Traffickers - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

By PAULA DUPRAZ-DOBIAS and JACOB GOLDBERG

Services under threat after UN emergency funding for gender-based violence runs out

THE day after Luz Vargas crossed the border from Venezuela into Colombia, a group of men forced her into a car and told her to forget her family in Venezuela. She would not be able to contact them again, they said. Vargas thought they were joking. The former radiology assistant, now 38, decided in 2018 to leave her three children in Caracas to find a better-paying radiology job in Colombia. A friend arranged the transportation. She soon realised that her friend worked for traffickers. “They took my documents, locked me in the room, and drugged me,” Vargas told The New…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Invisible crimes like human trafficking rise during COVID-19

HUMAN RIGHTS

VILIANT RICHEY WHEN the violence she was suffering at home escalated during the lockdown, Maria (not her real name) decided to make the gut-wrenching decision to leave. But instead of finding freedom, she ended up in the hands of traffickers, isolated and with no documents, in a factory of a foreign country. This case, recently reported to my team by a Ukrainian NGO, is but one example of the hidden consequences that COVID-19 has had on human trafficking. Since the outbreak of the pandemic and the worldwide onset of lockdown measures, numerous countries reported a sharp decline in ‘traditional' crimes…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Traffickers, smugglers exploiting COVID-19, Interpol warns after global crackdown

WORLD

KIERAN GUILBERT DOZENS of suspected victims of human trafficking were rescued and more than 200 people arrested in a global crackdown on smuggling and trafficking networks, Interpol has announced. The recent week-long operation involved authorities from 32 nations across several continents and led to the identification of 3,500 irregular migrants, the global police agency said. About 100 potential trafficking victims were found and helped in Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Spain and Uruguay as part of Operation Turquesa II, Interpol said. The operation highlighted how the coronavirus pandemic has left a rising number of people vulnerable to trafficking worldwide,…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Taking on the Traffickers

MULTIMEDIA

THREE warriors battling the slave trade Valderez defied years of death threats. Van risks his life to mount undercover rescues. Maria escaped sexual slavery and now pursues the traffickers who profit from human misery. Three ordinary people with extraordinary stories - all on a mission to end modern-day slavery. Be it the Vietnamese lawyer who rescues women from China's sex trade or the Mexican survivor turned sleuth, these profiles explore the challenges of combating slavery. The pressure is high and the stakes are even higher for those dedicated to tackling the global trade in sex and labour that claims an estimated 25…