Human Trafficking in [Suriname Street Children in [Suriname] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Suriname] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early
years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Suriname.htm
Suriname is a destination and transit country for men,
women, and children from the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Guyana, Colombia, Haiti,
Indonesia, Vietnam, and China trafficked for the purposes of commercial
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Suriname is also a source country for
women and children trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation and
forced labor, as well as women trafficked transnationally
for forced labor. Foreign trafficking victims are exploited in illegal urban
brothels and the western district of Nickerie.
Guyanese women and girls are forced into street prostitution and are
trafficked into the sex trade near both legal and illegal gold mining camps
in the Amazon jungle. At least one criminal network traffics Brazilian women
among gold mining sites in both Suriname and French Guiana. Women from urban
areas are recruited for domestic work at these mining camps and subsequently
coerced into sexual servitude. Some Chinese men are subjected to forced labor
in the construction industry, while some Chinese women are forced into
prostitution in massage parlors and brothels. Chinese men and women are
forced to labor in grocery stores. Some Haitian migrants transiting Suriname
are forced to work in agriculture. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in
Persons Report, June, 2009 [full country report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Dying to Leave Thirteen, www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/dying-to-leave/human-trafficking-worldwide/suriname/1462/ [accessed 26 December 2010] BACKGROUND - Sex sells in With 70 percent of the population
living below the poverty line, parents struggling to survive have been known
to sell their children in Suriname's various gold mining towns, according to
anti-slavery organizations. In all cases, the set-up story is
similar: Promised a decent job as a waitress or other position, women
unwittingly sign up with a trafficker for assistance in coming to Paramaribo
or Suriname's mining towns, only to find themselves caught in a trafficking
ring upon arrival. Ivan Cairo, Caribbean Net News, traffickingproject.blogspot.com/2008/04/suriname-police-detain-alleged-human.html [accessed 26 December 2010] Preliminary investigations have
revealed, said prosecutor Garcia Paragsingh,
that the four Vietnamese nationals working on the boat, were forced to hard
labour on the vessel without payment, proper medical care and food. For over
a two year period, two of ill-treated crew members did not receive payment
for their work, while the remaining two fishermen told police that for
over one year they did not receive salaries and were not allowed to
leave the boat. The captain, a Korean national,
allegedly refused to allow them to see a doctor when they became sick,
while they were forced to work long hours under very poor conditions even
when they were physically unable to do so. According to police sources, the
worker who committed suicide apparently got sick and asked to be taken to
shore to seek medical treatment. After his requests were rejected by the
captain, the man hung himself. ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/suriname.htm [accessed 27 December 2010] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Commercial sexual exploitation of girls and boys is allegedly
increasing in Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61742.htm [accessed 27 December 2010] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – The
extent of trafficking of women and girls to, through, and within the country
for prostitution was difficult to estimate. Several commercial sex trade
establishments reportedly recruited Brazilian, Colombian, Dominican,
Guyanese, and Chinese women for prostitution. Victims in commercial sex trade
transited the country and were routed to the The police had informal agreements
with many brothel owners allowing them to proceed with their business.
However, police conducted random checks to ensure that women were not
mistreated, that no minors were present, and that owners did not keep the
women's airline tickets and passports. During the year there were fewer than
10 reports of brothel owners retaining passports and airline tickets to
uphold contract obligations. In such cases the police assisted these women to
return to their country of origin at their own expense. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 2 June 2000 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/suriname2000.html [accessed 27 December 2010] [37] While the Committee notes
that the State party has instituted a foster care program, it is concerned at
the insufficient monitoring and follow-up of placements in the program and
the widespread use of the program as a "first step" in the
inter-country adoption process rather than as a domestic fostering program.
Concern is also expressed at the unregulated nature of the practice of the
"kweekjes system" which allows parents
facing economic difficulties to give up their children to another family or
person who may be in a better financial situation to care for the child. [57] The Committee expresses its
concern about the increasing number of child victims of commercial sexual
exploitation, including prostitution and pornography, involving both boys and
girls. Concern is also expressed at the insufficient programs for the
physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of child victims
of such abuse and exploitation Ivan Cairo, Caribbean Net News, traffickingproject.blogspot.com/2008/04/suriname-police-detain-alleged-human.html [accessed 26 December 2010] Preliminary investigations have
revealed, said prosecutor Garcia Paragsingh,
that the four Vietnamese nationals working on the boat, were forced to hard
labour on the vessel without payment, proper medical care and food. For over
a two year period, two of ill-treated crew members did not receive payment
for their work, while the remaining two fishermen told police that for
over one year they did not receive salaries and were not allowed to
leave the boat. The captain, a Korean national,
allegedly refused to allow them to see a doctor when they became sick,
while they were forced to work long hours under very poor conditions even
when they were physically unable to do so. According to police sources, the
worker who committed suicide apparently got sick and asked to be taken to
shore to seek medical treatment. After his requests were rejected by the
captain, the man hung himself. Ivan Cairo, Caribbean Net News Click [here]
to access the article. Its URL is not
displayed because of its length [accessed 12 September 2011] It is alleged that numerous
Chinese immigrants who entered the country either legally or illegally are
victims of human smugglers and traffickers. Chinese nationals transiting Suriname
risk debt bondage to migrant smugglers; men are exploited in forced labor and
women in commercial sexual exploitation. Human trafficking in Caribbean Net News, www.caribbeannewsnow.com/caribnet/2005/03/18/trafficking.shtml [accessed 27 December 2010] Human trafficking is a reality in The Protection Project - The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/suriname.doc [accessed 2009] FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE
TRAFFICKING INFRASTRUCTURE - Seventy percent of FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Child prostitution has
reportedly increased in Suriname. Poor parents increasingly bring their
children into mining towns to work in the sex trade. Child labor is also considered a growing
problem in Suriname. Women are
reportedly recruited from Brazil as temporary wives to provide sex to miners
in Guyana and Suriname. Women are also
promised waitress or other jobs in Paramaribo or Suriname’s mining towns,
only to find themselves caught in trafficking rings. Traffickers can receive
US$500 from club owners for a Brazilian woman. Many of the women come from
Brazil’s poor northern regions. Women and girls who are sold to club owners must
pay off large debts. The club owners confiscate the victims’ passports until
the debts are paid off. Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 2 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2009&country=7709 [accessed 27 December 2010] Dying to Leave Thirteen, www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/dying-to-leave/human-trafficking-worldwide/suriname/1462/ [accessed 26 December 2010] BACKGROUND - Sex sells in With 70 percent of the population
living below the poverty line, parents struggling to survive have been known
to sell their children in Suriname's various gold mining towns, according to
anti-slavery organizations. In all cases, the set-up story is
similar: Promised a decent job as a waitress or other position, women
unwittingly sign up with a trafficker for assistance in coming to Paramaribo
or Suriname's mining towns, only to find themselves caught in a trafficking
ring upon arrival. Presented by Clarisse Pawironadi-Dasi,
Acting Permanent Secretary & Sector Coordinator Child Rights Promotion,
Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing, 18 December 2001 www.iin.oea.org/SURINAME_ing.PDF [accessed 27 December 2010] [page 5] IDENTIFICATION - REASONS FOR
INVOLVING CHILDREN IN CSW - The Sex Workers were able to describe many reasons for involving their
children in Commercial Sex Work (CSW). Several accounts below are taken
directly from the questionnaires: 1. Most cited money (or lack
thereof) as reason for involving children in sex work. Because clients were
found to pay more for sex with children, the temptation to involve them in
sex work is very strong 2. Some women allowed a neighbor to
have sex with their child to cover the utilities/rent. Often the mothers
found themselves with no food, no electricity, or no water. Regional
Governmental Congress on Sexual Exploitation of Children 3. “Business is slow”: (clients no
longer want to be with aging mother) and clients offered a lot more money for
a child. One mother sold her 8 year old daughter because clients were no
longer Interested in her (quite a few expressed anger and hurt that clients
no longer found them desirable). 4. In many cases, the Commercial
Sex Work (CSW) stated that it was the partner’s idea to increase income. The
Commercial Sex Work (CSW) generally denied involvement in any part of the
decision making. 5. The pimp/concubine/father sold
children (to friends or at gold mine) without the permission or knowledge of
the Commercial Sex Workers (CSW). In Place of Slavery: A Social History of British Indian
and Javanese Laborers in Rosemarijn Hoefte,
Details: 288 pages, ISBN 13: 978-0-8130-1625-2, ISBN 10: 0-8130-1625-8, 12/31/1998 www.upf.com/book.asp?id=HOEFTF98 [accessed 27 December 2010] OVERVIEW - Rosemarijn
Hoefte explores the rise of indentured servitude on
the sugar plantations of Globalization of sex trade Tammy Quintanilla, CLADEM (Comité
de Latinoamérica y el Caribe
para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujer), 1997 old.socialwatch.org/en/informesTematicos/40.html [accessed 28 August 2011] THE TRADE OF PEOPLE - The case of Coalition Against Trafficking in Women www.catwinternational.org/factbook/Suriname.php [accessed 27 December 2010] Club owners pay traffickers 500 dollars
for every Brazilian woman they provide. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking
& Modern-day Slavery - |
Human Trafficking in [Suriname Street Children in [Suriname] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Suriname] [other countries]