From British daily The Morning Star:
Slavery returns to Britain
Thursday 14 May 2009
by Paddy McGuffin
HUMAN trafficking into the country amounts to a “resurgence of the slave trade” and the government is failing to tackle the issue, a select committee report warned on Wednesday.
The home affairs committee report, entitled The Trade in Human Beings: Human trafficking in the UK, said that there are at least 5,000 victims – mostly women and children – living in this country.
Most are made to work in the sex trade or forced to beg. Others fall prey to crooked gangmasters and are forced to work long hours in disgraceful conditions for a pittance.
UK government resists European efforts to co-ordinate efforts to fight sex trafficking: here.
FEMEN’s Unfeminist Tactics? A Response to Rising Sex Tourism in Ukraine: here.
Slavery in today’s world: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
There Are More Slaves Today Than at Any Time in Human History 8-24-09
by Terrence McNally
http://www.alternet.org/story/142171/
The world suffers global
recession, enormous inequity, hunger, deforestation, pollution, climate
change, nuclear weapons, terrorism, etc. To those who say we’re not
really making progress, many might point to the fact that at least
we’ve eliminated slavery. But sadly that is not the truth. One
hundred forty-three years after passage of the 13th Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution and 60 years after Article 4 of the U.N.’s Universal
Declaration of Human Rights banned slavery and the slave trade
worldwide, there are more slaves than at any time in human history —
27 million. Complete article at:
http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/142171
Aloun Farms
Owners Indicted in Forced Labor of Thai Workers
Aloun’s owners are accused of violations against 44 Thai workers
8-29-09 Honolulu Advertiser by Jim Dooley and Christie Wilson
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090829/NEWS01/908290328/Alou
n+Farms+owners+indicted+in+forced+labor+of+Thai+workers
Print Version:
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090829/NE
WS01/908290328&template=printart
The owners of a Kapolei farm known
for supplying a rich variety of Asian vegetables, melons and other
produce to the state’s largest wholesalers and grocers have been
indicted on charges alleging the forced labor of 44 Thai nationals
brought to Hawai’i under a federal agricultural guest-worker program. –
– – The indictment, filed Thursday, said Alec and Mike Sou and Khoo
conspired to obtain “cheap and compliant labor” by using “false
promises” of lucrative jobs at the Kapolei business to entice
impoverished rural farm workers in Thailand who were forced to pay
recruitment fees of up to $22,500, money that was pocketed by the
defendants. Unable to pay the high fees, the workers were told to
borrow the money at high interest rates from a bank affiliated with the
recruiting companies, according to the indictment. Once in Hawaii,
Aloun Farms officials allegedly confiscated the workers’ passports and
strictly controlled their movements. The workers were told that if they
ran away or complained, they would be sent back to Thailand and bring
financial ruin on their families, according to the indictment. The
indictment alleges that Alec Sou met with Khoo in Thailand in April
2003 to enter into a business venture to bring Thai nationals to work at
Aloun Farms under the U.S. Department of Labor’s H-2A visa program for
seasonal and temporary workers. Khoo is employed by Thai Taipei
Manpower Co. Ltd. and is a partner in Udon NT Union Manpower Co., which
works closely with recruiting company K.S. Manpower Supply Co. Ltd. in
Bangkok. Complete article at:
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090829/NEWS01/908290328/Alou
n+Farms+owners+indicted+in+forced+labor+of+Thai+workers
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