Human Trafficking in [Mongolia Street Children in [Mongolia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Mongolia] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery State of Mongolia [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] The State of Mongolia [map] is a republic
located in N central Asia and is bordered by Mongolia is a source country for men,
women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and
forced labor. Although it remains difficult to quantify, trafficking
continues to be a problem in Mongolia. One NGO reported that its hotline received
many more reports of trafficking this year than in the previous year.
Mongolian women and girls are trafficked to China, Macau, Malaysia, and South
Korea for both forced labor and sexual exploitation. Mongolian men are
trafficked to Kazakhstan for labor exploitation. There is also concern about
child labor in the construction, mining, and industrial sectors, where they
are vulnerable to injury and face severe health hazards, such as exposure to
mercury. Some Mongolian women who enter into marriages with foreign
husbands—mainly South Koreans—were subjected to conditions of involuntary
servitude after moving to their husbands’ homeland. Mongolia continues to
face the problem of children trafficked internally for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation, reportedly organized by criminal networks.
There have been several reports of Mongolian girls and women being kidnapped
and forced to work in the country’s commercial sex trade. Some travel agents
and tour guides who took part in an anti-trafficking workshop expressed
concern that child sex tourism might be increasing; they noted that South
Korean sex tourists were arriving in greater numbers and frequenting
nightspots where girls and women were in prostitution. Around 150 North
Koreans are currently employed in Mongolia as contract laborers. On February
5, 2008, the Mongolian government signed an agreement with North Korea that
could bring as many as 5,300 North Korean laborers to Mongolia over the next
five years. Although there is no evidence of force, fraud, or coercion on the
part of the North Korean government in the recruitment of North Koreans for
these positions, once overseas North Korean workers do not appear to be free
to leave their employment, and it is unclear whether the workers in Mongolia
receive their full wages. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June,
2008 [full country report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Detention
Order on Clothing Produced in Mongolia with Forced Child Labor Evidence obtained by Customs
investigators suggests that factory managers are forcing employees, some of whom
are minors, to work 14-hour days, 7 days a week. In addition, it has been
reported that factory management is deducting unreasonable amounts of money
from the workers' salaries without paying overtime. It has also been reported
that minor age children are being treated as adult age workers, which is a
violation of Mongolian law. In addition, working conditions at both factories
are said to be poor and employee housing is substandard. ***
ARCHIVES *** U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - While comprehensive information about the nature and extent of
trafficking in Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – The
primary targets of trafficking schemes were middle-class girls and young
women, ranging from 14 to approximately 28 years of age, who were lured
abroad by offers to study or work. Preventive steps to combat trafficking,
such as increased law enforcement measures, remained limited. As a result, it
was not difficult to traffic persons across the country's borders. Some NGO
experts believed that members of the police sometimes were involved in
trafficking young women and helping facilitate their movement across borders.
Protections for victims and
witnesses were extremely limited, which discouraged them from coming forward.
Furthermore, social stigma inhibited victims from telling their stories. The
government had limited resources and divergent priorities, and therefore
provided no direct assistance for trafficking victims. NGOs offered support
when possible, and the government relied on NGOs to increase awareness and
initiate prevention programs. The government worked with the UN on a
three-year project for capacity building in the National Council on Gender
Equality, which included giving more attention to trafficking and
prostitution. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2005 [64] The Committee is deeply concerned
at the increasing number of children engaged in prostitution. While noting
that trafficking in children is a relatively new human rights problem in
Mongolia, the Committee is concerned about certain risk factors, including
persisting poverty, the high rate of unemployment, difficult family
circumstances leading to run-away from home and a growth in tourism, which
may and often does increase sexual exploitation and trafficking in children. Informal
Marriages Hide Human Trafficking The protection of rights and a
positive legal environment for the victims of human trafficking who become
illegally married to Asian men still does not exist yet, because of a lack of
information and knowledge about human trafficking. About 20 days ago, four
Mongolian women with three of their children requested from the Mongolian
consulate in Erlian, China, to save them from the violence of their husbands.
They were married to Chinese men
when they were introduced to each other in Mongolia, but have lived in China
for over ten years now. According to reports in the Mongolian media, all of
them were living in a half-starved state, they had no right to work for wages
and weren’t even allowed to go outside. They were beaten brutally by their
husbands and had other physical pressure applied. Some of them were
unwillingly forced to have sex by their husbands. But the accused husbands
are demanding the return of their wives from the consulate. Street
Children Remain Neglected In a week when the western world
celebrates the anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave
trade, abducted women and children are being transported across the Chinese
border in a modern-day slave trade.
The western world is dimly but increasingly aware of this, but it
remains firmly at the back of the minds of those that possess the power to
deal with the plight of those who are part of Mongolia’s future. Freedom House Country Rating - Political Rights: 2 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide Stop Violence Against Women – Country Page U.S. Library of Congress
- Country Study The
Crime of Trafficking of Women and Children in Mongolia: The Current Situation [DOC] 2. THE CRIME OF TRAFFICKING AND
SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN MONGOLIA - There are circumstances within Mongolian society today that are
suited to the trafficking of humans.
These include a direct relationship between negative social phenomena that
have arisen as a result of Mongolia’s transition period. Conditions such as
increased poverty, unemployment, prostitution amongst women, drug use among
youth, illegal emigration of citizens abroad, illegal labor of Mongolian
citizen in foreign countries (including the manufacturing of false visas and
passports), and an increased interest amongst girls and women to marry
foreigners, contribute to an environment in which the crime of trafficking
can occur. In addition, a lack of knowledge about life abroad and naive
attitudes in trusting different kinds of mediators are some of the factors
that affect the crime of trafficking. Jurist Legal
Intelligence - Mongolia HUMAN RIGHTS - The Mongolian Government
generally respected the human rights of its citizens in 2001; however,
problems remain in some areas. Child abuse and child labor also
are problems. There were some instances of forced labor, and some women
seeking work overseas may have become victims of trafficking schemes. Detention
Order on Clothing Produced in Mongolia with Forced Child Labor Evidence obtained by Customs investigators
suggests that factory managers are forcing employees, some of whom are
minors, to work 14-hour days, 7 days a week. In addition, it has been
reported that factory management is deducting unreasonable amounts of money
from the workers' salaries without paying overtime. It has also been reported
that minor age children are being treated as adult age workers, which is a
violation of Mongolian law. In addition, working conditions at both factories
are said to be poor and employee housing is substandard. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
Human Trafficking in [Mongolia Street Children in [Mongolia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Mongolia] [other countries]