Involved

There are lots of words and statements being made about the very impressive economic growth rates in the Asia-Pacific region, but much less mentioned is the sinful trade in human beings which is still so very much prevailing and even growing in the region. All the countries in the region are involved in one way or another. From Japan, Korea, China, through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and onto Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. Hundreds of thousands of men, women & children are either legally or illegally shepherded through land, air and sea routes to chosen destinations each year. All these people are the currency of the trade in human beings in the Asia-Pacific region. The trade involves both forced or enticed transportation and relocation of people and the evil trafficking of people for totally illicit purposes like in the sex trade and child labour. Women and girls from China, Korea and Vietnam are trafficked to many places in S. E. Asia for the sex trade but some of them even ended up in faraway places like Hawaii and the continental US. Rhode Island for example, is just one of many US places famous for East Asian 'massage parlours'. These 'parlours' offer exclusively Asian delights. All made possible by the trade in human beings. The governments are truly responsible for the misery created by this immoral trade, from the governments in China, S.E. Asia to those in Australia and even the US. In the US, for example, an estimated 14,00 people are trafficked into the country each year. One of the reasons why the population of the US is growing so much faster than some other countries and why the population is much higher at the moment now than the official figure of 300 million. About forty per cent are tricked or misled into the sex trade, with about thirty per cent into domestic servitude and the rest 'allocated' to work not wanted by the locals, like collecting garbage, road sweeping, agricultural labour and sweatshop and restaurant work. Well, so much for the 'freedom & liberty' crap. In S. E. Asia, which is currently the centre of the trade, the various governments are closing one eye to the immoral activity. In this region the trade fully involves all the smugglers and the traffickers. From border officials to coastal fishermen, van drivers, document counterfeiters, crime syndicates to important political figures, these are the guys who are actively involved in the lucrative trade. The countries in S. E.Asia have ministers for this and that, including several portfolios concerning those matters related to relifion, but there is no post whatsoever to tackle the problems of people smuggling and people trafficking. Many women and children are smuggled in by syndicates over the land route from Myanmar over to south Thailand and then down to Malaysia. From here some go on to Indonesia and then to Australia. Countries like Australia and the US are greatly responsible for encouraging and nurturing this immoral trade. The demand for very cheap labour plus the ceaseless propaganda supposedly they being the land of paradise where their city streets are paved with gold have enticed poor people to risk everything in order to make that one trip abroad and usually this meant going through middlemen or brokers who run this immoral trade business in the Asia-Pacific

region. Brokers such as those in the Philippines are particularly notorious. They are well known for exporting young girls to Taiwan, Japan and eleswhere. These brokers or middlemen are well organised and many have the necessary protection purchased from the enforcement agencies as well as (from) the local political bigshots. Many big cities are known to harbour gangs of professional document couterfeiters and they operate from rented premises so that they could move easily. Many criminal syndicates operate this way, as years of experience have forged a good system of always being able to move one step ahead of the local authorities. Many informers are employed inside the local enforcement agencies and the criminals always get tipped off about any impending raid. As such, the trade in human cargo goes along unimpeded with the masterminds making huge profits all the time. It is like a shadow economy to the S. E. Asian countries especially Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. In China, as a result of its opening up to the world economy, the country has become a source of people helping to lubricate the trade in human cargo. Many poor people instead of being helped by the government to fend for themselves are instead duped into travelling abroad with the easy availability of passports and cheap travel fares now existing today. Young women are snared by crime syndicates who provide false offers of well-paid jobs only to deliver them to vice dens that dot the city skylines of Kuala Lumpur and Penang, Bangkok, Sibu and Haadyai and elsewhere. The very cheap air tickets now being flogged by the various airlines have in no small measure contributed to the problem. In Malaysia, those not 'qualified' for the flesh trade are roped in by the crime syndicates to operate as pickpockets, thieves at airport baggage terminals, roadside beggars and lately, the drug trade. Already the country has become a major transit centre for many types of illicit drugs, from the narcotic kind to the latest synthetic recreational substances. Some forest fringes and even housing estates have been 'invaded' or taken over by these people who entered the country either legally or illegally but usually the authorities prefer to keep a blind eye on the situation. Once in a while, there would be a raid on these areas, but only just a handful are caught and the masterminds, as usual, are nowhere near custody or justice. And so, the trade in human beings go on unabated. The smuggling and trafficking of people in the Asia-Pacific region have brought great riches to those who had dared to take risks and close their eyes to human suffering. In the process, they have been able to corrupt many along the way. The number of victims is almost countless. The ease of travel and the easy availability of passports and visas have contributed very greatly to the trade in human cargo. Many governments could talk about how they are tackling the issue, but at the same time their hands are busily counting the dirty money. Their hypocrisy is so thick and fast that their acting is aptly really laughable. Many citizens are always pleading for help due to poverty and the economy is still in the ICU, yet people are still being made to participate in the human trafficking business. Reports surface from time to time about 5,000 or 10,000 or even 70,000 foreigners coming over ostensibly to fill 'vacancies', yet the government has absolutely no remorse or shame on the matter. This, despite many

local youths currently being jobless and forced to embrace crime as a career. The Asia-Pacific region is top in the human cargo business but the important people like the UN boss and the EU countries are really unperturbed by it. Instead these people are busily uttering words like 'sanctions', 'more sanctions' and 'broader range of sanctions' towards those countries who refuse to prostrate or bow to their wishes. It is typically a case of modern 21st century hypocrisy. To hell with sanctions. Sanctions are evil, they don't work; no nation worth its salt would submit to sanctions. Sanctions are a disguise for the laying of future plans to conduct mass killing of civilians. Deal with the human smugglers and traffickers instead. On this alone you could qualify to enter heaven !