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Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early
years of the 21st Century 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/report/freedom-world/2009/suriname [accessed 28 June 2012] 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 - |
Torture in [Suriname] [other countries]Human Trafficking in [Suriname Street Children in [Suriname] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Suriname] [other countries]