Torture in [Finland] [other countries]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 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. Minority Ombudsman: Features of human
trafficking in Roma begging yle Uutiset
News, Sweden, 17 June 2012 yle.fi/uutiset/minority_ombudsman_features_of_human_trafficking_in_roma_begging/6185105 [accessed 18 June 2012] According to the
Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet,
women Roma beggars in Helsinki have been seen turning over money to
apparently well-to-do men. According to the
paper, there have been incidents observed in which women Roma beggars have
been seen turning over money to well-dressed men driving expensive cars. In Biaudet's
view, these incidents present a classic picture of human trafficking. Helsinki police have long believed it
possible that that the street begging by foreign Roma in the city is tied to
human trafficking. 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 yle.fi/uutiset/finland_falls_short_in_helping_human_trafficking_victims/5811903 [accessed 29 August 2012] 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/report/freedom-world/2009/finland [accessed 26 June 2012] U.S. Library of Congress - Country Study 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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