Human Trafficking

[Lewdog]

This cool thing popped up on my Facebook timeline today. Apparently Dolph Lundgren is teaming up with an organization to raise money to help stop human trafficking and slavery, and you can win prizes helping out. One prize is to even be in a movie with him.

Dolph LundgrenVerified account‏@Dolph_Lundgren
WANNA BE AN ACTION STAR?!? Come train with me and I’ll put you in a stunt in my next movie! Enter at to http://bit.ly/1PhXiT9 help @CASTLA

 

[Lewdog]

I really bring this up because I took a Human Trafficking course in college this past semester and it really is a larger problem than many might think. In fact there could be human trafficking victims in your own town and you wouldn't even know it unless you knew all the right things to look for.

 

[emilynghiem]

Cool. Here are some of the groups I know teaming up to combat trafficking in Houston, Texas and across the border:

Heidi Search Center
Laster Global Consulting ::: Human Trafficking Training and Consulting
Pace Universal - Educate & Empower.

 

[anotherlife]

Most anti trafficking activist groups are more interested in criminalizing average people than catching traffickers. There was one of them on tv the other day, and what they were proud of was how they wrote a new law against sex tourism to target the whores' johns, and they wouldn't even address the pimp problem. This is all about making money, more laws, richer lawyers, richer judges, more arrests, richer prison service contractors, nothing to do with human trafficking. Hehehe.

 

[JBond]

Most anti trafficking activist groups are more interested in criminalizing average people than catching traffickers. There was one of them on tv the other day, and what they were proud of was how they wrote a new law against sex tourism to target the whores' johns, and they wouldn't even address the pimp problem. This is all about making money, more laws, richer lawyers, richer judges, more arrests, richer prison service contractors, nothing to do with human trafficking. Hehehe.

The laws of supply and demand apply. If you want to make a meaningful change you attack it from both sides. Punish those creating the demand and the supply chain.

 

[anotherlife]

Most anti trafficking activist groups are more interested in criminalizing average people than catching traffickers. There was one of them on tv the other day, and what they were proud of was how they wrote a new law against sex tourism to target the whores' johns, and they wouldn't even address the pimp problem. This is all about making money, more laws, richer lawyers, richer judges, more arrests, richer prison service contractors, nothing to do with human trafficking. Hehehe.

The laws of supply and demand apply. If you want to make a meaningful change you attack it from both sides. Punish those creating the demand and the supply chain.

The demand is human. Yes it is a liberal nirvana to kill humans and imprison humans.

And of course the poor little trafficked girls have nothing to do with getting themselves trafficked. Hehehehe.

 

[waltky]

Extradited suspect 'is wrong man'...

African migrant smuggler extradited; wife in Sweden, money in U.S. banks
June 8, 2016 -- One of the world's most wanted people smugglers has been arrested and extradited to Italy.

Mered Medhanie, a native of Eritrea, was flown to Rome on Tuesday after being held by authorities in Sudan since last month. He is said to be the leader of an international smuggling network that has led to the deaths of hundreds of people attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. Medhanie, 35, is known as 'The General' because he styled himself on former Libyan dictator Colonel Gadhafi, and is said to have driven around in a tank. Britain's National Crime Agency tracked him to an address in Khartoum, where he was arrested.

Medhanie is thought to be responsible for a boat that sailed from Libya and capsized and sank near the Italian island of Lampedusa in October 2013. At least 359 migrants died. Most were from Eritrea and Somalia. Prosecutors say that Medhanie ran a people-trafficking network operating between central Africa and Libya. His alleged accomplice, an Ethiopian, is still at large. The pair are accused of sending migrants on barely seaworthy ships across the Mediterranean towards Europe. Italian newspaper La Republica writes that in taped telephone conversations Medhanie boasts that he smuggled 7,000- 8,000 migrants and can be heard laughing about overloaded boats.

A married man, with a wife and children in Sweden, he reportedly said that he kept his earnings from people trafficking in America and Canada. "There, they don't ask where you got it from," he is quoted as saying. "Medhanie is a prolific people-smuggler and has absolute disregard for human life," said Tom Dowdall, deputy director of the NCA, who was working in conjunction with investigators in the Sicilian city of Palermo. "He no doubt thought he was beyond the reach of European justice but we were able to support the Italians by tracking him down to Sudan."

Italy's Corriere Della Serra newspaper said that Medhanie charged migrants around $5,700 to travel from African countries to northern Europe. He claimed to have a network of workers in Italy and even bragged that he was in league with local officials in Tripoli, Libya. It is said that he would buy up migrants who had been kidnapped by other criminal gangs, then offer to sail them to Europe in exchange for a fee. Canada-based barrister Christine Duhaime, who specializes in money-laundering legislation, told the BBC's Newsday program: "He is notorious just for the fact that he controlled a lot of money and a lot of people. As kingpin, the amount of money that went through him is apparently in the billions."

African migrant smuggler extradited; wife in Sweden, money in U.S. banks

See also:

Suspect extradited for people smuggling 'is wrong man'
Thu, 09 Jun 2016 - Friends of an Eritrean man extradited to Italy on Tuesday on people smuggling charges say police have arrested the wrong man.

Prosecutors believe Mered Medhanie, known as The General, is at the heart of the operation to smuggle migrants from Africa to Europe. An Eritrean man authorities say is Mr Mered was held in Sudan in May and flown to Rome on Tuesday. But the man's friends told the BBC there had been a case of mistaken identity and he was innocent. A spokesman for Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA), that was involved in the operation, told the Press Association they were "liaising with our partners". It added: "This is a complex multi-partner operation and it is too soon to speculate about these claims."

An Italian police official told the BBC that he was unaware of any investigation into the identity of the suspected smuggler. The BBC understands that the Italian police still believe they have the right person. The NCA said it had tracked the suspect down to an address in Khartoum, where he was then arrested. Images of him arriving in Rome were distributed by Italian police on Wednesday. The BBC spoke to one man, Hermon Berhe, who lives in Ethiopia and said he grew up in Eritrea with the man shown in the pictures. "I don't think he has any bone in his body which can involve such kind of things," he said. "He is a loving, friendly and kind person."

Left: An image of the man believed to be Mered Medhanie previously released by the UK National Crime Agency; Right: the man extradited to Italy​

Another Eritrean man told the BBC's Will Ross he recently shared a house in Sudan with the man who was arrested. Meron Estefanos, a Swedish-Eritrean journalist who interviewed Mr Mered last year, told Swedish media the man in the images was not him, but was instead a 28-year-old man with the same name. "He's just a refugee who was in Khartoum, poor guy," she told Aftonbladet newspaper. Italian news agency Ansa said Mr Mered was accused of being "the leader and organiser of one of the largest criminal groups operating between central Africa and Libya".

Prosecutors accuse Mr Mered of running the network alongside an Ethiopian accomplice, who is still at large. The two men are accused of buying up kidnapped migrants from other gangs and sending those migrants on barely seaworthy ships across the Mediterranean towards Europe. Known as The General" as he styled himself on late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, Mr Mered is also said to have driven around in a tank and boasted: "Nobody is stronger than me." The NCA says Mr Mered is thought to have arranged the transit of a boat that sank near the Italian island of Lampedusa in October 2013. At least 359 migrants died when the boat, travelling from Libya, capsized. Most were from Eritrea and Somalia.

Suspect extradited for people smuggling 'is wrong man' - BBC News

 

[waltky]

Oops! Dey got the wrong man...

Europe migrant crisis: Doubt cast on identity of 'smuggler' extradited to Italy
Thu, 09 Jun 2016 - Italy is checking the identity of a suspect extradited from Sudan in a high-profile operation against people-smuggling, amid fears he is the wrong man.

Italian prosecutors are investigating whether the wrong man was extradited to Italy this week in a high-profile operation against people-smuggling. A man thought to be suspected Eritrean people smuggler Mered Medhanie, 35, was seized in Sudan last month. Two women said to be sisters of another Eritrean man, Medhanie Tesfarmariam Berhe, 27, say he was arrested instead. One of them told the BBC of her shock at suddenly seeing photos of her missing brother in custody in Italy. Italy announced the extradition on Wednesday, releasing video of a man in handcuffs being escorted off a plane. The country is currently at the forefront of the battle to stop smugglers sending tens of thousands of undocumented migrants on perilous journeys by boat to Europe.

Who was meant to be extradited?

Investigators say Mered Medhanie, dubbed The General, is responsible for the death of 359 migrants in October 2013. They drowned when their boat sank off the Italian coast in October 2013. He is alleged to have led a multi-billion dollar empire which specialised in smuggling migrants from Africa to Europe. Mered Medhanie allegedly charged migrants up to €5,000 (£3,900; $5,680) for the trip.

Left: An image of the man believed to be Mered Medhanie previously released by the UK National Crime Agency; Right: the man extradited to Italy​

What do the authorities say?

The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) said the man extradited had been arrested by Sudanese police with the help of the British and Italian authorities. But after doubts were raised in the media about the suspect's identity, Italian prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi announced that "checks" were being carried out. "The identification of the suspect, his arrest, his handing over and his extradition to Italy were communicated to us in an official manner by the NCA and the Sudanese authorities through Interpol," the Palermo prosecutor told Italy's Ansa news agency. The NCA said it was "too soon to speculate" about the identity claims but stressed it was "confident in its intelligence-gathering process".

Who is Medhanie Tesfarmariam Berhe?

Medhanie Tesfarmariam Berhe is said to be an Eritrean asylum seeker who arrived in Sudan last year. People said to be his siblings or friends have identified him as the man brought to Italy this week. A woman who identifies herself as an older sister, Seghen Tesfarmariam Berhe, told the BBC's Newsnight programme from Khartoum that she had been living with her brother in the Sudanese capital for a year before he vanished two weeks ago. Her brother, she said, had come illegally to Sudan in March 2015 as a refugee after fleeing Eritrea via Ethiopia. He had been hoping, she said, to join another sister living in the US and to study and work there. A woman living in Norway who identified herself as another sister told Newsnight her brother was "completely innocent".

MORE

 

[Lewdog]

Good grief, mistakes happen, but you would think that if this is as high profile as they say, they would have better intelligence than this.

 

[Windship]

Most anti trafficking activist groups are more interested in criminalizing average people than catching traffickers. There was one of them on tv the other day, and what they were proud of was how they wrote a new law against sex tourism to target the whores' johns, and they wouldn't even address the pimp problem. This is all about making money, more laws, richer lawyers, richer judges, more arrests, richer prison service contractors, nothing to do with human trafficking. Hehehe.

The laws of supply and demand apply. If you want to make a meaningful change you attack it from both sides. Punish those creating the demand and the supply chain.

Here in cali, no one cares...there is no one to report illegals to. I spoke out and had my life threatened and the whites are on board with the trafficker/patron as are the mex here. Yes, the legal mexican Americans citizens want them too. They dont realize...the illegals are after their jobs too.

 

[Unkotare]

Most anti trafficking activist groups are more interested in criminalizing average people than catching traffickers. There was one of them on tv the other day, and what they were proud of was how they wrote a new law against sex tourism to target the whores' johns, and they wouldn't even address the pimp problem. This is all about making money, more laws, richer lawyers, richer judges, more arrests, richer prison service contractors, nothing to do with human trafficking. Hehehe.

The laws of supply and demand apply. If you want to make a meaningful change you attack it from both sides. Punish those creating the demand and the supply chain.

Here in cali, no one cares...there is no one to report illegals to. I spoke out and had my life threatened ......

 

[anotherlife]

Most anti trafficking activist groups are more interested in criminalizing average people than catching traffickers. There was one of them on tv the other day, and what they were proud of was how they wrote a new law against sex tourism to target the whores' johns, and they wouldn't even address the pimp problem. This is all about making money, more laws, richer lawyers, richer judges, more arrests, richer prison service contractors, nothing to do with human trafficking. Hehehe.

The laws of supply and demand apply. If you want to make a meaningful change you attack it from both sides. Punish those creating the demand and the supply chain.

Here in cali, no one cares...there is no one to report illegals to. I spoke out and had my life threatened and the whites are on board with the trafficker/patron as are the mex here. Yes, the legal mexican Americans citizens want them too. They dont realize...the illegals are after their jobs too.

If this is about the economy, then the key is the exchange rate.

 

[ChrisL]

Most anti trafficking activist groups are more interested in criminalizing average people than catching traffickers. There was one of them on tv the other day, and what they were proud of was how they wrote a new law against sex tourism to target the whores' johns, and they wouldn't even address the pimp problem. This is all about making money, more laws, richer lawyers, richer judges, more arrests, richer prison service contractors, nothing to do with human trafficking. Hehehe.

The laws of supply and demand apply. If you want to make a meaningful change you attack it from both sides. Punish those creating the demand and the supply chain.

The demand is human. Yes it is a liberal nirvana to kill humans and imprison humans.

And of course the poor little trafficked girls have nothing to do with getting themselves trafficked. Hehehehe.

Some of them do in fact volunteer as prostitutes, but some do not. We lump them altogether as "trafficked" because even the ones that come here voluntarily are here illegally to do illegal activities and so are trafficked. Some of them are lied to about their purpose for coming here. Some are told that they will be made models or actresses, etc. It's really sad either way unless you are a heartless bastard though.

 

[anotherlife]

Most anti trafficking activist groups are more interested in criminalizing average people than catching traffickers. There was one of them on tv the other day, and what they were proud of was how they wrote a new law against sex tourism to target the whores' johns, and they wouldn't even address the pimp problem. This is all about making money, more laws, richer lawyers, richer judges, more arrests, richer prison service contractors, nothing to do with human trafficking. Hehehe.

The laws of supply and demand apply. If you want to make a meaningful change you attack it from both sides. Punish those creating the demand and the supply chain.

The demand is human. Yes it is a liberal nirvana to kill humans and imprison humans.

And of course the poor little trafficked girls have nothing to do with getting themselves trafficked. Hehehehe.

Some of them do in fact volunteer as prostitutes, but some do not. We lump them altogether as "trafficked" because even the ones that come here voluntarily are here illegally to do illegal activities and so are trafficked. Some of them are lied to about their purpose for coming here. Some are told that they will be made models or actresses, etc. It's really sad either way unless you are a heartless bastard though.

Yes. I think it is very sad that we have to criminalize prostitution. If it was legalized, then the danger factor of it would greatly reduce too. Will never be totally safe, but will be manageable. That would put a big damper on the traffickers, not locking up average punks. And prostitution really doesn't deserve its stigma.

 

[Unkotare]

Most anti trafficking activist groups are more interested in criminalizing average people than catching traffickers. There was one of them on tv the other day, and what they were proud of was how they wrote a new law against sex tourism to target the whores' johns, and they wouldn't even address the pimp problem. This is all about making money, more laws, richer lawyers, richer judges, more arrests, richer prison service contractors, nothing to do with human trafficking. Hehehe.

The laws of supply and demand apply. If you want to make a meaningful change you attack it from both sides. Punish those creating the demand and the supply chain.

The demand is human. Yes it is a liberal nirvana to kill humans and imprison humans.

And of course the poor little trafficked girls have nothing to do with getting themselves trafficked. Hehehehe.

Some of them do in fact volunteer as prostitutes, but some do not. We lump them altogether as "trafficked" because even the ones that come here voluntarily are here illegally to do illegal activities and so are trafficked. Some of them are lied to about their purpose for coming here. Some are told that they will be made models or actresses, etc. It's really sad either way unless you are a heartless bastard though.

Yes. I think it is very sad that we have to criminalize prostitution. If it was legalized, then the danger factor of it would greatly reduce too. Will never be totally safe, but will be manageable. That would put a big damper on the traffickers, not locking up average punks. And prostitution really doesn't deserve its stigma.

Complete bullshit ^^^^^

 

[ChrisL]

Most anti trafficking activist groups are more interested in criminalizing average people than catching traffickers. There was one of them on tv the other day, and what they were proud of was how they wrote a new law against sex tourism to target the whores' johns, and they wouldn't even address the pimp problem. This is all about making money, more laws, richer lawyers, richer judges, more arrests, richer prison service contractors, nothing to do with human trafficking. Hehehe.

The laws of supply and demand apply. If you want to make a meaningful change you attack it from both sides. Punish those creating the demand and the supply chain.

The demand is human. Yes it is a liberal nirvana to kill humans and imprison humans.

And of course the poor little trafficked girls have nothing to do with getting themselves trafficked. Hehehehe.

Some of them do in fact volunteer as prostitutes, but some do not. We lump them altogether as "trafficked" because even the ones that come here voluntarily are here illegally to do illegal activities and so are trafficked. Some of them are lied to about their purpose for coming here. Some are told that they will be made models or actresses, etc. It's really sad either way unless you are a heartless bastard though.

Yes. I think it is very sad that we have to criminalize prostitution. If it was legalized, then the danger factor of it would greatly reduce too. Will never be totally safe, but will be manageable. That would put a big damper on the traffickers, not locking up average punks. And prostitution really doesn't deserve its stigma.

Complete bullshit ^^^^^

Hey, if some adult woman (or man) decides to sell their own body, then what is the problem? Why keep it underground where it is harder to keep track of what is going on and increases the potential for danger and abuse?

 

[Windship]

Complete bullshit ^^^^^[/QUOTE]

You should be banned. All you do is spam.

 

[anotherlife]

The laws of supply and demand apply. If you want to make a meaningful change you attack it from both sides. Punish those creating the demand and the supply chain.

The demand is human. Yes it is a liberal nirvana to kill humans and imprison humans.

And of course the poor little trafficked girls have nothing to do with getting themselves trafficked. Hehehehe.

Some of them do in fact volunteer as prostitutes, but some do not. We lump them altogether as "trafficked" because even the ones that come here voluntarily are here illegally to do illegal activities and so are trafficked. Some of them are lied to about their purpose for coming here. Some are told that they will be made models or actresses, etc. It's really sad either way unless you are a heartless bastard though.

Yes. I think it is very sad that we have to criminalize prostitution. If it was legalized, then the danger factor of it would greatly reduce too. Will never be totally safe, but will be manageable. That would put a big damper on the traffickers, not locking up average punks. And prostitution really doesn't deserve its stigma.

Complete bullshit ^^^^^

Hey, if some adult woman (or man) decides to sell their own body, then what is the problem? Why keep it underground where it is harder to keep track of what is going on and increases the potential for danger and abuse?

I'm afraid that it has always been a few of those feminist groups that were behind the criminalization of prostitution. Feminists and liberals crave to criminalize everyone. I am surprised that the new LGBT power of the movement hasnt reversed this yet. Amazing.

 

[ChrisL]

You either believe in sovereignty over your own body or you do not. Should government control your body and what you do with it?

 

[anotherlife]

You either believe in sovereignty over your own body or you do not. Should government control your body and what you do with it?

I think the body can never be sovereign. Everyone wants to give his or her body away, even when they abuse it to the point of worthlessness. And in that sense, the government controlling your obesity and such is only another user of your body amongst many. I think we are stewards of our bodies, not owners of it.