Human Trafficking in [Fiji] [other countries]Street Children in [Fiji] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Fiji] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Republic
of the Fiji Islands [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] The Republic of the Fiji Islands [map] is made up of a Melanesian island group comprising some 7,000 sq mi (18,130 sq km) located in the South Pacific. Suva is its capital. Fiji, endowed with forest, mineral, and fish resources, is one of the most developed of the Pacific island economies, though still with a large subsistence sector. Sugar exports, remittances from Fijians working abroad, and a growing tourist industry - with 300,000 to 400,000 tourists annually - are the major sources of foreign exchange. Fiji is a source country for children
trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and a
destination country for a small number of women from the People’s Republic of
China (P.R.C.) and India trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and
commercial sexual exploitation. In addition, Fiji boys and girls are victims
of commercial sexual exploitation by Fiji citizens, foreign tourists, and
sailors on foreign fishing vessels. Local hotels procure underage girls for
commercial sexual exploitation by foreign guests. Taxi drivers and
occasionally relatives act as facilitators. Some Fiji children are informally
adopted or given to other families to raise—a tradition of child placement
that can facilitate trafficking in persons. - 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 Fiji. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** The Protection Project - Fiji [DOC] FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRAFFICKING INFRASTRUCTURE – Pacific Island children may be particularly
vulnerable targets for child sex tourists. As the South Pacific emerges as a
huge tourist destination, and as police crack down on sex tourists, both in
their home countries (such as Australia) and in the more popular destination
countries in Asia, there is growing concern that child sex tourism and
associated activities are on the increase in the region. FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - The report also warned that the sale of children in
Fiji could become a problem if loopholes in the adoption law were not
amended. Although baby and child trafficking from Fiji appeared to be rare,
the potential existed for such trafficking to increase. There have been a
number of cases of older children being taken from their parents to live in
Australia and New Zealand. ***
ARCHIVES *** U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs [PDF] CHILD LABOR LAWS AND ENFORCEMENT - The worst forms of child labor
may be prosecuted under different statutes in Fiji. The Employment Ordinance
states no child under the age of 12 years shall be employed in any capacity
whatsoever. The Employment Act sets the minimum ages for employment, with
children defined as being less than 15 years of age. The Act also establishes
that children between 12 and 15 years cannot work under harsh working
conditions or where there are long hours, night work, or hard or heavy work.
The Constitution prohibits forced labor, and the Penal Code prohibits the
sale or hiring of minors less than 16 years of age for prostitution. Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2006 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – A
November 2005 law prohibits trafficking in persons, and there were no
substantiated reports of trafficking to or from the country during the year.
There were some reports of children trafficked within the country during the
year. Many observers cited poverty as the primary underlying reason for
sexual exploitation of children. The antitrafficking law provides
for penalties of up to 20 years' imprisonment and fines up to $442,000
(F$750,000) for convicted traffickers.
The government did not sponsor or provide assistance to any programs
specifically to combat or prevent trafficking in persons. Last June a team of builders from
the Olympia area went to Fiji to build a shelter for women who want to get
out of a life of prostitution. They laid the groundwork, set up basic
structure, improved the water systems, and much more. This last September, a
team from the Tronie Foundation, including founders Trong and Rani Hong, went
back to Fiji for the dedication ceremony of this new shelter. It is a
community of homes and classrooms for these women, many of whom were forced
into prostitution. The Protection Project - Fiji [DOC] FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRAFFICKING INFRASTRUCTURE – Pacific Island children may be
particularly vulnerable targets for child sex tourists. As the South Pacific
emerges as a huge tourist destination, and as police crack down on sex
tourists, both in their home countries (such as Australia) and in the more
popular destination countries in Asia, there is growing concern that child
sex tourism and associated activities are on the increase in the region. FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - The report also warned that the sale of children in
Fiji could become a problem if loopholes in the adoption law were not
amended. Although baby and child trafficking from Fiji appeared to be rare,
the potential existed for such trafficking to increase. There have been a
number of cases of older children being taken from their parents to live in
Australia and New Zealand. EXPERT PRESENTATIONS - A second presentation was given
by Sean Evans, Law Enforcement Adviser from the Pacific Island Forum
Secretariat. He began by reporting that Niue is the only Pacific Island
country within the Forum to have ratified the Protocols to the UN Convention
on Transnational Crime. However, the Pacific Islands Forum has also done a
lot of work in developing model legislation, and a number of countries have
anti-trafficking legislation before their parliaments. Evans illustrated the
types of trafficking issues that are being seen in the Pacific by reference
to cases of deceptive recruiting from China into Palau, of Thai women being
forced into prostitution in Fiji, and women being forced into work at
sweatshops in U.S. Samoa and Fiji. Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 4 Civil Liberties: 3 Status: Partly Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
Human Trafficking in [Fiji] [other countries]Street Children in [Fiji] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Fiji] [other countries]