2010 STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT STATES
Of the 71, about 20 percent were sex trafficking victims, based on data from the Federal Labor Ombudsman in the CNMI.
The “2011 Trafficking in Persons Report” says in the CNMI, there were six reported human trafficking cases involving multiple victims held in clubs, restaurants, and massage parlors.
“A trend was observed involving the cancellation of victims' return airplane tickets upon admission, stranding them with no financial means to return and rendering them wholly dependent on their employers,” the report says about the CNMI.
The CNMI is home to thousands of foreign workers, who are employed in almost all types of private businesses and industries. Most of these foreign workers are from the Philippines, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries.
A copy of the report is available at http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/index.htm.
“Trafficking in persons” or “human trafficking” has been used as umbrella terms for activities involved when one person obtains or holds another person in compelled service.
Major forms of human trafficking include forced labor, sex trafficking, bonded labor, debt bondage among migrant laborers, involuntary domestic servitude, and forced child labor.
The State Department's report says in 2010, a non-government organization working on the CNMI anti-trafficking task force assisted 36 human trafficking victims.
An additional 31 victims qualified for services but could not be assisted due to insufficient funds.
Human trafficking cases continue to be reported in the CNMI.
Last Thursday, for example, a woman pleaded guilty in federal court for recruiting six persons in China to come to the CNMI with promises of jobs here while pretending to be tourists.
Honglian Cheng, 25, along with Li Hua, pleaded guilty to a count of foreign labor contracting fraud conspiracy as part of a plea bargain. She will be sentenced on Sept. 15, 2011.
U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton said the annual report embodies the United States' continued dedication to fighting traffickers no matter where they may be because fighting slavery and standing up for human rights is part of the national identity.
“For the girls in the shelter-and for all those who have been victimized by this crime-we will remain steadfast in our efforts and truthful in our assessments. We must deliver on our promises to protect victims, punish abusers, and restore the lives of survivors so that someday they will have the opportunity to realize their God-given potential,” she said.
Former Rota teacher and now Florida-based human rights advocate Wendy Doromal said the CNMI has “such a terrible record for such a small population.”
Doromal said granting status to the legal, long-term nonresident workers would help to alleviate the human trafficking problem and eliminate the need for another poorly run and under-funded federal program in the distant CNMI, including the proposed CNMI-only guest worker program.
“I predict that such a program will not end the problems that were so prevalent in the corrupt CNMI program, but will merely shift the responsible offending party from the CNMI to the federal government,” she said in her blog.
Besides the CNMI, four other U.S. insular areas were included in the State Department report on human trafficking. They were Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Federal authority over these areas resides in the U.S. Department of the Interior, which participated in the President's Interagency Task Force in 2010.
“The insular areas are a destination for men and women subjected to forced labor, debt bondage, and forced prostitution,” it says.
In Guam, the U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted a multi-victim sex trafficking case, convicting a karaoke bar owner who forced multiple young women from Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia and one juvenile girl into prostitution.
The report says there continues to be concern that a military buildup in Guam could involve labor exploitation and trafficking of the thousands of guest workers expected. The report adds that federal entities made efforts to have this considered in the planning stages.
It says DOJ led a coordinated effort to identify human trafficking cases, provide services to victims, and bring the traffickers to justice in Guam and the CNMI.
“Uniquely, this effort included participation of foreign consulates from source countries and cross-training with investigators and other government officials from other Pacific jurisdictions,” the report says.
In American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, there were no new reported human trafficking cases in 2010.
The report says the American Samoa legislature did not pass a bill, introduced in October 2009, which would have criminalized human trafficking as a felony offense.
It says Puerto Rico had no local anti-trafficking law but there was an outstanding proposal to revise the penal code to include trafficking.
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