionAct (TVPA) but are making significant efforts to bring themselves intocompliance with those standards. Sri Lanka is yet to ratify the United Nations TIP protocolof 2000, the protocol to prevent, suppress, and punish trafficking in persons,especially women and children. The report noted that the Sri Lankan government convictedthree traffickers, in the first case under its anti-trafficking legislation,and rejuvenated its inter-agency task force. �However, serious problems remain unaddressed, such as thedetention of identified trafficking victims (including those who providedevidence to support the three convictions), the failure to achieve criminalconvictions for fraudulent recruitment agencies involved in trafficking inpersons, and official complicity in human trafficking,� the TIP Report noted. �The Sri Lankan government increased law enforcement effortsin addressing human trafficking cases over the reporting period. Sri Lankaprohibits all forms of trafficking through an April 2006 amendment to its penalcode, which prescribes punishments of up to 20 years� imprisonment. Thesepenalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed forother serious offenses, such as rape. Amendments passed in 2009 to the ForeignEmployment Act expanded the powers of the Sri Lanka Bureau of ForeignEmployment (SLBFE) to prosecute recruitment agents who engage in fraudulentrecruitment, prescribing a maximum penalty of four years� imprisonment and finesof $1,000, and restricting the amount that employment agents can charge.� Itadded. The report said Sri Lanka is primarily a source and to amuch lesser extent, a destination for men, women, and children subjected toforced labor and sex trafficking. The TIP report recommended among other things for thegovernment of Sri Lanka to vigorously investigate and prosecute suspectedtrafficking offenses, and convict and punish trafficking offenders,particularly those responsible for recruiting victims with fraudulent offers ofemployment and excessive commission fees for the purpose of subjecting them toforced labor. Excerpt on Sri Lanka;
SRI LANKA (Tier 2)
Sri Lanka is primarily a source and, to a much lesser extent, a destinationfor men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. SriLankan men, women, and some children (between 16 and 17 years old) migrateconsensually to Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, the United ArabEmirates (UAE), Oman, Bahrain, and Singapore to work as construction workers,domestic servants, or garment factory workers. Some of these workers, however,subsequently find themselves in conditions of forced labor through practicessuch as restrictions on movement, withholding of passports, threats, physicalor sexual abuse, and threats of detention and deportation for immigrationviolations. Many of these migrants pay high recruitment fees � usually about$1,500 � imposed by unscrupulous licensed labor recruitment agencies and theirunlicensed sub-agents and assume debt in order to satisfy these costs. Thisindebtedness contributes to debt bondage in destination countries. A recentHuman Rights Watch report noted that over one-third of Sri Lankan domesticworkers in Jordan are physically abused by their employers, 11 percent weresexually assaulted, 60 percent were not paid wages, over 60 percent had theirpassports confiscated, and 80 percent experienced forced confinement � theseare abuses that indicate forced labor. In the past year, there werehigh-profile reports of Sri Lankan domestic workers who were subjected toforced labor and physical abuse in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan, includinghaving more than 20 nails hammered in their bodies, or being forced to swallownine nails. There were also reports of cases in which some Sri Lankanrecruitment agencies committed fraud by engaging in contract-switching:promising one type of job and conditions but then changing the job, employer,conditions or salary after arrival, which are documented risk factors forforced labor and debt bondage. Sri Lanka is reported to be a transit countryfor men, some of whom may be trafficking victims, traveling from Pakistan andBangladesh to Dubai, UAE. In several cases, men were stranded in Sri Lanka bythe employment agent. Some Sri Lankan women were promised jobs as domesticworkers in other countries, but after arriving were instead forced to work inbrothels, mainly in Singapore. A small number of Sri Lankan women are forcedinto prostitution in the Maldives.
Within the country, women and children are subjected to sex trafficking inbrothels, especially in the Anuradhapura area, which was a major transit pointfor members of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces heading north. Boys are more likelythan girls to be forced into prostitution � this is generally in coastal areasfor domestic child sex tourism. In 2009, the National Child ProtectionAuthority (NCPA) estimated that approximately 1,000 children were subjected tocommercial sexual exploitation within Sri Lanka although some NGOs believed theactual number was between 10,000 and 15,000. NGOs expressed concern that therecent increase in tourism in the very poor post-conflict areas on the eastcoast may increase demand for child sex tourism. There are reports of childrenbeing subjected to bonded labor and forced labor in dry-zone farming areas onplantations, and in the fireworks and fish-drying industries. Some childdomestic workers in Colombo, generally from the Tamil tea-estate sector of thecountry, are subjected to physical, sexual, and mental abuse, nonpayment ofwages, and restrictions of their movement. Some women and children werepromised garment industry work by agents and were instead forced intoprostitution. A small number of women from Thailand, China, and countries in SouthAsia, Europe, and the former Soviet Union may be subjected to forcedprostitution in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka does not fully comply with the minimum standards for theelimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.The government convicted three traffickers, in the first case under itsanti-trafficking legislation, and rejuvenated its inter-agency
task force. However, serious problems remain unaddressed, such as the detentionof identified trafficking victims (including those who provided evidence tosupport the three convictions), the failure to achieve criminal convictions forfraudulent recruitment agencies involved in trafficking in persons, andofficial complicity in human trafficking.
Recommendations for Sri Lanka: Vigorously investigate andprosecute suspected trafficking offenses, and convict and punish traffickingoffenders, particularly those responsible for recruiting victims withfraudulent offers of employment and excessive commission fees for the purposeof subjecting them to forced labor; ensure that victims of trafficking foundwithin Sri Lanka are not detained or otherwise penalized for unlawful actscommitted as a direct result of their being trafficked, such as visa violationsor prostitution; establish law enforcement capacity at shelters in embassiesabroad; develop and implement formal victim referral procedures; train locallaw enforcement and judicial officials on investigating and prosecutingtrafficking crimes; facilitate the speedy repatriation of foreign traffickingvictims by providing airfare and not obligating them to remain in the countryif they choose to initiate law enforcement proceedings; provide witnessprotection and incentives for victims to cooperate with law enforcement toenable prosecutions; stop the practice of forcing foreign trafficking victimsto remain in Sri Lanka if they are witnesses in a case; improve services,including quality of shelters, legal aid, availability of counseling, andnumbers of trained staff at embassies and consular offices in destinationcountries; promote safe tourism campaigns to ensure that child sex tourism doesnot increase with expected rapid growth of tourism; and improve regulation andmonitoring of recruitment agencies and village-level brokers, with an emphasison ensuring provision of accurate and enforceable employment contracts andworking to ending the charging of illegal and excessive fees.
Prosecution
The Sri Lankan government increased law enforcement efforts in addressinghuman trafficking cases over the reporting period. Sri Lanka prohibits allforms of trafficking through an April 2006 amendment to its penal code, whichprescribes punishments of up to 20 years� imprisonment. These penalties aresufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other seriousoffenses, such as rape. Amendments passed in 2009 to the Foreign Employment Actexpanded the powers of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) toprosecute recruitment agents who engage in fraudulent recruitment, prescribinga maximum penalty of four years� imprisonment and fines of $1,000, andrestricting the amount that employment agents can charge. In March 2011, threetraffickers were convicted and sentenced to nine years each for forcing womeninto prostitution, in one case. This is the first recorded convicted case underSri Lanka�s counter-trafficking amendment. However, the Uzbek sex traffickingvictims in the case were detained in an immigration detention facility in SriLanka for over a year until their testimony was complete. The Attorney General�sDepartment claimed two additional convictions in 2010 for violations of thepenal code�s statute on child sexual exploitation; both convictions may haveinvolved human trafficking crimes. Both convictions resulted in suspended jailsentences. Each trafficker had to pay a fine of approximately $900, and one hadto pay compensation of $450 to the victim. In January 2011, the National ChildProtection Authority (NCPA) completed an investigation and could not determinethe whereabouts of the remaining boys allegedly in armed service with the TamilMakkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP)/Karuna Faction; some of these boys may betrafficking victims. There were no prosecutions against persons allegedlyresponsible for conscription of child soldiers.
During the year, there was some evidence of government officials� complicityin trafficking. There were allegations that police and other officials acceptedbribes to permit brothels to operate; some of the brothels exploitedtrafficking victims. Many recruitment agencies were run by politicians or werepolitically connected. Some sub-agents cooperated with Sri Lankan officials toprocure forged or modified documents, or real documents with false data, to facilitatetravel abroad. There were no reported law enforcement actions taken againstofficials complicit in human trafficking. The Sri Lankan Police continued toteach a counter-trafficking module to all police recruits during their basictrainings. Additionally, police officers who were previously trained in IOMtraining-of-trainers courses conducted 16 training workshops at local policestations on counter-trafficking in the reporting period.
Protection
The government made limited progress in protecting victims of traffickingduring the year. The government placed two Uzbek women who were found in forcedprostitution in late 2009 in a detention center, which they were allowed toleave during the day but were locked up at night. The government did not permitthem to leave Sri Lanka for over a year until they had the opportunity toprovide testimony against their alleged traffickers, instead of allowing theUzbeks to leave the country while their cases were pending or to remain in thecountry with protections such as immigration relief, freedom of movement, andthe right to work. They were then given permission to leave the country, andwith the assistance of IOM, departed Sri Lanka in December 2010. The governmentforces foreign trafficking victims to remain in Sri Lanka if they are witnessesin a case until evidence has been given. The government continued to providesome counseling and day care for abused children through the operation of sixresource centers, although it is not known how many trafficked children, ifany, were assisted in the reporting period. The Sri Lanka Bureau of ForeignEmployment (SLBFE) operated nine short-term shelters in 2010 in Jordan, Kuwait,Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates as well as an overnightshelter in Sri Lanka�s international airport for returning female migrantworkers who encountered abuse abroad. It is unknown how many traffickingvictims were assisted in these shelters in the reporting period. While themissions provide shelter and legal aid, domestic workers seeking assistancecomplained of long waiting periods with little information about their cases.In addition, there were complaints that the shelters were grossly overcrowdedwith unhygienic conditions. In a news report of female Sri Lankan workers whofled their employers in Jordan due to lack of paid wages and abuse, one workernoted that the Sri Lankan embassy shelter was no better than a prison, as itdid not permit the domestic workers to leave the premises. There have been somereports of abuse by Sri Lankan embassy officials in shelters abroad.
A Workers� Welfare Fund is maintained by the SLBFE, also funded by feescharged to workers upon migration. Through this fund, the widely reported caseof the female in domestic servitude in Saudi Arabia who returned with 24 nailsin her body received approximately $4,500 to build a house, with the assistanceof the National Housing Authority. Neither the government nor NGOs orinternational organizations provided protection facilities for men. The Ministryof Child Development and Women�s Affairs (MOCDWA) has a memorandum ofunderstanding with IOM to establish a shelter which can house 10 to 15 womenand child victims of trafficking and abuse. When the building is renovated andprepared � with a tentative deadline of later this year � the ministry willtake over operation and management of the shelter.
Government personnel did not employ formal procedures for proactivelyidentifying victims. The National Counter Human Trafficking Resource Center ofthe Sri Lanka Department of Immigration and Emigration trained 10 immigrationofficers on the identification of trafficking victims, in partnership with IOM,in 2010; 50 officers were trained in 2009. The government pursued a partnershipwith the Salvation Army to transfer women and child victims of abuse toprotection facilities, though it is unknown how many trafficking victims, ifany, were referred in the reporting period. Foreign trafficking victims couldnot seek employment in Sri Lanka. The government permitted foreign traffickingvictims to leave the country unless they were witnesses in a case, in whichcase the government forced them to remain until evidence had been given. IOMreported several cases of victims who chose to leave the country rather thanfile a complaint. The Commissioner General for Rehabilitation, with theassistance of the NCPA, continued to operate two rehabilitation centersspecifically for children involved in armed conflict, some of whom may betrafficking victims, in partnership with UNICEF. The Commission also continuedto run a vocational training center with donor support. These facilities servedapproximately 700 former child soldiers in the reporting period. The Sri Lankangovernment has reported that all former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)child soldiers completed rehabilitation and were released in May 2010. However,at least 250 children formerly associated with armed groups faced a number ofsecurity issues, and some were arrested by police.
The government did not encourage victims to assist in the investigation andprosecution of trafficking cases; instead, they sometimes forced victims totestify if they chose to file charges. While Sri Lankan trafficking victims intheory could file administrative cases to seek financial restitution, this didnot happen in practice due to victim embarrassment and the slow pace of the SriLankan legal system. In addition, prosecutors were prevented under Sri Lankanlaw from meeting with witnesses outside of formal court proceedings. Thus, theyhad to rely on police to convince a witness to testify. The governmentpenalized adult victims of trafficking through detention for unlawful actscommitted as a direct result of being trafficked. Most commonly, these actswere violations of their visa status or prostitution. All detainees who wereawaiting deportation for visa violations, including trafficking victims,remained in detention facilities until they raised enough money to pay fortheir plane ticket home, which in some cases has taken years. The governmentprovided no legal alternatives for the removal of foreign victims to countrieswhere they may face hardship or retribution. The SLBFE continued to providetraining on protection and assistance to its staff members who worked atembassies and consulates in foreign countries, although many of the laborattaches working in labor-receiving countries are political appointees who donot receive any training.
Prevention
The Sri Lankan government made some progress in its efforts to preventtrafficking during the last year. The government formed an inter-ministerialanti-trafficking task force in October 2010, led by a coordinator from theMinistry of Justice, and developed a terms of reference on how governmentagencies will work together to combat trafficking. This task force took overthe monthly meetings previously held by the MOCDWA, and met six times in thereporting period. While it does not include civil society, the coordinator ofthe task force recently announced it would soon open up quarterly meetings toNGOs and community organizations. The government limits the recruitment fees to$70 for jobs paying less than $200 per month and $100 for jobs paying over$200. The SLBFE requires migrant domestic workers with no experience working inthe Middle East to complete a free 12-day pre-departure training course. It isnot known how many migrant workers completed this course in the reportingperiod. The SLBFE and the Department of Labor conducted awareness programs onsafe migration. In measures that could prevent transnational labor traffickingof Sri Lankans, the SLBFE reported that it filed 727 charges againstrecruitment agencies in 2010 under Sections 398 (cheating) and 457 (forgery forthe purpose of cheating), conducted 84 raids against employment agents, andfined recruitment agencies found to be guilty of fraudulent practices over$40,000. The Criminal Investigation Division of the police, in cooperation withInterpol and the Royal Malaysian Police, investigated four fraudulent recruitmentagents who may have been responsible for the forced labor of Sri Lankans inMalaysia.
While most Sri Lankans have birth certificates and (after the age of 16)national identity cards, many of the 250,000 to 350,000 internally displacedpeople � a group very vulnerable to trafficking � did not have these documents.The Government of Sri Lanka continued to provide personnel time to conductmobile documentation clinics for conflict-affected people with UNDP. TheGovernment of Sri Lanka did not report any efforts to reduce the demand forcommercial sex acts during the reporting period. The Ministry of Defenseprovided training to all Sri Lankan peacekeepers prior to their deployments forinternational peacekeeping missions relating to human rights, includingtrafficking. Sri Lanka is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.
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This is a Public Forum. Please use this forum responsibly to express your views and opinions. Comments that use foul and abusive language will be edited/deleted. Comments containing slander, vulgarism and derogatory statement will be deleted. Reader comments posted are the opinion of the comment writer, not Ada Derana. Help us protect the freedom of expression.a.vote_up, a.vote_down {display:inline-block;background-repeat:none;background-position:center;height:16px;width:16px;margin-left:4px;text-indent:-900%;}a.vote_up {background:url("js/reddit_vote_tut/src/images/thumb_up.png");}a.vote_down {background:url("js/reddit_vote_tut/src/images/thumb_down.png");} June 28, 2011 08:32 am Before this what ordinary sri lankans need is ; The Gov effort towards "Human Rights " , " Freedom Of Information " & "Freedom Of Speech" I Am Sri Lanka Or Am I ?
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June 28, 2011 11:11 am No You´re not. You´re an NGO pimp for barking against everything. Rathnayake
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June 28, 2011 12:29 pm U R A traitor!! SAM
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June 28, 2011 03:13 pm What Human Rights are you talking about? Is it American style where bombing Libya, Afganistan and Iraq is ok? janaka
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June 28, 2011 12:23 pm This is not a Sri Lankan problem, if the USA or any other western country is the destination. If they don´t want ´aliens´ come over, they should spend a lot of money. They can, for example dump their extra money, so the Sri Lankans livelihood comes near theirs, then no one would come over, would they? This Hilary wants to have the cake and eat it. Ariya
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June 28, 2011 02:49 pm Dont blame SL. Blame your buddies LTTE. That is the only option available now for them to raise funds to pay people like you, MB, Kushner,CH 4............ Antony
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