Human Trafficking in [Finland Street Children in [Finland] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Finland] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early
years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Finland.htm
Finland is a transit and
destination country for women and girls trafficked from Russia, Estonia, Lithuania,
Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, the Caucasus, China, and Thailand to and
through Finland to France, Sweden, Italy, Canada, Spain, and the United
States for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Finland is a
destination country for men and women trafficked from China, Pakistan, and
Bangladesh for the purpose of forced labor; victims are exploited in the
construction industry, restaurants, and as domestic servants. - 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 *** Curbing Human Trafficking storico.radiovaticana.org/en1/storico/2006-06/84338_curbing_human_trafficking.html [accessed 5 February 2011] The Finnish Parliament has
approved new legislation aimed at curbing human trafficking in the sex trade.
Under the new law, a client of a prostitute could face six months in prison
if police and magistrates can prove the clients knew the prostitute was
forced to sell her services. ***
ARCHIVES *** Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61647.htm [accessed 5 February 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – Most
trafficking involved women and girls from Some persons were trafficked for
labor, and most of these cases involved persons coerced into restaurant work,
in construction, and as maids. They were often forced to work long hours for
low pay, and were often reluctant to approach authorities due to the cultural
gap and fear of deportation or confinement. The government and NGOs believed
Russian organized crime syndicates to be the principle traffickers of women
and girls into the country. Although traffickers led some of the women to
believe that they would be employed as domestic servants or waitresses, most
were aware that they would be prostitutes. Economic incentives for poor women
seemed to play a larger role in trafficking than physical coercion. Most
trafficking victims entered the country with valid visas obtained at Finnish
consulates abroad. The Schengen Treaty, which
allows travelers already within EU borders to travel to any other EU country
without inspection, facilitated the transit of trafficked persons from Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2005 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 30-09-2005 sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/uncom.nsf/0/e75b499842881be7c1257092002e4f76?OpenDocument [accessed 5 February 2011] [52] While welcoming that recent
amendments to the Penal Code introduced the crime of trafficking in Finnish
legislation, as well as the National Plan of Action Combating the Commercial
Sexual Exploitation of Children of 2000 and the National Plan of Action
against Trafficking in Human Beings of 2005, the Committee is concerned at
the information that persons, including children, continue to be trafficked
to and through the country. Growing Number of Human Trafficking Victims in Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE News, October 7, 2010 www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2010/10/growing_number_of_human_trafficking_victims_in_finland_2040697.html
[accessed 5 February 2011] A new study challenges the belief
that “The police received a tip
regarding a gardening company in Ostrobothnia. Ten
Thai nationals were working at the company for monthly salaries ranging
between 200 and 290 euros. The workers were not allowed to leave the company
premises, their credit cards had been confiscated and many of them were going
hungry.” Five Sentenced in Human Trafficking Case Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE News, December 9, 2008 gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2008/12/finlandization.html [accessed 31 August 2011] [scroll down] Last summer the group held an
18-year-old Kotka woman as their prisoner for one
week in south-east "The case was unusual as the
victim and the perpetrators knew each other and because all of the events occurred
within this country's borders," said Könönen. Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE News, 2007-12-06 www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2007/12/finland_falls_short_in_helping_human_trafficking_victims_259856.html [accessed 5 February 2011] Police suspect some Helsingin Sanomat,
Oct 10, 2007 www.hs.fi/english/print/1135230934102 [accessed 5 February 2011] Based on a detailed investigation
into the capital’s Thai massage businesses, the Helsinki Police Department
published its own report on Tuesday, confirming that sex services are indeed
generally offered at all Thai massage parlours in
the city. However, the Helsinki Police
Department did not find any evidence that would point to human trafficking or
professional operation. Hence there was no reason to launch any preliminary
investigations for the time being. Man remanded on suspicion of aggravated human trafficking Helsingin Sanomat,
April 16, 2007 www.hs.fi/english/article/Man+remanded+on+suspicion+of+aggravated+human+trafficking/1135226601086 [accessed 5 February 2011] BORDER GUARD: VICTIM THREATENED
WITH VIOLENCE, AND PASSPORT TAKEN AWAY - The Finnish Guard suspects that at least two men with
an Indian background have forced another Indian-born man to work without pay
in Helsingin Sanomat,
April 12, 2007 www.hs.fi/english/print/1135226515923 [accessed 5 February 2011] Main defendant unexpectedly admits to pimping in human
trafficking trial Helsingin Sanomat,
Jan 9, 2007 [accessed 5 February 2011] CHARGES STEMMING FROM THE CASE - The group is suspected of having transported
15 Estonian women to Finnish Border Guard holds leader of human trafficking
ring Finnish News Agency STT, 27 September 2006 -- Source: newsroom.finland.fi/stt/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=13832&group=General [accessed 5 February 2011] The situation is rare, for in past
human trafficking cases Finnish authorities have been able to bring to
justice mostly only rank-and-file members.
Lt Cdr Partanen said the trafficking of
people from India to Finland had grown to a huge scale in the summer, indicating
the trafficking organisation might have been
testing Finland as a transit route. Curbing Human Trafficking storico.radiovaticana.org/en1/storico/2006-06/84338_curbing_human_trafficking.html [accessed 5 February 2011] The Finnish Parliament has
approved new legislation aimed at curbing human trafficking in the sex trade.
Under the new law, a client of a prostitute could face six months in prison
if police and magistrates can prove the clients knew the prostitute was
forced to sell her services. Key witness in human trafficking case goes missing Helsingin Sanomat,
Jun 22, 2006 www.hs.fi/english/article/Key+witness+in+human+trafficking+case+goes+missing/1135220374479 [accessed 5 February 2011] It is obvious that Viilip has not vanished on her own initiative, as she has
had a habit of contacting her family almost every day. Neither does she have
a lot of money with her. Moreover, she is reported not to have left the
country - at least not using her own name.
The police have also tried to trace her mobile phone usage - without
success so far. Working group proposes system for helping victims of human
trafficking Helsingin Sanomat,
June 15, 2006, [accessed 5 February 2011] A working group established by the
Ministry of Labour proposes that a system be set up in Human trafficking group had 1,000 customers in Finland
–police Finnish News Agency STT, May 30, 2006 uutiset.livejournal.com/18667.html [accessed 5 February 2011] [scroll down to 13:48] Finnish police believe that as
many as one thousand people availed themselves of services offered by an organisation suspected of human trafficking. According to
a police statement Tuesday, the group is suspected of procuring involving 15
women and 80,000 euro profits. Russian Officials Surprised At Reports Of Human
Trafficking Helsingin Sanomat,
16 March 2005 www.hs.fi/english/article/1101978846177 [accessed 5 February 2011] Fresh arrests at Vaalimaa border crossing - "The problem for the officials is that the illegal border crossings take place legally." He says that there are always people who will help in the acquisition of genuine travel documents. It is only after the borders are crossed that the activities become illegal. Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 1 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2009&country=7608 [accessed 5 February 2011] Library of Congress Call Number DL1012 .A74 1990 lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/fitoc.html [accessed 5 February 2011] Andris Straumanis,
Editor, Latvians Online, June 15, 2004 latviansonline.com/news/article/107/ [accessed 5 February 2011] Women and children from Sexual exploitation of children rises in UN News Service, 6 May 2004 www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/News_flash2004/06%20May%20Sexual%20exploitation%20of%20children.htm [accessed 5 February 2011] Last year as many as 100,000
tourists, mainly from Ensuring Human Rights Protection in Countries of
Destination: Breaking the Cycle of Trafficking [PDF] Conference Report, Helsinki, 23-24 September 2004,
compiled by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights ODIHR, Warsaw Poland, 2005 www.humantrafficking.org/uploads/publications/ensuring_human_rights_osce.pdf [accessed 5 February 2011] The conference took place in • Protecting the human rights of
trafficked persons in countries of destination, with particular attention paid to identification;
access to medical, psychological, and legal assistance; reflection delays; and residence permits; • National and regional initiatives
to improve victim protection in countries of destination; • Implementation of National
Referral Mechanisms, i.e. models for co-operation between law enforcement and civil society; and • Challenges and opportunities
regarding European and global instruments to strengthen the rights of trafficked persons. Helsingin Sanomat,
13.6.2003 www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20030613IE2 [accessed 5 February 2011] The report describes Finland is the only EU country to
be placed in the second category, although Greece has handled things in even
more slovenly fashion and is in Tier 3. Finnish man faces charges of human trafficking in Latvia Helsingin Sanomat,
19.2.2004 www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20040219IE6 [accessed 5 February 2011] A Finnish man in his 40s is
suspected of human trafficking and pimping in Human trafficking is not often
encountered in the Nordic countries and for the time being the Finnish penal
code has no reference to this issue. However, this fault will be corrected
soon. The charges against the man will
be heard shortly and if found guilty he will be sentenced under Latvian law.
Any sentence is expected to be rather heavy - particularly as it is suspected
that some kind of pressure was used and an international criminal
organization was involved, and because one of the women was a minor aged 17. 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 - |
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Human Trafficking in [Finland Street Children in [Finland] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Finland] [other countries]