Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the
hands of traffickers Published
reports & articles from 2000 to 2025 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Tonga.htm
Scope and Magnitude.[2008] There were
no confirmed reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the
country. However, a public health facility identified 14 minors engaged in
commercial sexual exploitation during the year and there were other isolated
reports of women and underage girls in commercial sexual exploitation. There
were reports that members of foreign fishing vessel crews solicited Tongan
underage girls for commercial sex. There were unsubstantiated reports of employers
holding travel documents or salaries as a means to compel labor and restrain
Philippine nationals working in Tonga. There were also unconfirmed reports
that some nationals from the People’s Republic of China working legally and
illegally in Tonga may have been coerced into prostitution or forced
labor. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2008 Check
out a later country report here and possibly a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION:
The following links have been culled from
the web to illuminate the situation in Tonga.
Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that
are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to verify their authenticity or to validate their
content. HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of
particular interest to you. Would you
like to write about Forced-Labor? Debt
Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to include precursors of trafficking such as poverty and hunger. There is a lot to
the subject of Trafficking. Scan other
countries as well. Draw comparisons
between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Tonga U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/tonga/
[accessed 28 June
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR No data was
available on government efforts specifically to address forced labor. There
were unconfirmed, anecdotal reports of forced labor among women and children
in domestic service (see section 7.c.). PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT According to the
National Center for Women and Children and other NGOs, some school-age
children worked in the informal sector in traditional family activities such
as subsistence farming and fishing which exposed them to hazardous
conditions. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/tonga/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 23 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? The population
generally has access to economic opportunities and protection from abusive
working conditions, though enforcement of labor laws is affected by resource limitations,
and some employers have violated workers’ rights. While there is no law
specifically regulating child labor, any such work typically entails informal
participation in family agriculture and fishing. 2017 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor Office of Child
Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, US Dept of Labor, 2018 www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ilab/ChildLaborReport_Book.pdf [accessed 22 April
2019] www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2017/ChildLaborReportBook.pdf [accessed 7 May
2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 968] In 2017, Tonga made
no advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.
Children in Tonga perform dangerous tasks in agriculture and fishing. Gaps in
the legal framework remain; the country has no laws specifying a minimum age
for work or defining hazardous forms of work for children under age 18,
leaving children unprotected from labor exploitation. In addition, the
government has not established a policy or program to address child labor,
including its worst forms. Former Human
Trafficking Victim Speaks Out KGMB CBS 9 News -
May 3rd 2008 www.antitraf.net/home.php?mode=more&id=70&lang=en [accessed 11 June
2013] HAWAII - This young
Tongan named Francis came here in 2001, Lueleni Maka promised him $240 a week. He was paid only $20. "I ask him about the rest of my money.
Said he sent em back to my family, so I called my
parents and they said they never get nothing from him," said former
victim Francis. Maka told Francis he
would turn him into immigration if he tried to escape the pig farm he stayed
at. "He make me afraid of him. He
hit me a couple of times. yeah. metal frames, I get scars on my back from
him. Get guys they worse than me. He beat 'em up
till blood coming out their mouth and nose. it's very sad. We cannot do
nothing. we so scared of him," Francis said. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Freedom House
Country Report 2018 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/tonga/freedom-world/2018 [accessed 7 May 2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? While much of the
population has access to economic opportunities and protection from abusive
working conditions, foreign household workers—many of them from Fiji—are
vulnerable to exploitation and practices like passport confiscation, and East
Asian women have been trafficked to the country for forced prostitution. Human Rights
Reports » 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78793.htm [accessed 11
February 2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– While the law does not specifically address trafficking in persons,
violators could be prosecuted under antislavery statutes. There were no
reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country. The Department of Labor’s 2006 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor [PDF] U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2007 www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/PDF/2006OCFTreport.pdf [accessed 31
December 2010] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 420] INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - There are no reports
of child labor existing in the formal or informal economy. During 2006, there
were increased reports of workers on foreign fishing vessels soliciting
underage girls for prostitution. CHILD LABOR LAWS AND
ENFORCEMENT
- Tonga does not have legislation setting the minimum age for work. The law
prohibits slavery, which can be interpreted to include forced or bonded
labor. The owning and/or operating of a brothel, pimping, and soliciting in a
public place are all prohibited by the law. Penalties for offenses range from
imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years. The law also prohibits any person from
assaulting a child in an indecent manner, abducting girls, and procuring or
attempting to procure any girl under the age of 21 for trafficking for
prostitution. The maximum punishment for these offenses is imprisonment for
up to 5 years. There is no military conscription in Tonga. 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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