According to a new report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, criminal gangs linked to Southeast Asia's online scam centres are expanding their activities into Africa, Latin America, and other vulnerable regions thanks to technological developments. The business – described as a “cancer” by experts – generates almost US$ 40 billion a year in profits. Online platforms that are only accessible privately and gambling sites are at the heart of this illegal ecosystem.
After the latest case of negligence in Uttar Pradesh, the justices issued new guidelines to counter trial delays and bail releases that often turn into impunity. Hospitals involved in such traffic can have their licence suspended. More than 2,000 cases of kidnapping and sale of newborns are reported each year.
The tools used by human traffickers are evolving from tourism to social media. The nun works through training courses, also in schools, involving teachers and headmasters and says new approaches are needed to meet the challenge. Yesterday the Pope's message on the day of prayer promoted by the Church.
The pontiff released a message today on the occasion of International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking, which the Church will celebrate tomorrow, feast day of Saint Josephine Bakhita. Millions of people in the world are still victims of modern slavery. For Francis, we must learn from young people “to stand alongside the victims and survivors” without becoming accustomed to injustice”.
Identified as Ri and Kang, 39 and 43, they were helping other women escape to South Korea. Victims of trafficking to China, once sent back to North Korea they were killed after a public trial, confirmed by several sources.
Despite Myanmar’s conflict, many Sri Lankans still travel to the former Burma in search of work but end up victims in trafficking networks. At least 40 have been freed recently, but dozens more are still captive. The authorities urge Sri Lankans, often vainly, to look for work at agencies registered with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE).
After the first forced repatriation by plane, the issue also entered the TV debate between Trump and Biden. The post-Covid economic crisis the main reason. Routes also to Italy via Serbia, with worrying contours of modern slavery.
In his message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which the Church will celebrate this year on 29 September, the Pope writes: “How many Bibles, copies of the Gospels, prayer books and rosaries accompany migrants on their journeys across deserts, rivers, seas and the borders of every continent!” Blessing Okoedion, a Nigerian survivor of trafficking, says she “learnt again what it means to be a Christian.”
People in financial difficulty were taken to a clinic in Tehran to sell a kidney for a few thousand euros. It is suspected that some of them died during the operations, which brought proceeds of up to ten times more to the pimps. Iran is one of the crossroads of these criminal deals because of the high incidence of kidney disease.
