tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14456192109817410192024-03-12T16:10:28.280-07:00Human Trafficking Law BlogAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.comBlogger771125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-39771295599120628182017-03-09T12:39:00.000-08:002017-03-09T12:39:04.130-08:00WHO SHOULD SET THE ANTI-TRAFFICKING AGENDA?http://lex.jotwell.com/who-should-set-the-anti-trafficking-agenda/<br />
<br />
<div class="citation" style="background-color: white; color: #1e2f4b; font-family: "Myriad Pro", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;">
Janie Chuang, <a href="http://www.uclalawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Chuang-final_8.15.pdf" style="color: #1e2f4b; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Giving as Governance? Philanthrocapitalism and Modern-Day Slavery Abolitionism</em></a>, 62 <span style="color: #111a2a; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">UCLA L. Rev.</span> 1516 (2015).</div>
<div class="author-photo" style="background-color: white; float: right; font-family: "Myriad Pro", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.law.temple.edu/Pages/Faculty/N_Faculty_Ramji_Nogales_Main.aspx" style="color: #454545; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><img alt="Jaya Ramji-Nogales" class="photo" height="150" src="http://lex.jotwell.com/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/7.thumbnail.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: 1px solid rgb(211, 211, 211); display: block; float: left; margin: 0px; max-width: none; padding: 2px; position: relative; vertical-align: bottom; width: auto; z-index: 1000;" width="112" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="clear: left; font-size: 11.7px; line-height: 12.87px; margin-top: -2px; padding: 0px 0px 5px;">
<a href="http://www.law.temple.edu/Pages/Faculty/N_Faculty_Ramji_Nogales_Main.aspx" style="color: #454545; margin: 0px; padding: 5px 0px;" target="_blank">Jaya Ramji-Nogales</a></div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Myriad Pro", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">
As immigrant communities and immigrants’ rights advocates stare down the barrel of the Trump administration, anti-trafficking appears to be the sole immigration-related issue that might gain bipartisan traction. As has historically been the case with refugees and asylum seekers, Democrats and Republicans may find common ground in concern over the situation of trafficked individuals, especially those subject to sexual trafficking. Refugee advocates and scholars have long raised concerns about the impact of collaborations with strange bedfellows on law and policy-making. <a href="https://www.wcl.american.edu/faculty/chuang/" style="color: #454545; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Janie Chuang</a>’s article, <a href="http://www.uclalawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Chuang-final_8.15.pdf" style="color: #454545; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Giving as Governance? Philanthrocapitalism and Modern-Day Slavery Abolitionism</em></a>, raises a similar set of worries around the anti-trafficking agenda, introducing a new character to the cast: the philanthrocapitalist. This piece presents a comprehensive and thoughtful set of concerns about the outsized and largely unaccountable role of a new generation of hyperengaged donors in shaping the anti-trafficking policy agenda.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Myriad Pro", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">
In Prof. Chuang’s words, philanthrocapitalism is a “relatively new form of philanthropy, born of a new generation of the ultra-rich who aspire to use their business skills to fix the world’s social problems.” She explains that these donors play a much more direct role in shaping responses to societal issues than philanthropists in previous eras, who gave money to support third parties’ efforts to effect social change. This is a sound analysis, though it then raises the question of whether these are differences of degree or of kind. Philanthropists have always had some control over policymaking agendas through their selection of projects and varying levels of control through reporting and funding mechanisms. What is different about these new philanthrocapitalists?</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Myriad Pro", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">
Prof. Chuang provides several answers to this question through the case study of trafficking. The most meaningful difference is that for previous generations of philanthropists, external critiques of the organizations they funded were not viewed as criticisms of the donors themselves. This is a distinction in kind; because the policy work is directly identified with a very wealthy donor, philanthrocapitalism quells critique in a new and substantially more dangerous way. Another concern raised by Prof. Chuang, that philanthrocapitalists, as successful market actors, are more likely to focus on changing individual behaviors of actors rather than the “structures that undergird global labor markets and labor relations,” is apt, but a difference of degree. Other philanthropists, past and current, have often been marked by a similar hesitance to fund projects that undermine the foundations of their financial success; the same is true for government funding and policymaking. Similarly, Prof. Chuang’s charge that philanthrocapitalists lack accountability constraints is one that could be applied, though less powerfully, to non-governmental organizations funded by philanthropies. These organizations are not subject to democratic processes, and the accountability mechanisms that exist are limited to those created and enforced by donors.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Myriad Pro", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">
Set in the context of the anti-trafficking movement, Prof. Chuang argues that the dominance of philanthrocapitalism has had particularly pernicious results. She explains that philanthrocapitalists have promoted a discourse equating trafficking and forced labor with slavery. Though powerful rhetorically, this framing focuses attention on the actions of individuals, both traffickers and the trafficked. It thereby absolves the state and corporations for their roles in constructing and perpetuating global economic structures that push individuals to migration as an economic strategy. The “modern-day slavery” frame also enables a crime-control approach to traffickers, and a victimhood approach to the trafficked, who become subjects of rescue and pity rather than agency-bearing individuals.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Myriad Pro", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">
Prof. Chuang explains that the anti-trafficking movement is currently grappling with the choice between a criminalization approach or a broader strategy that would challenge global systems of exploitation. The corollary concern, of course, is that philanthrocapitalists have outsized power to influence this decision. Prof. Chuang identifies several problems with their dominance of the marketplace of ideas. First, philanthrocapitalists have deep faith and investment in the ability of markets to determine the effectiveness of social programs. In other words, they’re using capitalist tools to fix the shortcomings of the capitalist system. Again, it seems that other philanthropies and state programs would fall into a variation of this critique; these actors are similarly unlikely to present radical challenges to “the current economic and political status quo of global capitalism.” However, a starker difference arises from philanthrocapitalists’ embrace of market-based tools; in particular, Prof. Chuang notes their embrace of quantifiable metrics to assess social programs. This approach, which risks essentializing the complexities of social problems, seems to present a difference in kind from the approaches of other philanthropists, who might encourage the use of metrics but not likely to the exclusion of other assessment methods. An even more concerning shift in kind is the concentration of power in the hands of a few individuals who may own or donate generously to media outlets. The core of Prof. Chuang’s critique of philanthrocapitalism lies here in the consolidation of policymaking authority by a few powerful individuals who are able to effectively quell traditional avenues of criticism and accountability.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Myriad Pro", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">
Prof. Chuang completes her analysis with a specific case study of the Walk Free Foundation (WFF), which exemplifies many of the concerns she raises earlier in the paper. WFF aims to “end modern slavery” through the use of indicators, namely its annual Global Slavery Index, to measure the problem; the coordination of funds via a public-private partnership; and the vehicle of corporations as change agents. While Prof. Chuang’s critique of the use of ill-defined and unevenly applied indicators to set governance agendas was compelling, her concern about the abandonment of categories separately defined and regulated under international law in favor of the term “modern-day slavery” assumed a rationality to the law and its categories that this reader was less inclined to take at face value.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Myriad Pro", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">
Otherwise, Prof. Chuang’s concerns are borne out in concrete example. WFF seeks to criminalize the behavior of traffickers and encourage ethical corporate behavior but fails to even raise, let alone enforce, two crucial tools in protecting workers against exploitation: labor standards and inspections. Prof. Chuang also raises a broader point about development discourse: WFF assumes that as economic development increases, slavery will decrease, an approach that points the finger at the global South for the problem of trafficking while absolving the global North of responsibility for global economic inequality that makes migration a crucial economic strategy for the poor. She traces the disturbing muting of critical perspectives and lack of accountability with regard to the work of WFF, though her proffered counterexample, of Humanity United allowing NGOs to set the agenda, retained versions of these accountability and democratic legitimacy problems.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Myriad Pro", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1.5em; padding: 0px;">
Prof. Chuang closes with a powerful critique of philanthrocapitalism: that needs are determined from the top down, with a preference for dramatic and quick results rather than long-term projects leading to sustainable systematic change. She has made a convincing case to support this argument, though many of her criticisms can also be levied, to a lesser degree, against traditional philanthropies and state-based governance and policymaking. The quest for bottom-up policymaking is noble and necessary, but the challenges of creating real democratic accountability in setting the anti-trafficking agenda remain substantial, as they do more broadly when it comes to global governance of migration.</div>
<div class="attribution" style="background-color: white; color: #1e2f4b; display: inline-block; font-family: "Myriad Pro", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; width: 402.047px;">
Cite as: Jaya Ramji-Nogales, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Who Should Set the Anti-Trafficking Agenda?</em>, JOTWELL (March 8, 2017) (reviewing Janie Chuang, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Giving as Governance? Philanthrocapitalism and Modern-Day Slavery Abolitionism</em>, 62 <span style="color: #111a2a; font-weight: 900; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">UCLA L. Rev.</span> 1516 (2015)), <a href="http://lex.jotwell.com/who-should-set-the-anti-trafficking-agenda/" style="color: #1e2f4b; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">http://lex.jotwell.com/who-should-set-the-anti-trafficking-agenda/</a>.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-22541428774536545832015-09-27T17:29:00.003-07:002015-09-27T17:29:39.939-07:00Unprecedented lawsuit filed on behalf of child sex exploitation victim<h1 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Whitman Display Condensed Bold', Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 42px; line-height: 42px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 12px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Unprecedented lawsuit filed on behalf of child sex exploitation victim</h1>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Poynter Serif RE', Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 22px; margin: 3px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 20px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Rare case seeks monetary damages for rape ordeal. </div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 12.8024px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 12.8024px; margin: 8px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-right-color: rgb(211, 211, 211); border-right-style: solid; border-width: 0px 1px 0px 0px; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Benton Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 12px 1em 0px 0px; max-width: 600px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 1em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By <a href="http://www.startribune.com/david-chanen/10644586/" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="David Chanen">David Chanen</a></span> Star Tribune</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #909090; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Benton Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 12px; margin: 12px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">
SEPTEMBER 23, 2015 — <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1884708425" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">8:03AM</span></span></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Poynter Serif RE', Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: -0.3px; line-height: 21px;">Panyia Vang was a 14-year-old aspiring singer living deep in Laos’ countryside in 2006 when a much older man from Minnesota flew to her home and offered her a music video audition.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: 'Poynter Serif RE', Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: -0.3px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; min-height: 200px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
After a 12-hour bus ride to the capital city of Vientiane, Thiawachu Prataya took the shy girl to a hotel room and brutally raped her.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Vang, who soon found herself pregnant and bound to a traditional Hmong marriage with Prataya, moved to Minnesota with her father. There, Prataya, then 43, threatened to deny her visitation rights to their child unless he could continue to have sex with her.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
In late 2010, Vang met Twin Cities attorney Linda Miller, who immediately recognized that the strong young woman in her office had an extraordinary case that could help break through the legal roadblocks faced by young sex exploitation victims in confronting their perpetrators.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Miller, who has handled dozens of human trafficking cases in her long legal career, has filed an unprecedented lawsuit that attempts to recover monetary damages for violations of federal laws regarding child sex tourism and trafficking. She also is discussing the case with the U.S. attorney’s office in hopes of federal charges.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Miller has the support of many local and state Hmong advocacy groups that hope to end the tradition of child marriage among some in the Hmong community.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“This is just an enormous issue,” Miller said. “Her young life and innocence was crushed. It’s ruining so many people’s lives in Minnesota.”</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Der Yang, Prataya’s lawyer, said it would be inappropriate for her to comment on a pending suit. The case has come before U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen, who is reviewing a summary judgment motion filed by Miller. If Ericksen’s ruling goes in Miller’s favor, the case would end with a financial award and wouldn’t go to trial. Vang has asked for $450,000 in damages, the minimum amount allowed under the statute for the three criminal counts alleged in the suit.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding-top: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The legal picture</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Miller’s law firm brought the suit in 2011 under Masha’s Law, a 2006 federal statute that gives children the right to sue anyone who produces, distributes or possesses their pornographic images. The act is named for a 5-year-old who was adopted from a Russian orphanage by a man who began sexually abusing her the night she arrived in the U.S. Masha’s Law also allows the plaintiff to sue anyone who has downloaded the pornographic images.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Prataya admitted to all of the elements of child sex trafficking and child sex tourism under Masha’s Law, the suit said. He lived in Minnesota and traveled to Laos in 2006, and he had repeated sexual contact with Vang that he paid for.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
In court documents, Prataya claimed he didn’t know Vang was a minor. In a deposition, he said he wasn’t worried if she was 12 or 13, because that’s why he paid her family $5,000 to be his bride. He said the sex was consensual.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Miller’s suit got a boost from a 2013 federal Court of Appeals ruling that reinstated the convictions of two South Dakota men who had tried to pay for sex with minors over the Internet. The ruling now allows consumers, not just suppliers of commercial sex acts, to be prosecuted under the federal trafficking statute.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Former South Dakota U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson, who prosecuted the case, said Miller’s suit is unique because victims rarely go after their perpetrators for financial damages. Her suit has good legal standing to succeed, he said.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Miller believes the only other civil suit filed under Masha’s Law involved Thomas White, who died in a Mexican prison in 2013 while awaiting extradition to the U.S. None of the boys he was charged with molesting in Mexico and Thailand received any money from that suit.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding-top: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Offered fame, then raped</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Vang’s case came to Miller’s attention after Prataya went to Laos and gained custody of Vang’s baby in 2010. Miller, who had been handling trafficking and child exploitation cases for years, also was part of the state’s first human trafficking task force in 2005.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
While the circumstances of Vang’s ordeal may be unique, cases like hers are far from unusual. From 2010 to 2014, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated 4,279 human trafficking investigations, made 5,852 arrests and received 3,252 grand-jury indictments that led to 2,440 convictions. Last year, 1,036 children were identified in ICE and Homeland Security child exploitation and sex tourism investigations, and ICE’s office in St. Paul was responsible for 71 indictments.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Provinzino, the Minneapolis office’s human trafficking coordinator, is part of a statewide task force of law enforcement authorities and prosecutors who meet monthly to discuss cases and issues. They also strategize about new trafficking trends on social media and the growing sophistication of traffickers, she said.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“We have handled child sex tourism cases,” she said. “We see trafficking across the state. The most vulnerable kids are exploited, such as runaways, kids in juvenile detention, foster [children] and immigrants.”</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Twelve years before Prataya went to Laos in 2006, he had pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman for whom he was interpreting in a hospital. He had an office at a nightclub, where he received contact information for Vang’s family.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Vang, now 22, was lured to an audition for a music video by Prataya’s former wife, who called herself a movie star. Vang was offered beautiful clothes and the chance for fame, Miller said. She was able to flee the hotel after she was raped, but Prataya and some friends tracked her down and raped her again, the suit said.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I was raped when I was 14 in Laos, and when I escaped, I was recaptured, bleeding and crying, and taken back to be raped again,” Vang said through her attorney. “I thought my body, my life and my future were ruined forever.”</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Prataya has filed for bankruptcy and also has sought to have the suit dismissed. U.S. District Judge Robert Kressel ruled against him, calling Vang’s experience in Laos “heartbreaking.”</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; padding-top: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A well-known ‘secret’</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Vang’s story and those of other exploited Hmong women are known to Sia Her, executive director of the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans. In the Hmong community, such crimes involving young girls are referred to as “international abusive marriages,” she said.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“It’s a complex issue, but we recognize how harmful and dangerous it is,” she said. “This is an open secret that everybody knows in the Hmong community.”</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It takes courage for the victimized women or their children to come forward, she said. They are vulnerable to criticism because some believe that they agreed to participate in a cultural marriage and that the men are doing them a favor by bringing them to the U.S., she said.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Many elders will say this is an airing of dirty laundry,” Her said. “Or such marriages have always been allowed for men.”</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Vang always wanted Prataya to go to jail “because everything he does hurts the world,” she told Miller.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The attorney said that if she had to put her client on the stand for a trial, she would break everybody’s heart by telling the truth.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; letter-spacing: -0.300000011920929px; margin-bottom: 14px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“That’s what so special about her,” she said.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-80143890370790967432015-09-13T18:10:00.002-07:002015-09-13T18:10:19.879-07:00Consumers and Lawmakers Take Steps to End Forced Labor in Fishing<article class="story theme-main" id="story" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-top: 32px;"><header class="story-header" id="story-header" style="position: relative;"><div class="story-meta " id="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<h1 class="story-heading" id="story-heading" itemprop="headline" style="color: black; font-size: 2.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 2.375rem; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">
<span class="byline" itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/u/ian_urbina/index.html" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem;">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/u/ian_urbina/index.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by IAN URBINA"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="IAN URBINA" itemprop="name">IAN URBINA</span></a></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-09-13" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px;">SEPT. 13, 2015</time></h1>
</div>
</header><div class="story-body" id="story-body" style="margin-bottom: 45px;">
<div class="lede-container" style="clear: none; float: none;">
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo lede layout-large-horizontal" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003908658" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/09/14/world/OCEANS/OCEANS-master675.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 0px 15px 45px 0px; position: relative; width: 675px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: auto;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Cambodian fishermen last year in Songkhla, Thailand. Many work in slavery-like conditions." data-mediaviewer-credit="Adam Dean for The New York Times" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/09/14/world/OCEANS/OCEANS-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/09/14/world/OCEANS/OCEANS-master675.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/09/14/world/OCEANS/OCEANS-master675.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 675px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="border-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5;">
<span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150910-133236/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -414px -98px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="bottom: 23px; color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; position: static; right: 0px; width: auto;"><span class="caption-text">Cambodian fishermen last year in Songkhla, Thailand. Many work in slavery-like conditions.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Adam Dean for The New York Times</span></figcaption></figure><div class="lede-container-ads" style="clear: right; float: right;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="byline-sharetools-container" id="byline-sharetools-container" style="clear: left; float: left;">
<div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story " data-author="By IAN URBINA" data-description="Citing a recent New York Times series on lawlessness at seas, lawmakers have asked fishing and pet food companies to increase transparency and accountability in their labor practices." data-media="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/09/14/world/OCEANS/OCEANS-jumbo.jpg" data-publish-date="September 13, 2015" data-share-tools-initialized="1" data-shares="email,facebook|Share,twitter|Tweet,save,show-all|more,ad" data-title="Consumers and Lawmakers Take Steps to End Forced Labor in Fishing " data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/14/world/consumers-and-lawmakers-take-steps-to-end-forced-labor-in-fishing.html" id="sharetools-story" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 91px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/14/world/consumers-and-lawmakers-take-steps-to-end-forced-labor-in-fishing.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150913&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="sharetools-label visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share This Page</span><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="sharetool email-sharetool" style="border-top-width: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="Log in to email" data-share="email" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150910-133236/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -426px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Email</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150910-133236/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -288px -21px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Share</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool twitter-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="twitter" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150910-133236/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -439px -206px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Tweet</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool save-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="Log in to save" data-share="save" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150910-133236/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -30px -179px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Save</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool show-all-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="show-all" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150910-133236/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -402px -179px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">More</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="174" data-total-count="174" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
WASHINGTON — Federal lawmakers, State Department officials, fishing and pet food companies, and class-action lawyers are stepping up efforts to combat forced labor at sea.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="342" data-total-count="516" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Last week, a group of consumers filed a class-action <a href="http://www.hbsslaw.com/Templates/media/files/case_pdfs/Cat%20Food/Iams_Complaint.pdf" style="color: #326891;">lawsuit</a> in California against Mars, accusing the company, among the biggest producers of seafood-based pet food in the world, of failing to disclose its dependence on forced labor. A similar <a href="http://www.hbsslaw.com/Templates/media/files/08-27-15%20(Dkt%201)%20Complaint%20for%20Violation%20of%20California%20Consumer%20Protection%20Laws%20(2).PDF" style="color: #326891;">lawsuit</a> was filed in late August against Nestlé, also a major producer of seafood-based pet food.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="362" data-total-count="878" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Several lawmakers have also begun trying to address the problem. Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, proposed <a href="http://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-markey-continue-efforts-to-stop-human-trafficking-child-labor-with-supply-chain-transparency-bill" style="color: #326891;">legislation</a> in August aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in corporate supply chains. The bill requires larger companies to report in their financial filings what they are doing to prevent the use of trafficked workers.</div>
<aside class="marginalia related-coverage-marginalia nocontent robots-nocontent" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" module="RelatedCoverage-Marginalia" role="complementary" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: right; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 45px 7px; padding-top: 10px; width: 300px;"><div class="nocontent robots-nocontent">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/14/world/consumers-and-lawmakers-take-steps-to-end-forced-labor-in-fishing.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150913&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><header><h2 class="module-heading" style="color: black; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; margin: 0px 0px 1em; text-transform: uppercase;">
RELATED COVERAGE</h2>
</header><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/times-insider/2015/07/27/rats-waves-forced-labor-a-reporters-life-on-the-lawless-ocean/" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;">
<img a="" adam="" alt="Migrant fisherman working at night on a Thai boat. " and="" as="" being="" boat="" caught="" challenge="" close="" could="" dean.="" deck="" fishermen="" frenetically.="" from="" get="" getting="" heavy="" i="" illuminate="" in="" interrupting="" light="" machinery="" men="" mindful="" movement="" nets="" of="" out.="" photograph="" photographer="" possibility="" pulled="" real="" ropes="" safely="" says="" spotlight="" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/01/blogs/adam-dean/adam-dean-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" the="" these="" this="" to="" tried="" trying="" used="" very="" was="" where="" while="" without="" worked="" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 5.1875px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Rats, Waves, Forced Labor: A Reporter’s Life on the Lawless Ocean</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-07-27" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JULY 27, 2015</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
</ul>
</div>
</aside><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="357" data-total-count="1235" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York, who introduced similar legislation in the House, sent a <a href="http://maloney.house.gov/sites/maloney.house.gov/files/wysiwyg_uploaded/090415MaloneyNOAA.pdf" style="color: #326891;">letter</a> last week to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, which monitors the oceans, urging the agency to focus not just on illegal fishing but also on preventing “trafficking and slavery in the fishing industry.”</div>
<figure class="interactive interactive-embedded has-adjacency has-lede-adjacency limit-small layout-small" id="oceans-series-box" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: left; float: left; margin: 15px 45px 15px 0px; min-width: 300px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-top: 15px; position: relative; width: 300px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/14/world/consumers-and-lawmakers-take-steps-to-end-forced-labor-in-fishing.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150913&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-3" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><figcaption class="interactive-caption" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem;"><h2 class="interactive-headline" style="color: black; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 17px; font-weight: 200; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase;">
THE OUTLAW OCEAN</h2>
<div class="interactive-leadin" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin-top: 4px; max-width: 240px;">
Weak rules, little oversight and violence on the high seas.</div>
</figcaption><div class="interactive-graphic" style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<div id="g-graphic-series">
<article class="story theme-summary" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; margin-top: 5px; padding-top: 5px;"><div class="story-link">
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/world/stowaway-crime-scofflaw-ship.html" style="color: #326891; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; float: left; height: auto; margin: 2px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 50px; opacity: 1; width: 50px;">
<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2015/07/13/nyregion/OCEANS-SHIP-01/OCEANS-SHIP-01-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 50px;" /></div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1rem; margin: 0px; padding-top: 6px; width: 223.5px;">
<span style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; text-transform: uppercase;">PART 1</span><span class="story-heading-text" style="color: black; display: block; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">A Ship’s Trail of Crime</span></h2>
</a></div>
</article><article class="story theme-summary clearfix" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; margin-top: 5px; padding-top: 5px;"><div class="story-link">
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/20/world/middleeast/murder-at-sea-captured-on-video-but-killers-go-free.html" style="color: #326891; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; float: left; height: auto; margin: 2px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 50px; opacity: 1; width: 50px;">
<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2015/05/21/multimedia/outlaw-ocean-shooting/outlaw-ocean-shooting-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 50px;" /></div>
<h2 class="story-heading g-haslanguage" style="clear: right; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1rem; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; text-transform: uppercase;">PART 2</span><span class="story-heading-text" style="color: black; display: block; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Killing With Impunity</span></h2>
</a><div class="g-languages" style="float: left; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 14px; margin-top: 2px;">
<a href="http://cn.nytimes.com/world/20150720/c20oceans-violence" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;">点击查看本文中文版</a></div>
</div>
</article><article class="story theme-summary clearfix" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; margin-top: 5px; padding-top: 5px;"><div class="story-link">
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/27/world/outlaw-ocean-thailand-fishing-sea-slaves-pets.html" style="color: #326891; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; float: left; height: auto; margin: 2px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 50px; opacity: 1; width: 50px;">
<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2015/07/08/world/OCEANS-SLAVES-01/OCEANS-SLAVES-01-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 50px;" /></div>
<h2 class="story-heading g-haslanguage" style="clear: right; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1rem; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; text-transform: uppercase;">PART 3</span><span class="story-heading-text" style="color: black; display: block; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Enslaved on a Fishing Boat</span></h2>
</a><div class="g-languages" style="float: left; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 14px; margin-top: 2px;">
<a href="http://cn.nytimes.com/asia-pacific/20150727/c27seaslaves/" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;">点击查看本文中文版</a></div>
</div>
</article><article class="story theme-summary clearfix" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; margin-top: 5px; padding-top: 5px;"><div class="story-link">
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/world/a-renegade-trawler-hunted-for-10000-miles-by-vigilantes.html" style="color: #326891; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; float: left; height: auto; margin: 2px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 50px; opacity: 1; width: 50px;">
<img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2015/07/14/world/OCEANS-CHASE-01/OCEANS-CHASE-01-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 50px;" /></div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1rem; margin: 0px; padding-top: 6px; width: 223.5px;">
<span style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.5px; text-transform: uppercase;">PART 4</span><span class="story-heading-text" style="color: black; display: block; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">The Longest Chase</span></h2>
</a></div>
</article></div>
</div>
<div class="footer">
</div>
</figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="176" data-total-count="1411" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“I am particularly concerned by the fact that trafficking and other human rights abuses are part of the supply chain for seafood that is imported into the U.S.,” she wrote.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="300" data-total-count="1711" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
In taking these steps, the lawyers and lawmakers cited a recent New York Times series, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/oceans" style="color: #326891;">The Outlaw Ocean</a>, about lawlessness on the high seas. One of the articles focused on migrant boys and men who were sold onto fishing boats in the South China Sea, where they were held captive, sometimes for years.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="494" data-total-count="2205" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Thai Union Frozen Products, Thailand’s largest seafood company, responded to the series by saying that it planned to audit all of its suppliers to check for labor abuses by December. To better track conditions on board ships, it intended to significantly reduce the number of boats from which it buys fish, company officials said. “Thai Union is completely committed to eradicating human trafficking in any and every part of our supply chain,” said Sasinan Allmand, a company spokeswoman.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="255" data-total-count="2460" id="story-continues-4" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
In late July, Secretary of State John Kerry announced his agency’s decision to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/world/asia/thailands-low-ranking-in-human-trafficking-report-could-hamper-trade-deal.html" style="color: #326891;" title="Previous Times Coverage">keep Thailand on the lowest tier</a> of the State Department rankings on human trafficking, indicating that the country was not making a significant effort to combat the problem.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="433" data-total-count="2893" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“We want to bring to the public’s attention the full nature and scope of a $150 billion illicit trafficking industry,” Mr. Kerry said then. “Pick up today’s New York Times, front page story about a young Cambodian boy promised a construction job in <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/thailand/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" style="color: #326891;">Thailand</a>, goes across the border, finds himself held by armed men, and ultimately is pressed into service on the seas, three years at sea shackled by his neck to the boat.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="392" data-total-count="3285" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
In late September, the Senate Caucus to End Human Trafficking, chaired by Mr. Blumenthal and Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, is scheduled to hold a briefing about the problem of forced labor in fishing. The panel plans to discuss ways that the United States government might adjust its purchasing policy to reward companies that have better policies in place to prevent labor abuses.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="279" data-total-count="3564" id="story-continues-5" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Nestlé’s Fancy Feast cat food was among several major brands of seafood-based pet food exported to the United States by Thai Union, the<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/27/world/outlaw-ocean-thailand-fishing-sea-slaves-pets.html" style="color: #326891;">investigation</a> found. Some of the fish was processed by a subsidiary, Songkla Canning Public Co., and was caught on boats using forced labor.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="369" data-total-count="3933" id="story-continues-6" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The two class-action lawsuits filed in the Federal District Court for the Central District of California were brought by consumers who had purchased Fancy Feast, or Iams cat food, made by Mars. The lawsuits accuse the corporations of violating consumer protection laws, including false advertising and unfair competition, by failing to disclose the use of forced labor.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="366" data-total-count="4299" id="story-continues-7" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“Forced labor has no place in our supply chain,” said Keith Schopp, a spokesman for Nestlé Purina, while declining to comment on the litigation. He added that his company has, however, begun working with the auditing firm Verité to investigate the problem among its suppliers in Thailand. The results of that investigation will be published this year, he said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="468" data-total-count="4767" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Allyson Park, a spokeswoman for Mars, declined to comment on the lawsuit. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/27/world/outlaw-ocean-thailand-fishing-sea-slaves-pets.html" style="color: #326891;" title="Previous Times Coverage">One of The Times’ articles</a> focused on a Cambodian man, Lang Long, who was sold by traffickers to a Thai fishing boat, where he was shackled by the neck at times during his two years of captivity. Over the past year, Mars received more than 90,000 cartons of cat and dog food from the cannery supplied by one of the boats where Lang Long was held, according to United States Customs documents.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="298" data-total-count="5065" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
In response to Representative Maloney’s letter, Paul Doremus, the deputy assistant administrator for operations for the NOAA Fisheries program, said that his agency had a robust enforcement division but its mandate was to enforce laws primarily relating to illegal fishing, not human trafficking.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="469" data-total-count="5534" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
As fish stocks closer to shore are depleted, commercial fishing companies globally are relying more on a system called transshipment, which allows boats to venture farther out and stay at sea longer, sometimes months or years, as so-called motherships shuttle fish to land and haul supplies back. Fishing boats that depend on transshipment tend to have the worst labor abuses because they are so far out from land and few law enforcement officials patrol the high seas.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="267" data-total-count="5801" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Ms. Allmand, the Thai Union spokeswoman, said that her company was ending the use of transshipment by its own fleet, except on certain vessels with observers on board. She declined to specify whether the ban extended to other fishing companies that supply Thai Union.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="313" data-total-count="6114" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Human rights advocates and ocean conservationists said that while Thai Union’s shift away from transshipment was a positive development, the move did not go far enough since transshipment could still be used on boats operating outside Thai waters or on boats operated by other companies that sell to Thai Union.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-node-uid="1" data-para-count="212" data-total-count="6326" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“The Thai seafood industry and Thai government know what they need to do to fix these problems,” said John Hocevar, oceans campaign director for Greenpeace. “For now, they’re sticking to half measures."</div>
</div>
</article><section class="whats-next nocontent robots-nocontent" id="whats-next" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; width: 675px;"><section class="section-news" data-module="MoreInSection" data-src="" style="border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin: 0px auto 0px 0px; padding: 0px; width: 675px;"><ul class="menu layout-horizontal theme-story" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 40px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li style="display: block; float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 22px; padding: 0px; width: 210px;"><a class="story-link" data="section-news-1" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/us/cancer-immortality-cryogenics.html" image="" style="color: black; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><article class="story theme-summary"><div class="wide-thumb" style="margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: 210px;">
<br /></div>
</article></a></li>
</ul>
</section></section>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-84898476373393219112015-06-12T05:31:00.000-07:002015-06-12T05:31:37.155-07:00Myanmar to Bar Rohingya From Fleeing, but Won’t Address Their Plight<header class="story-header" id="story-header" style="position: relative;"><div class="story-meta " id="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<h1 class="story-heading" id="story-heading" itemprop="headline" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 2.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 2.375rem; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">
<span class="byline" itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/f/thomas_fuller/index.html" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem;">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/f/thomas_fuller/index.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by THOMAS FULLER"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="THOMAS FULLER" itemprop="name">THOMAS FULLER</span></a></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-06-12" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px;">JUNE 12, 2015</time></h1>
</div>
</header><div class="story-body" id="story-body">
<div class="lede-container" style="clear: right; float: right;">
<figure aria-label="media" class="media slideshow promo lede layout-jumbo-horizontal" data-media-action="modal" id="slideshow-100000003734440" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/11/world/asia/20150612-ROHINGYA-slide-EAYC/20150612-ROHINGYA-slide-EAYC-videoSixteenByNine1050.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="margin: 0px 0px 45px; position: relative; width: 1050px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/world/asia/myanmar-to-bar-rohingya-from-fleeing-but-wont-address-their-plight.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150612&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Slide Show</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;">
<img itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/11/world/asia/20150612-ROHINGYA-slide-EAYC/20150612-ROHINGYA-slide-EAYC-videoSixteenByNine1050.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/11/world/asia/20150612-ROHINGYA-slide-EAYC/20150612-ROHINGYA-slide-EAYC-videoSixteenByNine1050.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.15s linear, 0.15s ease-out; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; transition: opacity 0.15s linear, 0.15s ease-out; width: 1050px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.15s; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85098); border-radius: 5px; border: 1px solid rgba(76, 76, 76, 0.85098); bottom: 20px; box-sizing: border-box; left: 20px; max-width: 425px; min-height: 45px; min-width: 285px; padding: 15px 20px; position: absolute; transition: background-color 0.15s; z-index: 5;">
<span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150611-155155/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -94px -98px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; float: left; height: 28px; line-height: 0; margin: 3px 13px 0px -3px; vertical-align: middle; width: 32px;"></span><div class="media-meta" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 88%;">
<h5 class="kicker" style="color: white; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.75rem; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: 0.075em; line-height: 1rem; margin: 0px 0px 2px; text-transform: uppercase;">
<span class="kicker-label" style="display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75rem; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0.05em; line-height: 0.8125rem;">SLIDE SHOW</span><span class="pipe" style="color: #cccccc; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.8125rem; margin: 0px 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: text-bottom;">|</span><span class="counter" style="display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.8125rem; margin: 0px 0px -1px 8px; text-transform: capitalize; vertical-align: text-bottom;">11 Photos</span></h5>
<h4 class="headline" style="color: white; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.005em; line-height: 1.375rem; margin: 4px 0px 0px;">
For the Rohingya of Myanmar, a Hardscrabble Existence</h4>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="description" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; max-width: 675px;"><h4 class="headline" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 1px; line-height: 1rem; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">
For the Rohingya of Myanmar, a Hardscrabble Existence</h4>
<div class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem;">
<span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Tomas Munita for The New York Times</div>
</figcaption></figure><div class="lede-container-ads" style="clear: right; float: right;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="byline-sharetools-container" id="byline-sharetools-container" style="clear: left; float: left;">
<div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story " data-author="By THOMAS FULLER" data-description="The government says it will stop the minority from leaving on traffickers’ boats, but it refuses to address the circumstances that drive so many to seek escape." data-media="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/11/world/asia/20150612-ROHINGYA-slide-EAYC/20150612-ROHINGYA-slide-EAYC-jumbo.jpg" data-publish-date="June 12, 2015" data-share-tools-initialized="1" data-shares="email,facebook|Share,twitter|Tweet,save,show-all|more,ad" data-title="Myanmar to Bar Rohingya From Fleeing, but Won’t Address Their Plight" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/world/asia/myanmar-to-bar-rohingya-from-fleeing-but-wont-address-their-plight.html" id="sharetools-story" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 91px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/world/asia/myanmar-to-bar-rohingya-from-fleeing-but-wont-address-their-plight.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150612&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="sharetools-label visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share This Page</span><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="sharetool email-sharetool" style="border-top-width: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="Log in to email" data-share="email" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150611-155155/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -426px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Email</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150611-155155/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -255px -21px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Share</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool twitter-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="twitter" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150611-155155/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -357px -200px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Tweet</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool save-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="Log in to save" data-share="save" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150611-155155/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -454px -140px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Save</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool show-all-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="show-all" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150611-155155/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -320px -173px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">More</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="278" data-total-count="278" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
SITTWE, Myanmar — The government of <a class="meta-loc" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/myanmar/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" style="color: #326891;" title="More news and information about Myanmar.">Myanmar</a> says it is determined to stop the departures of migrants fleeing religious persecution in places like this bitterly divided port city, but it will not budge in its refusal to address the conditions driving the exodus across the sea.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="213" data-total-count="491" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Tens of thousands of Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group, fled the country in recent months, setting off a regional crisis when boatloads of migrants were <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/world/asia/burmese-rohingya-bangladeshi-migrants-andaman-sea.html" style="color: #326891;" title="Times article.">abandoned at sea</a> or <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/world/asia/jungle-camp-in-malaysia-yields-graves-and-signs-of-migrant-abuse.html" style="color: #326891;" title="Times article.">abused and held for ransom</a> by traffickers.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="258" data-total-count="749" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
But the government insists that most of the migrants do not belong in Myanmar, referring to them as Bengalis, and says it has no plans to alter policies that strip them of basic rights and confine more than 140,000 to a crowded, squalid government camp here.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="181" data-total-count="930" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“There is no change in the government’s policy toward the Bengalis,” U Zaw Htay, a deputy director general of the Myanmar president’s office, said in an interview this week.</div>
<aside class="marginalia related-coverage-marginalia nocontent robots-nocontent" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" module="RelatedCoverage-Marginalia" role="complementary" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: right; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 45px 7px; padding-top: 10px; width: 300px;"><div class="nocontent robots-nocontent">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/world/asia/myanmar-to-bar-rohingya-from-fleeing-but-wont-address-their-plight.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150612&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><header><h2 class="module-heading" style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; margin: 0px 0px 1em; text-transform: uppercase;">
RELATED COVERAGE</h2>
</header><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/world/asia/myanmars-missing-rohingya.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;">
<img alt="An area called " camp="" dwellings="" for="" have="" improvise="" in="" materials="" myanmar.="" named="" plastic="" rohingya="" scavenged="" sittwe="" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/12/world/11rohingya-listy/11rohingya-listy-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" the="" to="" used="" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 41.1875px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Myanmar’s Missing Rohingya</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-06-12" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JUNE 12, 2015</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/world/asia/rohingya-migrants-malaysia.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;">
<img alt="Malaysia offers at least some modicum of opportunity for Rohingya migrants. Rohingya gathered at an apartment block in Kuala Lumpur that is home to several families." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/04/world/04MALAYSIA-1/04MALAYSIA-1-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 41.1875px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Even in Safety of Malaysia, Rohingya Migrants Face Bleak Prospects</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-06-03" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JUNE 3, 2015</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/world/asia/myanmar-rohingya-refugees-rakhine-burma.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;">
<img alt="A camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/07/world/asia/07myanmar-ss-slide-A0MV/07myanmar-ss-slide-A0MV-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 41.1875px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Rohingya Refugees From Myanmar Have Been Persecuted for Decades</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-05-12" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">MAY 12, 2015</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/world/asia/jungle-camp-in-malaysia-yields-graves-and-signs-of-migrant-abuse.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;">
<img alt="A Malaysian police officer stood guard on Tuesday at a deserted camp in Bukit Wang Burma, where smugglers are believed to have held migrants." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/27/world/27camps-web/27camps-web-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 41.1875px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Jungle Camp in Malaysia Yields Graves and Signs of Migrant Abuse</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-05-26" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">MAY 26, 2015</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/07/world/asia/rohingya-myanmar-rakhine-state-thailand-malaysia.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;">
<img alt="A camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Sittwe, Myanmar." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/07/world/asia/07myanmar-ss-slide-A0MV/07myanmar-ss-slide-A0MV-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 42.15625px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Myanmar Policy’s Message to Muslims: Get Out </span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-11-06" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">NOV. 6, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
</ul>
</div>
</aside><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="259" data-total-count="1189" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Under international pressure, as crowded vessels baked and bobbed in the ocean for days with no country willing to take them in, regional leaders met in Bangkok last month, and the immediate crisis was relieved when the migrants were <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/world/asia/myanmar-deflects-un-criticism-over-rohingya.html" style="color: #326891;" title="Times article.">granted temporary refuge</a>.</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded has-adjacency has-lede-adjacency layout-large-horizontal media-100000003734442 ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003734442" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/12/world/asia/12myanmar-inline/12myanmar-inline-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="margin: 45px 0px 45px 135px; position: relative; width: 540px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: 540px;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Rashid Ahmad, a 13-year-old who has no control over his arms and legs, was comforted by his mother at “plastic camp,” part of a government camp in Sittwe, Myanmar, named for the scavenged materials residents have used to improvise dwellings. Doctors said he had polio, his mother says." data-mediaviewer-credit="Tomas Munita for The New York Times" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/12/world/asia/12myanmar-inline/12myanmar-inline-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/12/world/asia/12myanmar-inline/12myanmar-inline-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/12/world/asia/12myanmar-inline/12myanmar-inline-articleLarge.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 540px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5;">
<span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150611-155155/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -350px -98px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="bottom: 23px; color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; right: 0px; width: auto;"><span class="caption-text">Rashid Ahmad, a 13-year-old who has no control over his arms and legs, was comforted by his mother at “plastic camp,” part of a government camp in Sittwe, Myanmar, named for the scavenged materials residents have used to improvise dwellings. Doctors said he had polio, his mother says.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Tomas Munita for The New York Times</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="97" data-total-count="1286" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
But any hope that Myanmar might have been persuaded to soften its position was quickly dispelled.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="175" data-total-count="1461" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
When a government delegation returned from the talks, the state news media hailed the officials as managing “to refute accusations that the boat people were from Myanmar.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="95" data-total-count="1556" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
And those people, despite the reports of horror stories at sea, are no less desperate to leave.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="202" data-total-count="1758" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“I can’t stand living here anymore,” said Nur Islam, a fisherman who has languished for two and a half years in the sprawling government encampment. “I have children, and I can’t feed them.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="133" data-total-count="1891" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Two of his six children left by boat for Malaysia this year, and although he has not heard from them, he says he is ready to go, too.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="98" data-total-count="1989" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“If I get my hands on any money,” he vowed, “I’m going to Malaysia as soon as possible.”</div>
<h4 class="story-subheading story-content" data-para-count="15" data-total-count="2004" id="subhead-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.8125rem; margin: 33px 0px 14px 135px; width: 532px;">
Temporary Fixes</h4>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="71" data-total-count="2075" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
If the exodus has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/world/asia/myanmar-bangladesh-rohingya-migrant-crisis-shows-signs-of-ebbing.html" style="color: #326891;" title="Times article.">subsided for now</a>, the reasons appear to be temporary.</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="promo media video embedded has-adjacency layout-large-horizontal " data-autoplay="false" data-embedded="false" data-media-action="modal" data-share-options-url="" data-videoid="100000003733849" role="group" style="margin: 45px 0px 45px 135px; position: relative; width: 540px;"><div class="video-bind" id="video_outer_position_embedded_100000003733849" style="bottom: 0px; height: 378.75px; left: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; right: 0px; top: 0px; width: 540px; z-index: 10;">
<div class="video-container nytd-player-container vhs-plugin-sharetools vhs-m" id="video_inner_position_embedded_100000003733849" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: rgb(0, 0, 0); height: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 303.75px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; width: 540px;">
<div class="nytd-player-poster" style="background: url(http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/11/world/myanmar-video/myanmar-video-videoSixteenByNine540.jpg) 50% 50% / cover no-repeat; cursor: pointer; height: 303.75px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 540px; z-index: 10;">
<div class="vhs-player-cover-background vhs-article-cover" style="background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, transparent, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039)) no-repeat transparent; bottom: 0px; height: 121.5px; left: 0px; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; width: 540px; z-index: 1;">
</div>
<div class="vhs-media-action-overlay vhs-article-cover" style="-webkit-transition: background-color 0.3s; bottom: 27px; box-sizing: border-box; color: white; padding: 0px 27px; position: absolute; transition: background-color 0.3s; white-space: nowrap; width: 540px; z-index: 2;">
<span class="vhs-icon-play vhs-cover-play-button" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-transition: all 0.3s; background-image: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat; border-radius: 200px; border: 2px solid transparent; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: vhs; font-size: 48px; height: auto; left: 0px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 12px; margin-top: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit; top: -1px; transition: all 0.3s; vertical-align: middle; width: auto;"></span> <div class="vhs-metadata-container" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0px; line-height: 1; padding-right: 70px; vertical-align: middle; width: 486px;">
<section class="vhs-metadata" style="line-height: 1; vertical-align: middle;"><span class="vhs-show-name" style="display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-karnak-display-130124; font-size: 11px; margin-top: 3px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: middle;">ASIA PACIFIC</span> <span class="vhs-byline" style="-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden; border-left-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; left: 0px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 8px; max-width: calc(100% - 180px); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 8px; position: relative; text-overflow: ellipsis; top: 0px; vertical-align: middle;">By Poypiti Amatatham, Channon Hodge and Thomas Fuller</span> <span class="vhs-video-length" style="display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: middle;">2:29</span></section><section class="vhs-video-title" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham; font-size: 24px; line-height: normal; margin-top: 8px; max-width: 100%; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis;">For Rohingya, Days of Waiting</section></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/world/asia/myanmar-to-bar-rohingya-from-fleeing-but-wont-address-their-plight.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150612&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-4" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Video</span><figcaption class="caption" style="bottom: 23px; color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin-top: 7px; right: 0px; width: auto;"><h4 class="headline" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #333333; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 1px; line-height: 1rem; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">
For Rohingya, Days of Waiting</h4>
<div class="summary-credit" style="overflow: visible;">
<div class="summary" style="display: inline; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1em;">
Thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been fleeing persecution in Myanmar. Recently the departures have abated, though the situation may be temporary. And many remain eager to leave.</div>
<span class="credit video-credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem; margin-bottom: 0px;">By Poypiti Amatatham, Channon Hodge and Thomas Fuller on <span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Publish Date</span>June 12, 2015. </span><span class="credit photo-credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem; margin-bottom: 0px;">Photo by Tomas Munita for The New York Times.</span></div>
</figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="279" data-total-count="2354" id="story-continues-4" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
In one concession to international pressure, the Myanmar government said it would monitor boat traffic in an effort to crack down on human trafficking. But given the government’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/07/world/asia/rohingya-myanmar-rakhine-state-thailand-malaysia.html" style="color: #326891;" title="Times article.">desire for the Rohingya people to leave</a>, its commitment to policing the beaches here may not last.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="222" data-total-count="2576" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
More to the point, perhaps, the traffickers are lying low after a crackdown on their transit camps in southern Thailand and reports of their abuses have filtered back here. Many of those who left <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/world/asia/myanmars-missing-rohingya.html" style="color: #326891;">are still unaccounted for</a>.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="177" data-total-count="2753" id="story-continues-5" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Last week a man accused of being a trafficker, U Maung Hla, was beaten by a mob wielding metal rods and axes in a vigilante attack by family members of migrants held for ransom.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="138" data-total-count="2891" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
But perhaps the main reason the migration has slowed is the weather. The arrival of the monsoon season has made seas choppy and dangerous.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="130" data-total-count="3021" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Calmer waters will return in October and November, and the traffickers will return as well, experts say, as long as demand exists.</div>
<h4 class="story-subheading story-content" data-para-count="26" data-total-count="3047" id="subhead-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.8125rem; margin: 33px 0px 14px 135px; width: 532px;">
Bamboo Huts and Raw Sewage</h4>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="269" data-total-count="3316" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Since 2012, when <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/world/asia/dozens-dead-in-myanmar-as-sectarian-violence-erupts-again.html" style="color: #326891;" title="Times article.">violence erupted</a> between Muslims and Buddhists here and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/world/asia/extremism-rises-among-myanmar-buddhists-wary-of-muslim-minority.html" style="color: #326891;" title="Times article.">Buddhist mobs</a> set fire to Rohingya homes, the government has herded tens of thousands of Rohingya from Sittwe and other towns and villages into the camp here, an area of only several square miles.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="272" data-total-count="3588" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Some 140,000 Rohingya live here in rows of flimsy bamboo huts without electricity. Raw sewage flows through open concrete drains, children are undernourished, and health care is dispensed by overwhelmed medical personnel who have no facility for treating serious ailments.</div>
<figure class="interactive promo has-adjacency layout-large" id="Understanding-Southeast-Asias-Migrant-Crisis" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: left; cursor: pointer; margin: 15px auto 15px 135px; max-width: 945px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-top: 15px; position: relative; width: 540px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/world/asia/myanmar-to-bar-rohingya-from-fleeing-but-wont-address-their-plight.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150612&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-6" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #333333; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/14/world/asia/Understanding-Southeast-Asias-Migrant-Crisis.html" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><figcaption class="interactive-caption" style="color: #666666; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem; margin-right: 15px; width: 210px;"><h3 class="interactive-kicker" style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 0.8125rem; margin: 0px 0px 5px; text-transform: uppercase;">
GRAPHIC</h3>
<h2 class="interactive-headline" style="color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.3125rem; margin: 0px 0px 3px;">
Understanding Southeast Asia’s Migrant Crisis</h2>
<div class="interactive-summary" style="font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-bottom: 10px;">
About 25,000 migrants left Myanmar and Bangladesh on rickety smugglers’ boats in the first three months of 2015, according to a United Nations estimate.</div>
</figcaption><div class="interactive-image-container" style="float: right; position: relative; width: 315px;">
<div class="interactive-image" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.3s; transition: opacity 0.3s;">
<img src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/14/world/asia/Understanding-Southeast-Asias-Migrant-Crisis-1431648936659/Understanding-Southeast-Asias-Migrant-Crisis-1431648936659-master495.png" style="border: none; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 315px;" /></div>
<div class="interactive-overlay" style="background-color: #326891; border-radius: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 66, 118); bottom: 15px; left: 15px; padding: 15px; position: absolute;">
<span class="icon sprite-icon interactive-overlay-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150611-155155/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -461px -54px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 22px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: -5px; width: 18px;"></span> <span class="interactive-overlay-text" style="color: white; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75rem; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.1875rem; margin-left: 4px; text-transform: uppercase;">OPEN GRAPHIC</span></div>
</div>
</a></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="211" data-total-count="3799" id="story-continues-6" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The Rohingya here are barred from leaving, a rule that applies even to those who have homes just outside camp boundaries. The government has not said when, if ever, they will be allowed to return to their homes.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="259" data-total-count="4058" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“If they force us to stay here longer, every last person will crawl onto boats if they have to,” said Dil Mohamad, 32, a former grocery shop owner who was forced to flee his home in Sittwe when his Rohingya Muslim neighborhood was burned by Buddhist mobs.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="282" data-total-count="4340" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The Rohingya who live outside the camps, in countless villages along the border with <a class="meta-loc" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/bangladesh/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" style="color: #326891;" title="More news and information about Bangladesh.">Bangladesh</a>, describe a different kind of imprisonment. They are closely monitored by the authorities, conscripted into forced labor and barred from travel outside their villages without permission.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="202" data-total-count="4542" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The Rohingya are denied citizenship, though many say their families have lived in Myanmar since before there was a border between what was then Burma and the rest of Britain’s empire in southern Asia.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="251" data-total-count="4793" id="story-continues-7" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Until the government’s official policy of discrimination took hold in the early 1990s and extremist Buddhist teachings espousing hatred of Muslims swept the country, many Rohingya worked for the government as schoolteachers, firefighters and clerks.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="390" data-total-count="5183" id="story-continues-8" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“I’ve told the authorities many times that I am a citizen of this country and that my parents were also citizens,” said Noor Muhammad, 60, a former sergeant in the Myanmar police force who is now interned in the camp. “The government says, ‘Sit here,’ and I followed their orders. But I’m not sure how long we can remain tolerant anymore. We are at the end of our patience.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="331" data-total-count="5514" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Police officers in Sittwe confirm that Mr. Muhammad was a sergeant, but they distance themselves from him. “It is very difficult to trust the kalar,” said U Khin Maung Kyaw, a Buddhist officer, using a derogatory term for people from the Indian subcontinent. “They want to make problems. They want to stab you in the back.”</div>
<h4 class="story-subheading story-content" data-para-count="17" data-total-count="5531" id="subhead-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.5625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.8125rem; margin: 33px 0px 14px 135px; width: 532px;">
Improvised Living</h4>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="220" data-total-count="5751" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Most families in the camp are almost entirely dependent on assistance from the United Nations and foreign aid agencies. The thousands who are not registered camp residents are not eligible for the United Nations rations.</div>
<figure class="interactive promo has-adjacency layout-large" id="15rohingya-explainer" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: left; cursor: pointer; margin: 15px auto 15px 135px; max-width: 945px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-top: 15px; position: relative; width: 540px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/13/world/asia/myanmar-to-bar-rohingya-from-fleeing-but-wont-address-their-plight.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150612&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-9" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #333333; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/13/world/asia/15rohingya-explainer.html" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><figcaption class="interactive-caption" style="color: #666666; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem; margin-right: 15px; width: 210px;"><h2 class="interactive-headline" style="color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.3125rem; margin: 0px 0px 3px;">
How Myanmar and Its Neighbors Are Responding to the Rohingya Crisis</h2>
<div class="interactive-summary" style="font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Myanmar and its neighbors see the people of the Rohingya ethnic group and the seaborne trafficking of migrants in the region very differently, complicating the refugees’ plight.</div>
</figcaption><div class="interactive-image-container" style="float: right; position: relative; width: 315px;">
<div class="interactive-image" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.3s; transition: opacity 0.3s;">
<img src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/07/world/asia/07myanmar-ss-slide-O02E/07myanmar-ss-slide-O02E-master495.jpg" style="border: none; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 315px;" /></div>
<div class="interactive-overlay" style="background-color: #326891; border-radius: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 66, 118); bottom: 15px; left: 15px; padding: 15px; position: absolute;">
<span class="icon sprite-icon interactive-overlay-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150611-155155/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -461px -54px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 22px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: -5px; width: 18px;"></span></div>
</div>
</a></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="204" data-total-count="5955" id="story-continues-9" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Until two months ago, the government provided rice rations to the unregistered, but those have stopped. Very few people in the camp have jobs, so they survive off their savings and the kindness of others.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="415" data-total-count="6370" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Mr. Islam, the fisherman, lives in a section called “plastic camp,” named for the scavenged materials the unregistered residents have used to improvise dwellings. In the shack next door, a 50-year-old man with tuberculosis can barely move from his bed. Sitting on a plastic chair outside is Rashid Ahmad, a listless 13-year-old with no control over his arms and legs. Doctors said he had polio, his mother says.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="41" data-total-count="6411" id="story-continues-10" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
From here, a boat to anywhere looks good.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="241" data-total-count="6652" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The estimated 25,000 people who fled Myanmar and Bangladesh this year departed from numerous points along the Bay of Bengal, but the main departure point for migrants here was the beach at Ohn Daw Gyi, a fishing village adjacent to the camp.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="186" data-total-count="6838" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
There, within full view of a police outpost, they boarded small boats that took them to larger boats waiting at sea. Camp residents say traffickers paid the police to look the other way.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="169" data-total-count="7007" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The police officers at the camp have recently been reshuffled, and the new head of the police outpost, Lt. Aung Toe Win, says all boats leaving the area will be checked.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="210" data-total-count="7217" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“I can’t tell you what happened before the reshuffle,” he said. “Our new instructions are that every boat needs to show permission before leaving. We won’t let any of the traffickers’ boats pass.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="208" data-total-count="7425" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Kobir Muhammad, a fisherman who was repairing a boat there one recent afternoon, said there had not been a departure of migrants in two months. “If the police don’t allow it, no one can leave,” he said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="139" data-total-count="7564" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
But camp residents say that with so many people crammed into so little space and hope in such short supply, more departures are inevitable.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="305" data-total-count="7869" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“There are no jobs here; there’s not enough food,” said Abdul Salam, 54, a Rohingya businessman who prospered selling dried fish before his home was burned down three years ago. “They hear that in Malaysia they can get jobs. If they can get even very menial jobs, it’s better than being here.”</div>
<footer class="story-footer story-content" style="margin-bottom: 45px; margin-left: 135px; margin-top: 24px; width: 532px;"><div class="story-meta">
<div class="story-notes">
<div style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-bottom: 1em;">
Wai Moe contributed reporting.</div>
</div>
</div>
</footer><nav class="next-in next-in-theme-standard story-content" id="next-in" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; margin-bottom: 62px; margin-left: 135px; margin-top: 45px; padding-top: 11px; width: 532px;"><h2 class="module-heading" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 0.9375rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 25%; text-transform: uppercase;">
NEXT IN ASIA PACIFIC</h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<article style="background-color: white; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: right; width: 372.390625px;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/12/business/international/idle-china-developers-a-drag-on-economy.html" style="color: black; display: block; position: relative; text-decoration: none;"></a></article></nav></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-65456642179009224272015-06-05T05:09:00.002-07:002015-06-05T05:09:25.443-07:0068 Migrants Are Found Locked Inside Trucks at British Port<header class="story-header" id="story-header" style="position: relative;"><div class="story-meta " id="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<div class="story-meta-footer" id="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-top: 2px;">
<div class="byline-dateline" style="float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-right: 45px; margin-top: 4px;">
<span class="byline" itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/dan_bilefsky/index.html" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem;">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/dan_bilefsky/index.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by DAN BILEFSKY"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="DAN BILEFSKY" itemprop="name">DAN BILEFSKY</span></a></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-06-05" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px;">JUNE 5, 2015</time></div>
</div>
</div>
</header><div class="story-body" id="story-body">
<div class="lede-container" style="clear: none; float: none;">
<div class="lede-container-ads" style="clear: right; float: right;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="byline-sharetools-container" id="byline-sharetools-container" style="clear: left; float: left;">
<div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story " data-author="By DAN BILEFSKY" data-description="They had been crammed into the vehicles, and several were suffering from chest and abdominal pain, the local ambulance service said." data-media="" data-publish-date="June 5, 2015" data-share-tools-initialized="1" data-shares="email,facebook|Share,twitter|Tweet,save,show-all|more,ad" data-title="68 Migrants Are Found Locked Inside Trucks at British Port" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/06/world/europe/migrants-trucks-locked-harwich-essex-port-england.html" id="sharetools-story" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 91px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/06/world/europe/migrants-trucks-locked-harwich-essex-port-england.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150605&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="sharetools-label visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share This Page</span><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="sharetool email-sharetool" style="border-top-width: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="Log in to email" data-share="email" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150604-132243/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -426px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Email</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150604-132243/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -255px -21px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Share</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool twitter-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="twitter" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150604-132243/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -357px -200px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Tweet</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool save-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="Log in to save" data-share="save" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150604-132243/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -454px -140px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Save</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool show-all-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="show-all" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150604-132243/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -320px -173px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">More</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="184" data-total-count="184" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
LONDON — Sixty-eight migrants, including two pregnant women and 15 children, have been found locked inside four trucks at a port in southeast England, the authorities said on Friday.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="233" data-total-count="417" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The Home Office said that four Polish truck drivers had been arrested after the discovery, a reminder of the extreme measures that migrants will take to find refuge in Europe, at Harwich International Port in Essex on Thursday night.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="192" data-total-count="609" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The East of England Ambulance Service said several of the migrants, who had been crammed into and locked inside the trucks, were suffering from chest and abdominal pain and were feeling faint.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="301" data-total-count="910" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Seven people, including two women, were taken to the hospital, while the remainder were turned over to the border authorities. The Home Office said the migrants — 35 Afghans, 22 Chinese, 10 Vietnamese and one Russian — were discovered by Border Force officers after they searched several vehicles.</div>
<aside class="marginalia related-coverage-marginalia nocontent robots-nocontent" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" module="RelatedCoverage-Marginalia" role="complementary" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: right; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 45px 7px; padding-top: 10px; width: 300px;"><div class="nocontent robots-nocontent">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/06/world/europe/migrants-trucks-locked-harwich-essex-port-england.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150605&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><header><h2 class="module-heading" style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; margin: 0px 0px 1em; text-transform: uppercase;">
<br /></h2>
</header><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px;"></li>
</ul>
</div>
</aside><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="311" data-total-count="1221" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Europe is grappling with spiraling numbers of migrants, who often reach European shores by crossing the Mediterranean in overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels. The issue was called into sharp relief in April when a ship carrying mostly African migrants capsized off the coast of Libya, killing as many as 900 people.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="138" data-total-count="1359" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The crisis has polarized Europe, with some countries, including Britain, calling for more aggressive action to root out illegal smugglers.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="202" data-total-count="1561" id="story-continues-4" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Other countries, led by Italy, which bear the brunt of illegal migrants crossing the Mediterranean, want member states across the European Union to share the burden of dealing with the wave of migrants.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="204" data-total-count="1765" id="story-continues-5" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
They are backing a quota system proposed by the European Commission, the European Union’s executive branch, that calls for countries to host refugees according to their population and employment levels.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="248" data-total-count="2013" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Britain, France and others vehemently oppose the quota proposal, which comes at a time when national budgets are stretched and support has grown for far-right parties that have made the fight against illegal immigration one of their top priorities.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="140" data-total-count="2153" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Last year, 35 immigrants were found in a container in Essex at the Tilbury docks, including a 40 year-old man from Afghanistan who had died.</div>
<figure class="interactive promo layout-large" id="surge-in-refugees-crossing-the-mediterranean-sea-maps" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; cursor: pointer; margin: 15px auto 15px 135px; max-width: 945px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-top: 15px; position: relative; width: 540px;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/20/world/europe/surge-in-refugees-crossing-the-mediterranean-sea-maps.html" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><figcaption class="interactive-caption" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem; margin-right: 15px; width: 210px;"></figcaption></a></figure></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-89324578238556283502015-05-26T12:36:00.000-07:002015-05-26T12:36:58.797-07:00Jungle Camp in Malaysia Yields Graves and Signs of Migrant Abuse<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="387" data-total-count="387" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="387" data-total-count="387" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
<span class="byline" itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/chris_buckley/index.html" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem;">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/chris_buckley/index.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by CHRIS BUCKLEY"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="CHRIS BUCKLEY" itemprop="name">CHRIS BUCKLEY</span></a> and </span><span class="byline" itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/f/thomas_fuller/index.html" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem;"><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/f/thomas_fuller/index.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by THOMAS FULLER"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="THOMAS FULLER" itemprop="name">THOMAS FULLER</span></a></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-05-26" style="background-color: white; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px;">MAY 26, 2015</time></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="387" data-total-count="387" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
BUKIT WANG BURMA, Malaysia — Among the debris of wood, bamboo and plastic tarpaulin at an abandoned camp in the dense jungle here lies a coffin-size cage made from sticks tied together with rusted barbed wire. Next to it, an enclosure that could have held dozens of people also bristles with barbed wire. And over a ridge, the police have started unearthing bodies from shallow graves.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="319" data-total-count="706" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The police in <a class="meta-loc" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/malaysia/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" style="color: #326891;" title="More news and information about Malaysia.">Malaysia</a> have said little about the grim discoveries at desolate camps like this one on a hillside near the country’s border with<a class="meta-loc" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/thailand/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" style="color: #326891;" title="More news and information about Thailand.">Thailand</a>. But what was left behind here suggests that the camps were busy holding stations for migrants under the control of ruthless, sophisticated human trafficking rings.</div>
<aside class="marginalia related-coverage-marginalia nocontent robots-nocontent" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" module="RelatedCoverage-Marginalia" role="complementary" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: right; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 45px 7px; padding-top: 10px; width: 300px;"><div class="nocontent robots-nocontent">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/world/asia/jungle-camp-in-malaysia-yields-graves-and-signs-of-migrant-abuse.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150526&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><header><h2 class="module-heading" style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; margin: 0px 0px 1em; text-transform: uppercase;">
RELATED COVERAGE</h2>
</header><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/world/asia/myanmar-bangladesh-rohingya-migrant-crisis-shows-signs-of-ebbing.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;">
<img alt="Rohingya refugees played chess on Tuesday at a temporary shelter in Lhokseumawe, Indonesia." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/27/world/27assess-web3/27assess-web3-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 44.234375px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Migrant Crisis in Southeast Asia Shows Signs of Ebbing</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-05-26" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">MAY 26, 2015</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/world/asia/migrants-flooding-into-malaysia-trade-one-nightmare-for-another.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;">
<img alt="Rohingya migrants at a temporary shelter in Bayeun, Indonesia, on Monday, part of a wave of migrants in the last two weeks." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/26/world/26Malaysia1-web/26Malaysia1-web-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 44.234375px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Migrants Flooding Into Malaysia and Indonesia Trade One Nightmare for Another</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-05-25" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">MAY 25, 2015</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/26/world/asia/malaysia-mass-graves-suspected-of-being-rohingya-and-bangladeshi-migrants.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;">
<img alt="Forensic experts collected bags of human remains on Monday that were found at the site of mass graves in northern Malaysia." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/26/world/26Graves-web/26Graves-web-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 44.234375px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Malaysian Police Suspect That Mass Graves Are Those of Migrants</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-05-25" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">MAY 25, 2015</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/13/world/asia/15rohingya-explainer.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;">
<img alt="" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/07/world/asia/07myanmar-ss-slide-O02E/07myanmar-ss-slide-O02E-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 45.1875px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">How Myanmar and Its Neighbors Are Responding to the Rohingya Crisis</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-05-14" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">MAY 14, 2015</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
</ul>
</div>
</aside><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="380" data-total-count="1086" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The Malaysian government on Tuesday took reporters on a two-hour trek through a buzzing jungle to view this camp in the state of Perlis, in the country’s far north. It is one of several where investigators say they have identified a total of 139 graves believed to hold the bodies of migrants, including members of the Rohingya minority fleeing religious persecution in Myanmar.</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded has-adjacency has-lede-adjacency layout-large-horizontal media-100000003704024 ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003704024" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/27/world/27camps-web2/27camps-web2-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="margin: 45px 0px 45px 135px; position: relative; width: 540px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: 540px;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="A Malaysian forensics team on Tuesday examined human remains that were exhumed at the jungle camp in Bukit Wang Burma." data-mediaviewer-credit="Mohd Rasfan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/27/world/27camps-web2/27camps-web2-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/27/world/27camps-web2/27camps-web2-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/27/world/27camps-web2/27camps-web2-articleLarge.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 540px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5;">
<span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150520-163317/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -295px -77px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="bottom: 23px; color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; right: 0px; width: auto;"><span class="caption-text">A Malaysian forensics team on Tuesday examined human remains that were exhumed at the jungle camp in Bukit Wang Burma.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Mohd Rasfan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="140" data-total-count="1226" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Not far across the border, in Thailand’s Songkhla Province, the Thai authorities have <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/05/09/world/asia/09reuters-thailand-rohingya-trafficking.html" style="color: #326891;" title="Reuters article.">uncovered graves</a> containing at least 36 more bodies.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="381" data-total-count="1607" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
A crackdown in southern Thailand on these human trafficking networks is believed to have triggered the regionwide crisis this month in which thousands of migrants were abandoned by smugglers and stranded at sea. More than 3,000 have landed in Malaysia and Indonesia in recent weeks, and the International Organization for Migration appealed on Tuesday for $26 million to help them.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="283" data-total-count="1890" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Muhammad Bahar, a detective with the police in Perlis, said officers exhumed a body on Tuesday from one of 37 primitive graves discovered near this camp in Bukit Wang Burma. He said it was too early to draw any conclusions about the identity of the dead person or the cause of death.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="186" data-total-count="2076" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“Another forensic team will confirm later,” he said, standing near the exhumation site, where other officers worked with shovels and hoes. “We have to let forensic do their job.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="465" data-total-count="2541" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
But the scene appeared to add weight to reports that migrants smuggled across Southeast Asia by traffickers had suffered extreme brutality. The lower part of the camp was dominated by what appeared to be a holding pen made from wooden poles crisscrossed by barbed wire. On higher ground, a dilapidated watchtower looked over the settlement, which also had a trash pit and a large water tank, suggesting that the site could have been used to hold hundreds of people.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="351" data-total-count="2892" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Those who have studied human trafficking said thesyndicates often supplemented their smuggling operations with ransom and extortion schemes. Relatives of those smuggled into Thailand are often called and ordered to transfer large sums in exchange for the freedom of their relatives, according to advocates for the migrants and the migrants themselves.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="232" data-total-count="3124" id="story-continues-4" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“They beat you and tell you to call home and come up with the money,” Jeffrey Labovitz, chief of mission of the International Organization for Migration in Thailand, said by telephone. “It’s a ruthless business mentality.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="329" data-total-count="3453" id="story-continues-5" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The trafficking rings demand payments as high as $3,000 to release their clients, who are sometimes starved and abused to put pressure on relatives to come up with the money, according to Alistair D. B. Cook, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.</div>
<figure class="interactive promo has-adjacency layout-large" id="Understanding-Southeast-Asias-Migrant-Crisis" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; clear: left; cursor: pointer; margin: 15px auto 15px 135px; max-width: 945px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-top: 15px; position: relative; width: 540px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/world/asia/jungle-camp-in-malaysia-yields-graves-and-signs-of-migrant-abuse.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150526&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-6" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #333333; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/05/14/world/asia/Understanding-Southeast-Asias-Migrant-Crisis.html" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;"><figcaption class="interactive-caption" style="color: #666666; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem; margin-right: 15px; width: 210px;"><h3 class="interactive-kicker" style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 0.8125rem; margin: 0px 0px 5px; text-transform: uppercase;">
GRAPHIC</h3>
<h2 class="interactive-headline" style="color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.3125rem; margin: 0px 0px 3px;">
Understanding Southeast Asia’s Migrant Crisis</h2>
<div class="interactive-summary" style="font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-bottom: 10px;">
About 25,000 migrants left Myanmar and Bangladesh on rickety smugglers’ boats in the first three months of 2015, according to a United Nations estimate.</div>
</figcaption><div class="interactive-image-container" style="float: right; position: relative; width: 315px;">
<div class="interactive-image" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.3s; transition: opacity 0.3s;">
<img src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/14/world/asia/Understanding-Southeast-Asias-Migrant-Crisis-1431648936659/Understanding-Southeast-Asias-Migrant-Crisis-1431648936659-master495.png" style="border: none; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 315px;" /></div>
<div class="interactive-overlay" style="background-color: #326891; border-radius: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 66, 118); bottom: 15px; left: 15px; padding: 15px; position: absolute;">
<span class="icon sprite-icon interactive-overlay-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150520-163317/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -278px -54px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 22px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: -5px; width: 18px;"></span> <span class="interactive-overlay-text" style="color: white; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75rem; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.1875rem; margin-left: 4px; text-transform: uppercase;">OPEN GRAPHIC</span></div>
</div>
</a></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="116" data-total-count="3569" id="story-continues-6" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“Extortion isn’t the word for it,” Mr. Cook said. “The alternative is death. It’s worse than extortion.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="329" data-total-count="3898" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The camps are out of the way, but they sit along a major trading route that links Singapore and the Malaysian peninsula with the rest of mainland Southeast Asia. The route is a hub of legitimate trade as well as a transit point for illicit drugs, smuggled fuel and Malaysians seeking libertine pleasures in freewheeling Thailand.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="305" data-total-count="4203" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The Malaysian home minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said on Tuesday that investigators were examining whether forestry rangers in the densely wooded border region had colluded with human traffickers, according to Bernama, the Malaysian news agency. Some forestry officers have already been detained, he said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="406" data-total-count="4609" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Khalid Abu Bakar, the inspector general of the police in Malaysia, said Monday that the camps were believed to have been occupied since 2013 and that two of them were abandoned only two to three weeks ago,<a href="http://www.themalaysiantimes.com.my/police-confirm-discovery-of-139-graves-near-msia-thailand-border/" style="color: #326891;">according to Bernama</a>. He said the public disclosure of the suspected graves “proves that the Malaysian government is transparent and not hiding any information involving human trafficking issues.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="82" data-total-count="4691" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
But some advocates for Rohingya migrants said the abuses had been largely ignored.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="254" data-total-count="4945" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“We hear about families waiting for people to come here, who they never hear about again,” Zafar Ahmad bin Abdul Ghani, the president of the<a href="https://merhrom.wordpress.com/" style="color: #326891;">Myanmar Ethnic Rohingyas Human Rights Organization Malaysia</a>, said in a telephone interview from Kuala Lumpur.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="285" data-total-count="5230" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“Malaysia needs to investigate Rohingya who have died on the border with Thailand,” he added. “Maybe they also need to investigate the enforcement departments in Malaysia. Have they done enough to enforce and investigate? How can the traffickers cross the border in this area?”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="380" data-total-count="5610" id="story-continues-7" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
In Wang Kelian, a nearby settlement of paddy fields, some residents said the migrants sometimes appeared and begged for food or cash before moving on by foot. “We know they come through to Malaysia for work, for safety, for family,” said a resident who gave only her family name, Halimah. “But it is shocking for us, too, to learn about how they are treated in the camps.”</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded has-adjacency layout-large-horizontal media-100000003704025 ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003704025" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/27/world/27camps-web3/27camps-web3-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="margin: 45px 0px 45px 135px; position: relative; width: 540px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: 540px;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="A coffin-sized cage was found at the camp." data-mediaviewer-credit="Mohd Rasfan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/27/world/27camps-web3/27camps-web3-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/27/world/27camps-web3/27camps-web3-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/27/world/27camps-web3/27camps-web3-articleLarge.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 540px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5;">
<span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150520-163317/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-position: -295px -77px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="bottom: 23px; color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; right: 0px; width: auto;"><span class="caption-text">A coffin-sized cage was found at the camp.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Mohd Rasfan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="374" data-total-count="5984" id="story-continues-8" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Malaysian officials have said little about how these camps and trafficking networks could have existed, undisturbed, for years. But investigators on the Thai side of the border say the camps operated with the help of local officials, Thai law enforcement officers and residents. Nearly 70 Thai police officers have been transferred from their posts as part of the crackdown.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="342" data-total-count="6326" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Last week, a former government official whom the authorities described as a kingpin in the smuggling operation surrendered to the Thai police. Patchuban Angchotipan, who had evaded capture for more than a week, is the former chairman of the provincial administration in Satun, a Thai province where smuggling camps were discovered this month.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="324" data-total-count="6650" id="story-continues-9" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
In what the police say is a measure of the money involved in human trafficking, the authorities froze more than $2 million of Mr. Patchuban’s assets. Among other businesses, Mr. Patchuban owned companies that ran speedboat and ferry services in the Andaman Sea, which were believed to have been used to transport migrants.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="151" data-total-count="6801" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Mr. Patchuban, who is known by his nickname, Ko Tong, has been charged with colluding in human trafficking, illegal detention and abduction for ransom.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="260" data-total-count="7061" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
In an interview on Tuesday, Police Gen. Aek Angsananont, the deputy commissioner of Thailand’s police force, said the trafficking rings generally smuggled Bangladeshi and ethnic Rohingya migrants on boats into Thailand and brought them over land to Malaysia.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="209" data-total-count="7270" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
General Aek, who is leading the investigation in the smuggling rings, said the police have obtained arrest warrants for 77 suspects. Of those, 46 have been arrested, he said, and the rest are “on the run.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="209" data-total-count="7479" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
He added that the crackdown had the support of the highest levels of Thailand’s military government and that the police were “clearing the mountains” along the Malaysian border of trafficking operations.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="248" data-total-count="7727" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The crackdown began this month when a Rohingya man filed a complaint at a police station in southern Thailand, saying his nephew was being held for ransom. The police investigating the case discovered the mass graves on the Thai side of the border.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="329" data-total-count="8056" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The authorities have not disclosed how the individuals found in the graves died, and some bodies were so badly composed that the cause of death may never be known. A doctor at Songklanagarind Hospital in southern Thailand said that medical workers were close to completing autopsies and that the police would soon reveal results.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="298" data-total-count="8354" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Increasingly, the Rohingya leaving Myanmar have included women and children. And clues amassed by the Malaysian police from the border camps suggested that children had been among the inmates. Among photos of items recovered from the camps, one showed a pair of mildewed, pink children’s sandals.</div>
<footer class="story-footer story-content" style="margin-bottom: 45px; margin-left: 135px; margin-top: 24px; width: 532px;"><div class="story-meta">
<div class="story-notes">
<div style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-bottom: 1em;">
Chris Buckley reported from Bukit Wang Burma, and Thomas Fuller from Bangkok. Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting from Bangkok, and Austin Ramzy from Hong Kong.</div>
</div>
</div>
</footer><nav class="next-in next-in-theme-standard story-content" id="next-in" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; margin-bottom: 62px; margin-left: 135px; margin-top: 45px; padding-top: 11px; width: 532px;"><h2 class="module-heading" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 0.9375rem; margin: 0px; max-width: 25%; text-transform: uppercase;">
NEXT IN ASIA PACIFIC</h2>
<div>
<br /></div>
<article style="background-color: white; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: right; width: 372.390625px;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/world/asia/malaysia-rejects-entry-by-joshua-wong-hong-kong-democracy-activist.html" style="color: black; display: block; position: relative; text-decoration: none;"></a></article></nav>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-33506954680324447592015-03-23T17:37:00.000-07:002015-03-23T17:37:31.134-07:00Law Helps Those Who Escape Sex Trafficking Shed Its Stigma, Too<header class="story-header" id="story-header" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; position: relative;"><div class="story-meta " id="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<div class="story-meta-footer" id="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-top: 2px;">
<div class="byline-dateline" style="float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-right: 45px; margin-top: 4px;">
<span class="byline" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem;">By <span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="EDNA ISHAYIK" itemprop="name">EDNA ISHAYIK</span></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-03-23" style="color: black; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px;">MARCH 23, 2015</time></div>
</div>
</div>
</header><div class="story-body" id="story-body" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<div class="lede-container" style="clear: none; float: none;">
<div class="lede-container-ads" style="clear: right; float: right;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="byline-sharetools-container" id="byline-sharetools-container" style="clear: left; float: left;">
<div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story " data-description="Over 60 women have had their records cleared under a New York State law that treats those forced to become prostitutes as victims, making it easier for them to find jobs and overcome financial hardship." data-media="" data-publish-date="March 23, 2015" data-share-tools-initialized="1" data-shares="email,facebook|Share,twitter|Tweet,save,show-all|more,ad" data-title="Law Helps Those Who Escape Sex Trafficking Shed Its Stigma, Too" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/nyregion/law-helps-those-who-escape-sex-trafficking-shed-its-stigma-too.html" id="sharetools-story" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 91px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/nyregion/law-helps-those-who-escape-sex-trafficking-shed-its-stigma-too.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150323&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="sharetools-label visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share This Page</span></div>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="280" data-total-count="280" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
She has applied for jobs cleaning airplane cabins between flights, tidying up offices overnight and ringing up orders at concession stands. But the 57-year-old woman from Queens has been rejected from these and dozens of other low-wage jobs because she has a long criminal record.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="69" data-total-count="349" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
She has been convicted 133 times and does not deny any of her crimes.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="192" data-total-count="541" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
But her record should not condemn her to a life of struggle, she says, because all of her crimes were the result of 17 years of being forced to work as a prostitute by an abusive ex-boyfriend.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="413" data-total-count="954" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“It’s not like I did it to myself,” said the woman, who asked that her name not be published because she feared for her safety. “He had me at an advantage. There would be repercussions if I didn’t do what he asked me to do. I could not talk about the beating I used to get. I always had a black eye.” She added: “Wherever I went, he’d always find me and bring me back. It was a lot of violence.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="299" data-total-count="1253" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
She escaped her captor in 1990, but her criminal record has followed her, preventing her from finding steady work. Now, however, she is close to having all her convictions erased thanks to a New York State law designed to treat those forced to become prostitutes as victims rather than as criminals.</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded has-adjacency has-lede-adjacency layout-small-vertical media-100000003589282" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003589282" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/24/nyregion/SEXWORKERS/SEXWORKERS-master180.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 6px 30px 45px 135px; position: relative; width: 180px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Melissa Broudo is a lawyer with the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center." data-mediaviewer-credit="Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/24/nyregion/SEXWORKERS/SEXWORKERS-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/24/nyregion/SEXWORKERS/SEXWORKERS-master180.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/24/nyregion/SEXWORKERS/SEXWORKERS-master180.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 180px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5;">
<span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150323-152453/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg) -289px -107px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem;"><span class="caption-text">Melissa Broudo is a lawyer with the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="198" data-total-count="1451" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“Before, my life was like hell,” she said, anticipating a clean record. “Now, I feel good about myself. It’s like I died, and when I came back, I came back clean. Nothing to hold me back.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="217" data-total-count="1668" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The law, passed in 2010, allows convictions related to sexual trafficking to be removed from a person’s record. New York had the first such law in the country and today 18 other states have adopted similar statutes.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="299" data-total-count="1967" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“If certain prostitution arrests arose directly from trafficking, the court must vacate the charges,” said Melissa Broudo, a lawyer with the <a href="http://www.sexworkersproject.org/" style="color: #326891;">Sex Workers Project</a> at the <a href="http://www.urbanjustice.org/" style="color: #326891;">Urban Justice Center</a>. “The case is over. It’s a recognition that they should not have been convicted in the first place.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="92" data-total-count="2059" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
More than 60 women with prostitution convictions have had their records cleared in New York.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="343" data-total-count="2402" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The law is particularly important, Ms. Broudo said, because sex-trafficking victims who manage to escape their plight often find themselves in financial crisis. “You have to start from scratch,” she said. “They’re not going to have money. They will have been forcibly cut off from family members, anyone that could have helped them.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="477" data-total-count="2879" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
But the criminal records that can follow many former prostitutes make it nearly impossible to overcome financial hardship. “I can’t overstate the collateral consequences of criminal convictions, even for petty offenses,” said Kate Mogulescu, a lawyer for the Legal Aid Society who has helped clear the records of 49 prostitutes. “It’s crippling. People come to us with one prostitution conviction from 10 years ago and they cannot get a job as a school bus matron.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="241" data-total-count="3120" id="story-continues-4" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Ms. Broudo, with pro bono help from the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, has worked with the Queens woman to remove 129 convictions — mostly for prostitution or loitering — from her record, the most of any prostitute under the state law.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="316" data-total-count="3436" id="story-continues-5" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Now she is trying to have her four remaining convictions, which are more serious, removed. All of them stem from arrests involving thefts, including for stealing from a department store in Nassau County, crimes she says she was forced to commit by her trafficker when she did not earn enough money from prostitution.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="274" data-total-count="3710" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
She spent nine months in jail for the department store theft. Later, she moved to Virginia, where one of her sisters lived. After surviving for years on odd jobs and the support of her fiancé, the woman hopes to apply for a job as a school crossing guard or security guard.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="198" data-total-count="3908" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“I got a second chance at life,” she said. “Doors are opening for me. I always wanted to do security but I never could because I had these convictions. This is the moment I was waiting for.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="399" data-total-count="4307" id="story-continues-6" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
But first, she must await a response from a Nassau County prosecutor about whether her convictions will be cleared. To have a conviction vacated under the law, a motion must be filed in court and with a prosecutor in the county where the offense was committed. If the prosecutor consents, then the conviction is removed. If not, a judge can decide after a hearing in which both sides make arguments.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="249" data-total-count="4556" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Most prosecutors have approved the removal of convictions. Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, whose office has cleared 114 of the Queens woman’s convictions, said his prosecutors took a sympathetic approach to former prostitutes.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="347" data-total-count="4903" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“Though law enforcement’s treatment of prostitution has evolved significantly over the past decade, many victims’ records contain convictions from an era when they were not viewed as victims,” Mr. Vance said in a statement. “Overturning those convictions is not only a positive way to help them move forward, but the just thing to do.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="313" data-total-count="5216" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Though efforts to remove convictions have been largely successful, providing legal help to sex-trafficking victims can be challenging. “There are very few providers doing these motions,” Ms. Broudo said. “The capacity is limited and there are thousands of survivors. There’s a real dearth of resources.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="461" data-total-count="5677" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The financial, emotional and physical consequences of being forced into prostitution can prevent victims from even seeking out legal services, she said. “For so many people that have experienced severe trauma and are living beneath the poverty level, there are endless barriers. Transportation, child care, a health issue stemming from the trauma, and emotionally, for a long time the criminal justice system is something they were trying to get away from.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="425" data-total-count="6102" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
G.M., a 56-year-old Bronx woman, who abbreviates her name to protect her identity, was the first person to have her convictions vacated under New York’s law. In 1996, her husband began physically abusing her and forced her into prostitution, she said. She experienced “continued violence” that at times left her “scarred and disfigured,” according to court documents, and she accrued nine convictions over 11 years.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="408" data-total-count="6510" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
“When you have these convictions, you feel like the world is falling on you and that your life has ended,” she said, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter. When she did find work, she said, she would be fired when employers ran background checks. “They would see me as a delinquent,” she said. “It made me depressed because that wasn’t who I am. My record doesn’t show what my heart is.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="305" data-total-count="6815" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Since her convictions were cleared, she has been working as a home health aide. “My life has changed,” she said. “I’m part of society. I think about the past. It’s something I cannot forget. When I look back I just see darkness and these huge holes I couldn’t get out of. But I did get out.”</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-89500701136821314932015-03-05T06:51:00.000-08:002015-03-05T06:51:03.623-08:00Steps Against Juvenile Sex Trafficking<header class="story-header" id="story-header" style="position: relative;"><div class="story-meta " id="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<div class="story-meta-footer" id="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-top: 2px;">
<div class="byline-dateline" style="float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-right: 45px; margin-top: 4px;">
<span class="byline" itemid="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/opinion/editorialboard.html" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem;">By <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/opinion/editorialboard.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by THE EDITORIAL BOARD"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="THE EDITORIAL BOARD" itemprop="name">THE EDITORIAL BOARD</span></a></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-03-05" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px;">MARCH 5, 2015</time></div>
</div>
</div>
</header><div class="story-body" id="story-body">
<div class="lede-container" style="clear: right; float: right;">
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo lede layout-large-horizontal" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003551266" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/05/opinion/05thu3WEB/05thu3WEB-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 45px 30px; position: relative; width: 540px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: auto;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Human Trafficking Intervention Court in Queens, NY." data-mediaviewer-credit="Uli Seit for The New York Times" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/05/opinion/05thu3WEB/05thu3WEB-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/05/opinion/05thu3WEB/05thu3WEB-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/05/opinion/05thu3WEB/05thu3WEB-articleLarge.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 540px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5;">
<span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150302-191611/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-origin: initial; background-position: -238px -107px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="bottom: 23px; color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; position: static; right: 0px; width: auto;"><span class="caption-text">Human Trafficking Intervention Court in Queens, NY.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Uli Seit for The New York Times</span></figcaption></figure><div class="lede-container-ads" style="clear: right; float: right;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="byline-sharetools-container" id="byline-sharetools-container" style="clear: left; float: left;">
<div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story " data-description="A consensus on new initiatives is emerging on Capitol Hill to confront the human-rights problem and help its victims." data-media="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/05/opinion/05thu3WEB/05thu3WEB-jumbo.jpg" data-publish-date="March 5, 2015" data-share-tools-initialized="1" data-shares="email,facebook|Share,twitter|Tweet,save,show-all|more,ad" data-title="Steps Against Juvenile Sex Trafficking" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/opinion/steps-against-juvenile-sex-trafficking.html" id="sharetools-story" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 91px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/opinion/steps-against-juvenile-sex-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150305&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="sharetools-label visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share This Page</span><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="sharetool email-sharetool" style="border-top-width: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="Log in to email" data-share="email" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150302-191611/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-origin: initial; background-position: -460px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Email</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150302-191611/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-origin: initial; background-position: -243px -61px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Share</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool twitter-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="twitter" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150302-191611/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-origin: initial; background-position: -141px -207px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Tweet</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool save-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="Log in to save" data-share="save" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150302-191611/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-origin: initial; background-position: -307px -149px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Save</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool show-all-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-modal-title="" data-share="show-all" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150302-191611/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); background-origin: initial; background-position: -135px -182px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">More</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="268" data-total-count="268" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The impression that America’s sex-trafficking problem mostly involves young people smuggled from overseas has given way to broad recognition of a cruel homegrown reality: the tens of thousands of juveniles who are exploited each year by traffickers in this country.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="209" data-total-count="477" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
On Capitol Hill, a consensus is emerging on new initiatives to confront this human-rights problem and help its victims, often runaways or homeless youngsters who have been forced or coerced into prostitution.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="215" data-total-count="692" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The Senate Judiciary Committee last week unanimously approved a pair of anti-trafficking bills with wide backing from victim advocates and other experts, and the full Senate is expected to take up the package soon.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="436" data-total-count="1128" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
<a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s178" style="color: #326891;">A bill</a> championed by Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, would create a new pool of financing — through additional fines on people convicted of sex and labor trafficking, child pornography and other crimes — for restitution, victim services and law enforcement. The idea of aiding victims without committing more tax dollars has drawn support from Republicans, and any new money for this badly underfinanced cause would help.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="306" data-total-count="1434" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The Cornyn bill would also encourage prosecution of the “johns,” or buyers of juvenile sex, who typically escape criminal charges even though they are paying for what amounts to the statutory rape of children and teenagers. Their demand is what’s fueling the highly lucrative human slavery business.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="196" data-total-count="1630" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
The <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s166" style="color: #326891;">second bill</a>, put forward by Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, would give a preference for Department of Justice law enforcement grants to states that adopt “safe harbor” laws.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="235" data-total-count="1865" id="story-continues-4" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
These laws help ensure that young people sold for sex are treated as victims and offered support services instead of being prosecuted. The House has approved similar bills, so it should not be hard to hammer out a strong final package.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="346" data-total-count="2211" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
A preventive measure that would help ensure housing and services for homeless juveniles, who are often prey to traffickers, unfortunately stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee. One obstacle was the resistance of some Republicans to its nondiscrimination provision guaranteeing fair treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="280" data-total-count="2491" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
No young person should “have to choose between selling their bodies and a safe place to sleep,” said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, who introduced the bill with Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont. Undeterred, they plan to seek consideration from the full Senate.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="404" data-total-count="2895" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 532px;">
Trafficking abroad remains a tremendous problem, so it is fitting that a promising approach comes from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which last week unanimously approved a measure to create an international public-private fund dedicated to the issue, similar to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. More resources could do a lot to help trafficking’s victims at home, too.</div>
<footer class="story-footer story-content" style="margin-bottom: 45px; margin-left: 135px; margin-top: 24px; width: 532px;"><div class="story-meta">
<div class="story-print-citation" style="color: #999999; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; margin-bottom: 1em;">
A version of this editorial appears in print on March 5, 2015, on page A26 of the <span itemprop="printEdition">New York edition</span> with the headline: Steps Against Juvenile Sex Trafficking. <span class="story-footer-links" style="display: inline-block;"><a href="https://s100.copyright.com/AppDispatchServlet?contentID=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2015%2F03%2F05%2Fopinion%2Fsteps-against-juvenile-sex-trafficking.html&publisherName=The+New+York+Times&publication=nytimes.com&token=&orderBeanReset=true&postType=&wordCount=446&title=Steps+Against+Juvenile+Sex+Trafficking&publicationDate=March+5%2C+2015&author=By%20The%20Editorial%20Board" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Order Reprints</a><span class="pipe" style="color: #cccccc; margin: 0px 3px;">|</span> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/pages/todayspaper/index.html" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Today's Paper</a><span class="pipe" style="color: #cccccc; margin: 0px 3px;">|</span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp839RF.html?campaignId=48JQY" style="color: #999999; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Subscri</a></span></div>
</div>
</footer><nav class="next-in next-in-theme-standard story-content" id="next-in" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: both; margin-bottom: 62px; margin-left: 135px; margin-top: 45px; padding-top: 11px; width: 532px;"><article style="background-color: white; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: right; width: 372.390625px;"><a href="http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/how-the-auto-bailout-helped-save-the-economy/" style="color: black; display: block; position: relative; text-decoration: none;"></a></article></nav></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-31870826975375052902014-12-20T14:29:00.000-08:002014-12-20T14:29:03.461-08:00World War II Sex Slaves Bear Witnesshttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/nyregion/world-war-ii-sex-slaves-bear-witness.html?emc=edit_tnt_20141220&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0<br />
<br />
<header class="story-header" id="story-header" style="position: relative;"><div class="story-meta " id="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<h1 class="story-heading" id="story-heading" itemprop="headline" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 2.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 2.375rem; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">
World War II Sex Slaves Bear Witness</h1>
<div class="story-meta-footer" id="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-top: 2px;">
<div class="byline-dateline" style="float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-right: 45px; margin-top: 4px;">
<span class="byline" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem;">By <span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="AILEEN JACOBSON" itemprop="name">AILEEN JACOBSON</span></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-12-19" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px;">DEC. 19, 2014</time></div>
</div>
</div>
</header><div class="story-body" id="story-body">
<div class="lede-container" style="clear: none; float: none;">
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo lede layout-large-vertical" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003302905" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/12/21/nyregion/21ARTSLI1/21ARTSLI1-blog427.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="border-bottom-style: none; clear: left; float: left; margin: 5px 30px 45px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-right: 0px; position: relative; width: 360px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="An image from the exhibition &ldquo;Comfort Women Wanted,&rdquo; named after the headline in ads intended to lure women into prostitution for the Imperial Japanese Army. Most of the women were unpaid and unwilling, and were kidnapped or tricked. &ldquo;It hurt me inside,&rdquo; one woman says. &ldquo;Some of them beat me.&rdquo;" data-mediaviewer-credit="Chang-Jin Lee" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/12/21/nyregion/21ARTSLI1/21ARTSLI1-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/12/21/nyregion/21ARTSLI1/21ARTSLI1-blog427.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/12/21/nyregion/21ARTSLI1/21ARTSLI1-blog427.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 360px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5;">
<span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141217-093208/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -198px -64px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="bottom: 23px; color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; position: static; right: 0px; width: auto;"><span class="caption-text">An image from the exhibition “Comfort Women Wanted,” named after the headline in ads intended to lure women into prostitution for the Imperial Japanese Army. Most of the women were unpaid and unwilling, and were kidnapped or tricked. “It hurt me inside,” one woman says. “Some of them beat me.”</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1.125rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Chang-Jin Lee</span></figcaption></figure><div class="lede-container-ads" style="clear: right; float: right;">
</div>
</div>
<div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story " data-description="Survivors who were forced into “comfort stations” for the Japanese military during World War II give their accounts in an exhibition compiled by Chang-Jin Lee at Stony Brook University." data-media="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/12/21/nyregion/21ARTSLI1/21ARTSLI1-jumbo.jpg" data-publish-date="December 19, 2014" data-share-tools-initialized="1" data-shares="email,facebook|Share,twitter|Tweet,save,show-all|more,ad" data-title="World War II Sex Slaves Bear Witness" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/nyregion/world-war-ii-sex-slaves-bear-witness.html" id="sharetools-story" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 91px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/nyregion/world-war-ii-sex-slaves-bear-witness.html?emc=edit_tnt_20141220&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="sharetools-label visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share This Page</span><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="sharetool email-sharetool" style="border-top-width: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="email" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141217-093208/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -496px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Email</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141217-093208/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -225px -20px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Share</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool twitter-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="twitter" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141217-093208/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -84px -161px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Tweet</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool save-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="save" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141217-093208/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -305px -105px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Save</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool show-all-sharetool" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="show-all" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141217-093208/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -30px -137px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">More</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="363" data-total-count="363" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
<a href="http://www.changjinlee.net/" style="color: #326891;">Chang-Jin Lee</a>, a New York artist, wanted to commemorate what she feared would become a “forgotten history,” she said. After reading an<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/08/world/asia/08japan.html?pagewanted=all&module=Search&mabReward=relbias&" style="color: #326891;">article in The New York Times</a> in 2007 about the experiences of an estimated 200,000 women and girls who had been forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II, she decided to do something about it.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="273" data-total-count="636" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
From 2008 to 2012, Ms. Lee, who grew up in Seoul, South Korea, took four trips to seven countries to interview survivors, take photographs and gather images, which she has exhibited in different ways across the United States and in other countries over the last few years.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="405" data-total-count="1041" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The latest exhibition — seven striking panels showing survivors when they were young and two videos with interviews, photographs and folk songs — is now on view at the Charles B. Wang Center at Stony Brook University. Titled “Comfort Women Wanted,” it is named after the headline in newspaper advertisements intended to lure women to work as prostitutes for soldiers in the Imperial Japanese Army.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="632" data-total-count="1673" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The advertisement did not work very well, Ms. Lee said, though a few women may have been paid for their work in the beginning. The rest were kidnapped or deceived with offers of other jobs that did not exist. They ended up being raped up to 100 times per day by one soldier after another in spaces, euphemistically called “comfort stations,” which came in the form of huts or rooms in industrial complexes throughout imperial Japan, and occupied territories. A former Japanese soldier — one of only two to publicly acknowledge and apologize for the practice, she said — describes the conditions in one of Ms. Lee’s videos.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="324" data-total-count="1997" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“It was fast,” says Yasuji Kaneko, the former soldier. “No hug, no kiss. We had no time to do such things.” The women sat, wearing kimonos, he says, as men stood in front of them for a few minutes “and just had sex.” His video runs concurrently with a longer one featuring interviews with some of the survivors.</div>
<aside class="marginalia related-coverage-marginalia nocontent robots-nocontent" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" role="complementary" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: right; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 45px 7px; padding-top: 10px; width: 300px;"><div class="nocontent robots-nocontent">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/nyregion/world-war-ii-sex-slaves-bear-witness.html?emc=edit_tnt_20141220&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><header><h2 class="module-heading" style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; margin: 0px 0px 1em; text-transform: uppercase;">
RELATED COVERAGE</h2>
</header><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/nyregion/events-on-long-island-for-dec-21-27-2014.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 65px;">
<img alt="HUNTINGTON Caroline Tonks performs the role of the Snow Queen in the Lynch Ballet Company’s production of “The Nutcracker,” at the Huntington High School Auditorium, 188 Oakwood Road, through Dec. 21, at noon and 4 p.m. Tickets are $20 and $30. 631-942-3933; lynchballet.com." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/12/21/nyregion/21HILI1/21HILI1-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: none; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 49.4375px; left: 5.1875px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.5px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Calendar: Events on Long Island for Dec. 21-27, 2014</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-12-19" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">DEC. 19, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/newyorkandregion/long_island/arts/index.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><h2 class="story-heading" style="color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Times Topic: Long Island Arts</span></h2>
</a></article></li>
</ul>
</div>
</aside><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="639" data-total-count="2636" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Emah Kastima, an Indonesian woman who was kidnapped from a market when she was 17, says in a whispery voice: “It hurt me inside. Some of them beat me. It hurt my heart. I hated being treated like that.” Jan Ruff O’Herne, who Ms. Lee said was the first European to come forward, describes being selected at age 21 at a Japanese prison camp where she had already spent three and a half years, as her mother and the families of nine other young women who were also being hauled away with her cried and wailed. Lee Yong Soo, a Korean and a former comfort woman, says, “If I am ever born again, I hope to be born as a woman soldier.”</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded has-adjacency layout-large-horizontal media-100000003304804 ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003304804" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/12/21/nyregion/21ARTSLI2/21ARTSLI2-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="margin: 45px 0px 45px 135px; position: relative; width: 540px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: 540px;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Another image from the exhibition." data-mediaviewer-credit="Chang-Jin Lee" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/12/21/nyregion/21ARTSLI2/21ARTSLI2-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/12/21/nyregion/21ARTSLI2/21ARTSLI2-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/12/21/nyregion/21ARTSLI2/21ARTSLI2-articleLarge.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 540px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5;">
<span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141217-093208/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -198px -64px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="bottom: 23px; color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; position: static; right: 0px; width: auto;"><span class="caption-text">Another image from the exhibition.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1.125rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Chang-Jin Lee</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="570" data-total-count="3206" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The cacophony created by the battling sounds of the simultaneous videos is intentional, the artist said; it is meant to draw a visceral response. It also reflects the controversy that still surrounds the issue. Though Japan<a href="http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/the-politics-of-apology-for-japans-comfort-women/" style="color: #326891;"> issued an apology in 1993</a>, the current government’s policy, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is to deny that the women were coerced into working in brothels. However, many other nations and most scholars believe the testimony of the survivors (who represent only about 25 to 30 percent of the women who went through the ordeal, Ms. Lee said).</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="600" data-total-count="3806" id="story-continues-4" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Jinyoung Jin, the associate director of cultural programs at the Wang Center, who invited Ms. Lee to show her work and curated the exhibition, said it was not about “finger-pointing” but did highlight a continuing global human trafficking problem. “The video is very caring,” Ms. Jin said. “This happened to women who didn’t have a strong voice in society.” The exhibition has elicited strong responses from viewers and has benefited both history and art students. “How you interpret a historical subject in a visual language is also important for students studying art,” she said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="401" data-total-count="4207" id="story-continues-5" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Logan Marks, an master’s student in fine arts at Stony Brook, helped to install the show. “Its location is very effective, because it’s kind of in the belly of the building” on its lowest level, he said. “It has darker and more ominous subject matter, so it fits well with the space.” He added: “It’s a heavy-duty subject. If you’re not moved by that, what kind of person are you?”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="595" data-total-count="4802" id="story-continues-6" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Ms. Lee agreed that she set out to make bold artistic choices. “I’m not a documentarian,” she said. To help present the women “as individuals rather than as victims,” she said, she asked each to record a favorite song in her own language to introduce each segment. With support from several grants and fellowships, including aid from the <a href="https://www.nysca.org/" style="color: #326891;">New York State Council on the Arts</a>and the <a href="http://www.asianculturalcouncil.org/" style="color: #326891;">Asian Cultural Council</a>, she traveled to Japan, Korea and Taiwan in 2008, to China and Indonesia in 2010, to Australia in 2011 and to the Philippines in 2012. Seven languages are represented in her video.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="299" data-total-count="5101" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
For the large prints showing the women who were able to give her photographs of themselves as teenagers before, soon after or, in one case, during their enslavement, she went for a “strong visual impact,” she said. “I want it carved into your memory.” Each print is more than five feet tall.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="288" data-total-count="5389" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Fashioned after the advertisements, the photographs are at the center, framed in black and red with “Comfort Women Wanted” boldly displayed in English, Chinese, Filipino and Korean. But the background is gold leaf, “like a saint’s halo in a Renaissance painting,” Ms. Lee said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="281" data-total-count="5670" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The one she finds most moving is of Mei Chen, a Taiwanese survivor whose unsmiling face was photographed by a Japanese soldier. “It’s like she’s no longer there,” Ms. Lee said. “Her expression says something about what these women went through. She’s just not there.”</div>
<footer class="story-footer story-content" style="margin-bottom: 45px; margin-left: 135px; margin-top: 24px; width: 540px;"><div class="story-meta">
<div class="story-info" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<div style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-bottom: 1em;">
“Comfort Women Wanted” is on display through Jan. 10, 2015 at the Zodiac Lobby Gallery, Charles B. Wang Center, Stony Brook University. Information: <a href="http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/wang/" style="color: #326891;" title="Website.">stonybrook.edu/wang</a> or 631-632-4400.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</footer></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-62736562316339710662014-12-20T09:54:00.000-08:002014-12-20T09:54:52.591-08:00For Family Sued by Nanny, a Vacation Becomes Legal Limbohttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/20/nyregion/for-family-sued-by-nanny-a-vacation-becomes-legal-limbo.html?emc=edit_tnt_20141219&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y<br />
<br />
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="209" data-total-count="209" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The family vacation in Italy began in August and lasted three weeks. A family photo tells the story, all smiling faces, four children and their parents perched at the prow of a boat in the Marina di Portofino.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="386" data-total-count="595" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The vacation ended Sept. 6, but their time in Italy has not. The family, from Manhattan, has been stuck in an Italian limbo ever since, refused re-entry by the State Department. The reason for the refusal is related to an allegation by the family’s former nanny that she was physically and emotionally mistreated and underpaid in the eight weeks she spent in their employ in New York.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="204" data-total-count="799" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The family will spend the weekend finding a new place to stay in Italy, after several weeks living in a rented house outside Portofino, which has humbly called itself the “eighth wonder of the world.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="168" data-total-count="967" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
At first glance, this does not sound like cause to reach for the handkerchiefs, but the mother, Malu Custer Edwards, 30, said the last three months had been exhausting.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="280" data-total-count="1247" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“'Well, what’s so bad about Italy?'” Ms. Edwards asked, repeating a question she has heard from friends. “Well, just wait until you are anywhere in the world, and you think you’ll be there a couple of weeks, and then be told you can’t go back to where your life is.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="345" data-total-count="1592" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The family — Ms. Edwards, her husband, Micky Hurley, 37, and three of their children, a 7-year-old son and daughters, age 5 and 3 — arrived in New York in January 2011 from Chile, where they lived. Ms. Edwards later gave birth to their youngest daughter in New York while she was studying graphic design at <a href="http://www.newschool.edu/parsons/" style="color: #326891;">Parsons the New School for Design</a>.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="175" data-total-count="1767" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
They were accompanied by a nanny, Felicitas del Carmen Villanueva Garnica, whom they had hired via an agency. They settled in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="197" data-total-count="1964" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
By the middle of March, Ms. Garnica no longer worked for the family. Two years later, she sued Ms. Edwards and Mr. Hurley in Federal District Court in Manhattan, <a href="http://observer.com/2013/06/abused-ues-nanny-suffered-from-encephalitis-blurring-abuse-case/" style="color: #326891;" title="A New York Observer article.">accusing them</a> of human trafficking.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="264" data-total-count="2228" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Ms. Garnica, in her lawsuit, claimed the couple took her passport, locked her in the apartment, left her without decent food or her medication for hypertension and allowed the children to hit her. Once, she claimed, a child smashed a refrigerator door on her head.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="165" data-total-count="2393" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The parents denied the allegations. They were, however, ordered by New York State Department of Labor to pay Ms. Garnica $6,302.54 in back pay, court documents show.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="260" data-total-count="2653" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
After <a href="http://nypost.com/2013/06/16/chilean-nanny-claims-upper-east-side-socialites-kept-her-as-a-slave/" style="color: #326891;" title="The Post article.">an article</a> in The New York Post about the case, other stories about the family emerged, including several <a href="http://nypost.com/2013/06/21/you-are-always-going-to-be-from-a-different-class-chilean-socialite-accused-of-holding-nanny-hostage-rants-at-photog/" style="color: #326891;" title="A New York Post article.">unpleasant email exchanges</a> between Mr. Hurley and photographers who worked for him, which portrayed Mr. Hurley as a privileged bully and went viral.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="263" data-total-count="2916" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The case was wending its way through court when the family decided it was time for a vacation. In Italy, Ms. Edwards learned that in order to return to New York, she had to renew her student visa. That request was denied by the United States Consulate on Sept. 9.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="136" data-total-count="3052" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The reason given: She had been untruthful on her application to renew the visa by failing to report having engaged in human trafficking.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="244" data-total-count="3296" id="story-continues-4" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Of course, she has never admitted anything of the sort, and had never been charged by the authorities. But the family was stuck. Shortly after the ruling, Mr. Hurley suffered a collapsed lung and spent two weeks in a hospital, Ms. Edwards said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="230" data-total-count="3526" id="story-continues-5" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
School started in New York without the family. Back home, “the children have their friends, their toys, their clothing,” Ms. Edwards said. “You come on vacation with your summer clothes, and all of a sudden it’s colder.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="616" data-total-count="4142" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
In New York, on Dec. 10, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of Federal District Court in Manhattan, citing “rampant inconsistencies,” ruled against the nanny and dismissed the case. Ms. Garnica, in a deposition for the case, seemed to <a href="http://nypost.com/2014/03/30/chilean-nanny-contradicts-tale-of-abuse-court-papers/" style="color: #326891;" title="A Post article.">retreat from</a> most of the allegations, he ruled. For example, she kept a diary that showed she came and went from the apartment as she pleased, the judge wrote. And as for the abuse by the children, Ms. Garnica testified that the main source of the supposed beatings, the 3-year-old girl, was only as high as her waist when the nanny was working for the family, according to the ruling.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="68" data-total-count="4210" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
A lawyer for Ms. Garnica did not return calls for comment on Friday.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="117" data-total-count="4327" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The family hired a lawyer in Italy, Nicoletta Montefusco, who on Friday requested reconsideration of the visa denial.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="52" data-total-count="4379" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
In the meantime, the Italian non-vacation continues.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="78" data-total-count="4457" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“I spend most of my days in communication with lawyers,” Ms. Edwards said.</div>
<footer class="story-footer story-content" style="margin-bottom: 45px; margin-left: 135px; margin-top: 24px; width: 540px;"><div class="story-meta">
<div class="story-notes" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<div style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-bottom: 1em;">
Email: crimescene@nytimes.com</div>
<div style="font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-bottom: 1em;">
Twitter: @mwilsonnyt</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</footer><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-90978118931202296312014-12-17T06:24:00.001-08:002014-12-17T06:24:46.223-08:00More Than 100 Vietnamese Brides Are Said to Have Disappeared From Hebei Villages<header class="postHeader" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><h1 class="entry-title" itemprop="headline" style="font-size: 1.5625rem; line-height: 1.6875rem; margin: 0px 0px 6px;">
More Than 100 Vietnamese Brides Are Said to Have Disappeared From Hebei Villages</h1>
<div class="story-meta-footer" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.875rem; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<address class="byline author vcard" itemprop="author creator" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="color: black; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem; margin: 0px;">
By <a class="url fn" href="http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/author/bree-feng/" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;" title="More Posts by BREE FENG">BREE FENG</a></address>
<time class="dateline" datetime="2014-12-17T07:25:35+00:00" style="color: grey; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px; padding: 0px 8px 0px 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">DECEMBER 17, 2014 2:25 AM</time> <span class="visually-hidden updated" style="border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 0px 1px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">December 17, 2014 2:25 am</span><button class="button comments-button theme-kicker" data-skip-to-para-id="" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-top-style: none; color: #6288a5; cursor: pointer; float: none; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; height: 12px; line-height: 0; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 8px; transition: color 0.3s; vertical-align: middle;"><span class="icon" style="-webkit-transition: background-color 0.3s; background: rgb(98, 136, 165); border-bottom-left-radius: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 1px; border-top-left-radius: 1px; border-top-right-radius: 1px; display: inline-block; height: 6px; line-height: 1em; margin-top: -2px; padding-left: 0px; position: relative; transition: background-color 0.3s; vertical-align: middle; width: 8px;"></span> <span class="button-text no-comments" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 1px; vertical-align: middle;"><span class="default">Comment</span></span></button></div>
</header><div class="entry-content" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 120px; width: 480px;">
<div class="w592" style="margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: -120px; margin-top: 5px; padding-top: 0px; width: 592px;">
<figure class="media photo promo" itemid="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2014/12/16/world/16sino-vietnam01/16sino-vietnam01-tmagArticle.jpg" itemprop="" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="margin: 0px; position: relative;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;">
<img alt="Workers at a steel factory in Handan, China. With a shortage of prospective brides, and limited financial resources, many men in the community have paid matchmakers to introduce them to Vietnamese women." height="394" id="100000003307640" itemid="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2014/12/16/world/16sino-vietnam01/16sino-vietnam01-tmagArticle.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2014/12/16/world/16sino-vietnam01/16sino-vietnam01-tmagArticle.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 592px;" width="592" /></div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="caption-text">Workers at a steel factory in Handan, China. With a shortage of prospective brides, and limited financial resources, many men in the community have paid matchmakers to introduce them to Vietnamese women.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Chang W. Lee/The New York Times</span></figcaption></figure></div>
<div class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story" data-description="A Vietnamese woman who had lived in the area for more than 20 years helped introduce other Vietnamese women for local marriages, collecting thousands of dollars in matchmaking fees. By late November, more than 100 of the women had vanished." data-share-tools-initialized="1" data-shares="email|Email,facebook|Share,twitter|Tweet,save|Save,show-all|More,ad" data-title="More Than 100 Vietnamese Brides Are Said to Have Disappeared From Hebei Villages" data-url="http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/17/more-than-100-vietnamese-brides-are-said-to-have-disappeared-from-hebei-villages/" id="sharetools-story" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 0px 0px 35px -120px; width: 91px;">
<ul style="font-size: 1rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="sharetool email-sharetool" style="background: none; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><a data-share="email" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/blogs/20141216-145128/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -496px 0px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 1em; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Email</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool" style="background: none; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><a data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/blogs/20141216-145128/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -225px -20px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 1em; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Share</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool twitter-sharetool" style="background: none; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><a data-share="twitter" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/blogs/20141216-145128/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -84px -161px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 1em; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Tweet</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool save-sharetool" style="background: none; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><a data-share="save" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/blogs/20141216-145128/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -305px -105px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 1em; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">Save</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool show-all-sharetool" style="background: none; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><a data-share="show-all" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: grey; display: block; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 23px; line-height: 1.5625rem; margin: 2px 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-top: 10px; text-transform: capitalize; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/blogs/20141216-145128/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -30px -137px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 1em; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text ">More</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
When Yuan Xinqiang’s last negotiations for marriage with a Chinese woman fell through over monetary matters, he, like many other men in China, asked a matchmaker to help him find a Vietnamese fiancée. But his happiness, he told <a href="http://epaper.bjnews.com.cn/html/2014-12/15/content_552051.htm?div=-1&news" style="color: #326891;">The Beijing News</a>, was short-lived: His bride-to-be vanished just two months after they were introduced, along with dozens of other Vietnamese women in the area.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
In that cluster of villages in the Hebei Province city of Handan, about 300 miles southwest of Beijing, the police have set up a task force to investigate reports of marriage fraud, the official English-language newspaper China Daily reported.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
<span id="more-24767"></span></div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
Since January, a Vietnamese woman who had lived in the area for more than 20 years had helped introduce other Vietnamese women to local men, collecting thousands of dollars in matchmaking fees. By late November, however, more than 100 of the women had vanished, China Daily <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-12/11/content_19061924.htm" style="color: #326891;">reported</a>. Several had lived in China for only a few months.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
Several calls to the Quzhou Public Security Bureau, which is reportedly leading the investigation, went unanswered.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
Like many other young men from the region, Mr. Yuan, 22, had struggled to find a wife, The Beijing News reported on Monday. A local official told the newspaper that there was a surfeit of men in the area because of China’s one-child policy, which was initiated in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and because of gender-selective abortions.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
There are 118 men in China today for every 100 women.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
Mr. Yuan’s parents are in poor health, and his father said this was the main reason his son’s efforts to find a Chinese wife had failed, the paper reported. Another obstacle was a lack of funds. “You spend 200,000 on just betrothal gifts, and besides that, the woman also demands that you have a car and a new house,” the article quoted Mr. Yuan as saying. An expenditure of 200,000 renminbi is equivalent to more than $32,600.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
Instead, for gifts worth 100,000 renminbi — some of which Mr. Yuan borrowed from relatives — he brought home a Vietnamese woman who went by the Chinese name Lan Lan. He intended to apply for a marriage certificate at the end of the year and to hold a celebratory banquet. But the Vietnamese matchmaker, Wu Meiyu, had kept Lan Lan’s Vietnamese identity papers, along with those of many other Vietnamese women, on the pretext that she would soon return to Vietnam to process their visas.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
On the morning of Nov. 21, Lan Lan told her prospective in-laws that she was going to visit a friend. She never returned, nor did several other Vietnamese women in the surrounding area, villagers told The Beijing News.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
The only woman who returned, Wu Xiaohong (no relation to Wu Meiyu), said that she had been drugged at a banquet on Nov. 21 and that she had woken up in Handan city. She told the Chinese news media that her captors wanted to find her a new husband, but that she had refused and called her husband, who came to pick her up. Her version of events could not be verified.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
The villagers also told The Beijing News that Ms. Wu, the matchmaker, had been brought to the village as a bride more than two decades ago but that she had managed to communicate that fact only after she learned Mandarin. After an early escape attempt, she had returned to the village, they said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
The police in Quzhou County have reportedly <a href="http://www.ccgp-hebei.gov.cn/upnews/upfiles/zfcg_yzbgg/HD_QZ20141113172839xtl1t.htm" style="color: #326891;">detained three people</a>in connection with the investigation and are searching for Ms. Wu and another suspect, who has the surname Li. Although news reports have put the number of missing women at more than 100, the police said that only 28 villagers had reported such fraud, China Daily reported last week.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
Those who filed police reports were all from villages under the jurisdiction of Handan, which is best known as the birthplace of China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
Stories of Vietnamese brides have become common in rural China, where many bachelors say they are squeezed out of the marriage market because they lack the funds to satisfy the demands of Chinese families. Unfortunately for these men, runaway foreign brides are also common — though 100 in one area is a larger number than usual.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
Although the police suspect that the Hebei case involves marriage fraud, Chinese government officials and international rights organizations have expressed concern that some international marriages involve human trafficking.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
From 2009 to 2012, the Chinese police returned to Vietnam more than 1,800 women who had been brought to China illegally, Chen Shiqu, the head of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s anti-trafficking office, told the official news agency Xinhua last year.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
It is difficult to estimate how many trafficked Vietnamese women are in China, said Annette Lyth, the regional project manager for the United Nations Action for Cooperation Against Trafficking in Persons.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
“Both China and Vietnam are extremely difficult countries when it comes to any kind of data collection, and even more so when it comes to such a sensitive issue,” Ms. Lyth said. She added that the Chinese government appeared to be taking the issue more seriously in recent years.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
“Due to the one-child policy being a root cause to marriage trafficking, it used to be extremely sensitive to discuss this,” Ms. Lyth said. “However, recently the government has started to acknowledge that it exists, and the importance of finding ways to counter it.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
A British government <a href="http://ceop.police.uk/Documents/ceopdocs/NPM_CEOP_FCO_study_-_trafficking_of_Vietnamese_women_and_children.pdf" style="color: #326891;">report</a> found in 2011 that 60 percent of women who had been brought to China by traffickers from 2005 to 2009 had escaped. The Chinese police rescued 25 percent of those women, the study said, and the rest were released after their families paid money to the traffickers.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
In October, a <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2014-10/20/c_1112900961.htm" style="color: #326891;">Chinese court</a> sentenced five people to prison terms ranging from six to 12 years for trafficking Vietnamese with the intent of arranging their marriage.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
In an interview with China Daily, Wang Ying, an anti-trafficking official at the Ministry of Public Security, said that many Chinese websites and agencies that introduce Chinese men to foreign brides were involved in trafficking.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
In many ways, fighting such trafficking is difficult. The border between China and Vietnam stretches about 750 miles. Thousands of day laborers and traders cross it every day, either through one of the official crossing points or by way of dozens of semilegal and unofficial forested pathways.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
A search of Chinese websites turns up numerous services that promise to introduce potential suitors to Vietnamese women, and many of them feature photographs of purportedly happy couples. One website, 51888.com, offers to handle paperwork, including visas for travel to Vietnam, Cambodia or Indonesia to find a wife, for the equivalent of about $8,800.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
But there are terms and conditions, the website says: The fee cannot be returned, no matter what happens after the marriage.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-68082483104393776222014-12-09T13:11:00.001-08:002014-12-09T13:11:34.374-08:00Don't Look Away<div>
<div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"><b>Florida Law Student And Filmmaker Join Forces To Make A Unique Film For A Worthy Cause!</b></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"><b>Orlando, FL</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">: Today, a production team of Orlando natives have announced shooting dates to produce a unique film highlighting the growing problem of Modern-Day Sex Slavery in the United States, but in order to make the project more impactful, the duo will need your help.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">“Don’t Look Away” is a film highlighting the growing problem of Sex Slavery in America. The film cumulates factual recounts of human trafficking victims and incorporates them into a compelling story of a young lady who is forced into the sex industry. The film explores the physical, emotional, and psychological effects that every victim suffers.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">Alex Couch, a third-year student at Florida A&M College of Law, says that the issue has hit too close to home for this community to ignore. “The number of children being used for sexual exploitation in Florida is considerably higher than I would’ve ever imagined,” said Couch, producer of “Don’t Look Away”. “The battle against ‘slavery’ is far from over.”</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">Stephen Morgan, a local Filmmaker, says when he heard the news that sex trafficking was present in Orlando, it caused him to think about the lives of his own children. “The facts were hard to believe at first, but having kids of my own motivated me to look into the issue further. After doing so, I walked away broken-hearted for these victims,” said Morgan, the film’s director. “Once I knew the truth, I couldn’t think of anything more urgent than getting the word out to the masses that this is really happening”.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">The filmmaking duo will highlight the plight of victims that have survived as well as those that are currently suffering from being victimized in the sex-trade industry. They named the film "Don't Look Away" with three goals in mind: (1) That society will re-shape the way it views victims in human trafficking, (2) that society will change the way it handles the issue and helps victims, and (3) the film will be used</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: verdana,sans-serif;"><div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">as a risk-reduction and prevention tool by providing insight into the tactics and methods currently being used by human</span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"><br />traffickers. Currently, Florida ranks third behind only California and Texas, in forced labor and sexual exploitation. In 2013, the Central Florida Human Trafficking Task Force opened 24 new cases in Orlando alone. Nationally, in 2008 – 2010, the Department of Justice opened over 2,500 sex trafficking investigations, and 83% of them involved U.S. citizens. The number of sexually exploited children in the U.S. continues to grow every year. “Don’t Look Away” is designed to bring these issues to light in a way that only film can.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">Couch and Morgan have launched a website for the public to learn more about this growing epidemic. The duo is currently seeking donations to assist with the production of the film. To read more about the “Don’t Look Away” film, the issue of sex-trafficking, or to learn how you can donate to this worthy cause, please visit </span></span><a href="https://exchange.fsu.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=G1T8fs7rnEyXU5vTx_nHr7ustcCL59EIW5ECkrk4pcFN9PD5bBNh8jSbYMzEgKzllmArjy02J34.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fdontlookawayfilm.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">dontlookawayfilm.com</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"> or visit</span></span><a href="https://exchange.fsu.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=G1T8fs7rnEyXU5vTx_nHr7ustcCL59EIW5ECkrk4pcFN9PD5bBNh8jSbYMzEgKzllmArjy02J34.&URL=http%3a%2f%2ffacebook.com%2fdontlookawayfilm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">facebook.com/dontlookawayfilm</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">. All donations to the project are eligible to receive a tax donation through the film's fiscal sponsor, "From the Heart Productions", a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. </span></span></div>
</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
--<br />
<div>
<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<b>------------------------------------------</b></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<b>ALEX</b>COUCH</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<b><i>Phone</i></b>: 407.603.6031</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<b><i>Email</i></b>: <a href="https://exchange.fsu.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=G1T8fs7rnEyXU5vTx_nHr7ustcCL59EIW5ECkrk4pcFN9PD5bBNh8jSbYMzEgKzllmArjy02J34.&URL=mailto%3aalexraycouch%40gmail.com" target="_blank">alexraycouch@gmail.com</a></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;">
<b><i>Twitter</i></b>: <a href="https://exchange.fsu.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=G1T8fs7rnEyXU5vTx_nHr7ustcCL59EIW5ECkrk4pcFN9PD5bBNh8jSbYMzEgKzllmArjy02J34.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.twitter.com%2falexraycouch" target="_blank">www.twitter.com/alexraycouch</a></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-51639961664718444582014-11-21T18:00:00.000-08:002014-11-21T18:00:11.081-08:00In a Queens Court, Women Arrested for Prostitution Are Seen as Victimshttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/nyregion/in-a-queens-court-women-arrested-for-prostitution-are-seen-as-victims.html?emc=edit_tnt_20141121&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y<br />
<br />
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="327" data-total-count="327" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
By 9:30 a.m. on a Friday, the defendants start filing into the fluorescent-lit hallway outside Judge Toko Serita’s courtroom in Queens Criminal Court in Kew Gardens, checking anxiously for their names on a sheet of paper behind glass. Many of the women are Chinese and find that their names, typed in English, are misspelled.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="480" data-total-count="807" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
In the hallway, they speak mostly in Mandarin, in accents from across China. Some speak Korean. They meet with their court-appointed lawyers in the hallway, often helped by an interpreter born in Fujian Province and hired by the city courts. A snazzy dresser, the interpreter bounces from one defendant to the next; he has found himself adding terms to his usual vocabulary: prostitution (“maiyin”), illegal massage (“feifa anmo”), unlicensed massage (“wuzheng anmo”).</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="499" data-total-count="1306" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
This is the Human Trafficking Intervention Court in Queens, which is marking its 10th anniversary next month, and which serves as a model for a<a href="http://www.courtinnovation.org/research/announcement-new-yorks-human-trafficking-intervention-initiative" style="color: #326891;" title="Announcement of the program">statewide 11-court program</a> that began last year. The intention is to change the legal conversation around the multibillion-dollar sex trade by redefining the women in it as victims instead of criminals. Most are offered a deal: Take part in a set number of counseling sessions, usually five or six, and the charges will be dismissed and the record sealed.</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded has-adjacency has-lede-adjacency layout-small-horizontal media-100000003244647 ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003244647" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING3/23JPTRAFFICKING3-master315-v3.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 6px 30px 45px 0px; position: relative; width: 315px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Outside the courtroom." data-mediaviewer-credit="Uli Seit for The New York Times" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING3/23JPTRAFFICKING3-superJumbo-v3.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING3/23JPTRAFFICKING3-master315-v3.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING3/23JPTRAFFICKING3-master315-v3.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 315px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5; zoom: 1;">
<span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141120-131249/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -178px -62px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem;"><span class="caption-text">Outside the courtroom.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1.125rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Uli Seit for The New York Times</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="142" data-total-count="1448" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
After 13 months, the five New York City courts are still a work in progress, their success tracked more in individual stories than statistics.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="224" data-total-count="1672" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“This court is not devised to solve the problems of trafficking,” Judge Serita said of the program, “but to address one of the unfortunate byproducts, which is the arrest of these defendants on prostitution charges.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="459" data-total-count="2131" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
All defendants in the specialized courts are presumed to be victims at risk, the first of many assumptions made, in part, because of the silence surrounding sex trafficking. That silence also makes it tougher to shift social mores. Not only do the police and the justice system still treat prostitution as a crime, but the women themselves, most undocumented, often don’t define themselves as having been trafficked — whether out of fear, shame or choice.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="243" data-total-count="2374" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
New York State’s progressive anti-trafficking law has no definition of a victim, but describes the coercive tactics a trafficker uses. These include fraud, physical injury, withholding or destroying immigration documents and exploiting debt.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="342" data-total-count="2716" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
At no point in the proceedings does the judge, the prosecutor or the defense lawyer ask if the defendants have been trafficked; nor is there a quid pro quo to give up a trafficker. It is rare, but the hope is that the women, perhaps after working with counselors, will feel comfortable describing the conditions that led them to prostitution.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="349" data-total-count="3065" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“It’s a trigger mechanism to establish contact between individuals and service providers,” Judge Serita said of the court. “We know that five sessions is not necessarily going to change some people’s lives, but if they can establish meaningful contact with somebody else that can be used in the future, that’s what we’re hoping for.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="406" data-total-count="3471" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Inside the courtroom, the drama may seem perfunctory. The defendants have been charged with prostitution or loitering with intent to engage in prostitution, both misdemeanors. After arraignment, Kimberly Affronti, the assistant district attorney who has been the Queens court’s only prosecutor since its inception in 2004, decides what to offer the defendants after discussing options with their lawyers.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="111" data-total-count="3582" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“This court is a lot more nonadversarial than other courts,” Ms. Affronti said. “It’s a team effort.”</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded has-adjacency layout-small-horizontal media-100000003244613 ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003244613" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23TRAFFICKING3/23TRAFFICKING3-master315-v2.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 6px 30px 45px 0px; position: relative; width: 315px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Judge Toko Serita listening to cases. She may hear 40 cases in three hours during one Friday session." data-mediaviewer-credit="Uli Seit for The New York Times" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23TRAFFICKING3/23TRAFFICKING3-superJumbo-v2.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23TRAFFICKING3/23TRAFFICKING3-master315-v2.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23TRAFFICKING3/23TRAFFICKING3-master315-v2.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 315px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5; zoom: 1;">
<span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141120-131249/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -178px -62px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem;"><span class="caption-text">Judge Toko Serita listening to cases. She may hear 40 cases in three hours during one Friday session.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1.125rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Uli Seit for The New York Times</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="223" data-total-count="3805" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
For a first offense, five counseling sessions is the primary option. A defendant can also plead guilty to disorderly conduct; a small percentage of clients choose to fight their charges and get sent to an all-purpose court.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="407" data-total-count="4212" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
During an initial appearance, Judge Serita will refer the defendant to one of the court-approved counseling organizations. Upon completion of the sessions, she will grant an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, which means that if the defendant stays out of trouble for up to six months, the record will be sealed. Over the past year, her court has issued 398 such adjournments out of 639 cases heard.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="316" data-total-count="4528" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The Queens court has changed significantly in the decade since Judge Fernando M. Camacho founded it. Dismayed at seeing the same American-born teenage girls reappearing in his court for prostitution, Judge Camacho said he wanted to break the cycle by offering them alternatives to a criminal record or incarceration.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="351" data-total-count="4879" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Now, a majority of the defendants who sit in the worn walnut benches are either Latin American women or, even more often, older, undocumented immigrants from Asia, ranging in age from 30 to 50. According to statistics Judge Serita’s court has kept, Asian defendants represented 27 percent of the cases in 2010. In 2014, they have made up 40 percent.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="430" data-total-count="5309" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
If Judge Serita, 53, seems sensitive on the bench to the plight of new immigrants, perhaps it is because she, too, was an immigrant, coming to this country with her parents as a 5-year-old from Sapporo, Japan. As an only child attending elementary school in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, in the late 1960s, she would bring the lunch her father, an artist, packed for her in a bento box. “I used to get teased all the time,” she said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="219" data-total-count="5528" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
She turned an inclination for public service into work as a Legal Aid appellate lawyer and was appointed to the bench by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2005, becoming the first Japanese-American judge in the state court.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="396" data-total-count="5924" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
On Fridays, Judge Serita usually hears more than 40 cases in three hours. “How are you today?” she asks each of the women, inquiring whether they take English classes and praising their progress. Several defendants said they noticed less that she was an Asian woman and more that she had a warm demeanor. On other days, she presides over the drug treatment and<a class="meta-classifier" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/mentalhealthanddisorders/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: #326891;" title="Recent and archival health news about mental health and disorders.">mental health</a> courts in Queens.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="151" data-total-count="6075" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The trafficking court, she acknowledged, is a Catch-22: For people to feel less like criminals, they must first go through the criminal justice system.</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded layout-large-horizontal media-100000003244622 ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003244622" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING1/23JPTRAFFICKING1-articleLarge-v2.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="margin: 45px 0px 45px 105px; position: relative; width: 735px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: 600px;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="A woman leaving Human Trafficking Intervention Court after her case was heard." data-mediaviewer-credit="Uli Seit for The New York Times" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING1/23JPTRAFFICKING1-superJumbo-v2.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING1/23JPTRAFFICKING1-articleLarge-v2.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING1/23JPTRAFFICKING1-articleLarge-v2.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 600px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5; zoom: 1;">
<span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141120-131249/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -178px -62px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="bottom: 23px; color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; position: absolute; right: 0px; width: 120px;"><span class="caption-text">A woman leaving Human Trafficking Intervention Court after her case was heard.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1.125rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Uli Seit for The New York Times</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="337" data-total-count="6412" id="story-continues-4" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Leigh Latimer, the Legal Aid Society lawyer assigned to Judge Serita’s court, agreed. “There is a somewhat more recent view that clients are potentially victims, but we’re still arresting them at a very rapid pace,” she said. “We’re trying to solve their problems through being arrested, which is not an affirming process.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="433" data-total-count="6845" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Judge Serita has tried to offset that by assembling a large network of counselors and court advocates. Judge Camacho originally partnered with Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, and Judge Serita has added a half-dozen more, including two that work with Asian women:<a href="http://restorenyc.org/" style="color: #326891;" title="Organization website"> Restore NYC</a>and <a href="http://www.nyawc.org/" style="color: #326891;" title="Organization website">New York Asian Women’s Center</a>. On Fridays, counselors from those groups stand with clipboards outside the courtroom, waiting to sign women up.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="134" data-total-count="6979" id="story-continues-5" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Moving in and out of the courtroom is Paul Puma, 40, the head court officer for the trafficking court. He, too, must make assumptions.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="222" data-total-count="7201" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“When at any time a defendant comes in escorted by a male, I just ask the male to step outside,” Mr. Puma said, adding: “Nine times out of 10, I know I am speaking to their handler, or whatever you want to call them.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="383" data-total-count="7584" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“I don’t want them in the court,” Mr. Puma continued. “I want the women free to be able to take advantage of the services this court offers. I don’t have a legal right to stop them from coming in there. But I tell them, ‘I’ll let the judge and the prosecutor know that if you insist on being here for this young lady, they’re going to want to know who you are.’ ”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="141" data-total-count="7725" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
One Mandarin-speaking man who waited outside seemed less than encouraging about the counseling sessions his female friend would be attending.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="112" data-total-count="7837" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“As far as I’m concerned,” he said in Mandarin, “this is just propaganda.” He would not give his name.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="241" data-total-count="8078" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
On several Fridays, nearly a dozen women said during interviews in Mandarin that they did not feel like trafficking victims, but victims of the police. The women all spoke on the condition of anonymity because their cases were still pending.</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded layout-small-horizontal media-100000003244637 ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003244637" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING2/23jpTRAFFICKING2-master315.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 6px 30px 45px 0px; position: relative; width: 315px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Paul Puma, the head court officer." data-mediaviewer-credit="Uli Seit for The New York Times" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING2/23jpTRAFFICKING2-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING2/23jpTRAFFICKING2-master315.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING2/23jpTRAFFICKING2-master315.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 315px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5; zoom: 1;">
<span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141120-131249/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -178px -62px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem;"><span class="caption-text">Paul Puma, the head court officer.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1.125rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Uli Seit for The New York Times</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="210" data-total-count="8288" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“My name has been tarnished,” said one woman, who was upset that her case was “lumped with all those others.” She denied performing a sex act, but the police report contradicted that, Ms. Affronti said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="306" data-total-count="8594" id="story-continues-6" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Another woman explained that she was arrested at 4 a.m. on her sixth day of work. She and her sister, who quit after the second day because she sensed “something was not right,” owed more than $80,000 to friends and family members who raised the money for them to come to the United States from Fuzhou.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="251" data-total-count="8845" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
That type of pressure to pay back smuggling agents — often with interest as high as 12 percent — is considered “debt bondage.” It is a more subtle condition of human trafficking, but is pervasive in New York’s Asian communities, lawyers say.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="106" data-total-count="8951" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“Of course we have to borrow,” said the sister who was not arrested. “Who has that kind of money?”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="206" data-total-count="9157" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The women who accept the court’s deal attend full-day group counseling sessions once a week; they often begin the day with yoga, and then learn about the court process, their rights and prostitution laws.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="366" data-total-count="9523" id="story-continues-7" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
X. — who asked to be identified only by her first initial because she had not told her family in China she had worked as a prostitute — told a common story of debt bondage. Last November, she owed $60,000 to the travel agent who arranged for her entry to the United States. Because she had to pay $500 for her airport pickup, she soon began running out of money.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="180" data-total-count="9703" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
She could not find a job without work papers, and by the time she started looking through the classifieds of World Journal, a popular Chinese-language newspaper, she was desperate.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="309" data-total-count="10012" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The section is full of ads for so-called authentic massage — “tuina” — and there are plenty of questionable ones, too, like those looking for a “spicy little sister” or “a woman tender and warm.” One ad seeking massage workers promised $500 daily; another, “tens of thousands” for a month.</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded has-adjacency layout-small-horizontal media-100000003246909 ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003246909" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING5/23JPTRAFFICKING5-master315-v2.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 6px 30px 45px 0px; position: relative; width: 315px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="The hallway outside the courtroom." data-mediaviewer-credit="Uli Seit for The New York Times" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING5/23JPTRAFFICKING5-superJumbo-v2.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING5/23JPTRAFFICKING5-master315-v2.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING5/23JPTRAFFICKING5-master315-v2.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 315px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5; zoom: 1;">
<span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141120-131249/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -178px -62px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem;"><span class="caption-text">The hallway outside the courtroom.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1.125rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Uli Seit for The New York Times</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="83" data-total-count="10095" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
She was 42, alone and broke; she agreed to work at the first place that was hiring.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="294" data-total-count="10389" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
It was not until her new boss drove her to the job — in a Queens house — that first day, she said, that he told her she would be performing sexual services instead of massages. “All the women like you who come here and don’t have friends to help them — they all do it,” he told her.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="186" data-total-count="10575" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
One month later, she was arrested and felt humiliated. But after she appeared before Judge Serita and completed the counseling sessions, the charges were dropped and her case was sealed.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="302" data-total-count="10877" id="story-continues-8" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Ms. Latimer, the Legal Aid lawyer, put X. in touch with Sanctuary for Families, an organization helping victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence; Sanctuary is now working on a visa application for her and arranges medical appointments for her problems incurred during that dark month last fall.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="194" data-total-count="11071" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“I recognize that I took the wrong path,” X. said in Mandarin in an interview recently, interpreted by Rosie Wang, 26, a legal fellow at Sanctuary and recent graduate of Columbia Law School.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="173" data-total-count="11244" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“But,” X. continued, “I also think that if I didn’t, and these bad things didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be connected to so many people who have helped me so much.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="506" data-total-count="11750" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Despite the court’s innovative ambitions, it hasn’t always been able to meet the day-to-day needs of the women whom it aims to help. As the number of Asian defendants has surged in Queens, the private counseling agencies, already short of money, have had trouble keeping pace. Over the summer, defendants faced waits of up to six weeks to begin their court-mandated counseling with the New York Asian Women’s Center or Restore NYC. Both organizations said recently that there currently were no waits.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="294" data-total-count="12044" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Danielle Sennett, a public defender with<a href="http://www.idealist.org/view/org/G32ZWD7b2k5P/" style="color: #326891;"> Queens Law Associates </a>who is assigned to the court, said any delay could make it more difficult for clients to get work and could keep them stuck, living in danger. “Some women who are in high-risk situations are not being served,” Ms. Sennett said.</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded layout-small-horizontal media-100000003244626 ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" id="media-100000003244626" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING4/23JPTRAFFICKING4-master315-v2.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 6px 30px 45px 0px; position: relative; width: 315px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Rosie Wang, a legal fellow with Sanctuary for Families, an organization that helps victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence." data-mediaviewer-credit="Uli Seit for The New York Times" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING4/23JPTRAFFICKING4-superJumbo-v2.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING4/23JPTRAFFICKING4-master315-v2.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/11/23/nyregion/23JPTRAFFICKING4/23JPTRAFFICKING4-master315-v2.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 315px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5; zoom: 1;">
<span class="icon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20141120-131249/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: -178px -62px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem;"><span class="caption-text">Rosie Wang, a legal fellow with Sanctuary for Families, an organization that helps victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1.125rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Uli Seit for The New York Times</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="332" data-total-count="12376" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The courts do not keep a record of recidivism, although if women are rearrested, they often return to fulfill more counseling sessions. Despite efforts by the New York Police Department’s vice enforcement squad, advocates say the message has not always filtered to the precinct level to treat women as victims when arresting them.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="247" data-total-count="12623" id="story-continues-9" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
So far this year, the Police Department recorded 686 arrests in Queens on misdemeanor charges of prostitution and loitering, including 149 in the 109th Precinct, covering Flushing, which is where most of the massage parlors in the borough operate.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="158" data-total-count="12781" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Queens Criminal Court has only 15 cases pending for trafficking, a felony that is tried in a separate courtroom, deliberately far from Judge Serita’s court.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="280" data-total-count="13061" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“In a system that prioritizes a high volume of low-level arrests, you still have to ask: ‘Who is getting arrested?’ ” said Kate Mogulescu, the supervising lawyer of the Trafficking Victims Advocacy Project for the Legal Aid Society in New York. “What’s the endgame?”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="347" data-total-count="13408" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The New York State chief judge, Jonathan Lippman, acknowledged that “the focus should be on the demand, on the traffickers and the buyers.” But he added: “The reality is we don’t make decisions as to who gets arrested, and we want to assure that these victims get the assistance that they need and ultimately get out of ‘the life.’ ”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="337" data-total-count="13745" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
M., 40, who asked to be identified only by her first initial because she is undocumented, is one of those trying to get out. Arrested on a prostitution charge in Queens in May, she went through the counseling program at the New York Asian Women’s Center; when it was over, the group told her to call if she ever ran into trouble again.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="333" data-total-count="14078" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
M. said she had been working at what she thought was a legitimate Manhattan massage parlor in September when her bosses forced her to perform commercial sex. They beat her and threatened her life if she did not continue, she said. Desperate, she called the Women’s Center, which swiftly connected her with Sanctuary for legal help.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="134" data-total-count="14212" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Ms. Wang, who came to this country from Chengdu when she was 1 and jokes that she speaks Mandarin with an American accent, met with M.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="339" data-total-count="14551" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Gradually, M. felt comfortable telling her of the abuse and became emboldened by Sanctuary’s support. “After the incident happened where I was trafficked, I was feeling very lost,” M. said in an interview, with Ms. Wang interpreting. “But now I feel like I have the courage to talk to people about it, including law enforcement.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="230" data-total-count="14781" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Like many Chinese immigrants who settle in Flushing, M. had applied for political asylum when she arrived. The lawyer she approached said it would cost $3,500 and demanded $500 upfront, which she paid. His office has since closed.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="506" data-total-count="15287" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Sanctuary explained to her and many other clients that political asylum is rarely granted and applying for it risks deportation. Instead, women like M. are better off applying for a T Visa, reserved for victims of trafficking, said Melissa Brennan, Sanctuary’s senior staff lawyer in Queens. In July, Ms. Brennan created a free project involving seven New York law firms that have since given 34 immigration consultations. The program is now helping nine clients, including M., to apply for legal status.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="227" data-total-count="15514" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“Launching this project, I never expected to see the level of disclosure that we have,” Ms. Brennan said. Six women have told Ms. Wang that they were victims, and Sanctuary is following other cases of potential trafficking.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="120" data-total-count="15634" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
In a court that is based on assumptions, success can be hard to define. Or it can come splashing down in grateful tears.</div>
<br />
<footer class="story-footer story-content" style="margin-bottom: 45px; margin-left: 135px; margin-top: 24px; width: 540px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><div class="story-meta" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<div class="story-notes">
</div>
</div>
</footer><br />
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="80" data-total-count="15714" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“I just don’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone else,” M. said.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-78965442889970737692014-11-19T05:42:00.003-08:002014-11-19T05:42:28.019-08:00Bangladesh Intercepts Ship Holding 600 Trafficking Victims<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/world/bangladesh-intercepts-ship-holding-600-trafficking-victims.html?emc=edit_tnt_20141118&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/19/world/bangladesh-intercepts-ship-holding-600-trafficking-victims.html?emc=edit_tnt_20141118&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0</a><br />
<br />
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="152" data-total-count="152" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
NEW DELHI — The Bangladeshi Navy said Tuesday that it had intercepted a small ship holding more than 600 victims of human trafficking the day before.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="230" data-total-count="382" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The passengers aboard the ship, mostly from <a class="meta-loc" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/bangladesh/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" style="color: #326891;" title="More news and information about Bangladesh.">Bangladesh</a> or Myanmar, had been heading to Malaysia, M. Rashed Ali, a navy spokesman, said by phone from Dhaka. The ship reached the Bangladeshi harbor of Chittagong on Tuesday evening.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="229" data-total-count="611" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The victims were found aboard a trawler flying the Myanmar flag, Reuters quoted the navy spokesman as saying. The boat was in the Bay of Bengal about 135 nautical miles from St. Martin’s Island, part of southernmost Bangladesh.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="236" data-total-count="847" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
Many Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and impoverished Bangladeshis risk the journey in hopes of earning money overseas. During the first 10 months of this year, the Bangladeshi Coast Guard intercepted and detained 900 trafficking victims.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="140" data-total-count="987" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
“These are poor people, and they travel in inhuman conditions, on top of each other,” said M. Mashric Ur Rahim, a Coast Guard commander.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="180" data-total-count="1167" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">
The journey to Malaysia from Bangladesh typically includes a stopover in Thailand and lasts six to 10 days, with illegal passengers moving between boats, trawlers, and small ships.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-38445795491084956482014-07-18T05:49:00.001-07:002014-07-18T05:49:38.920-07:00One in Four Victims of Human Trafficking is a Child<img alt="Embedded image permalink" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BsoChgrIMAAX20H.jpg" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-35939211573142996242014-07-15T19:35:00.002-07:002014-07-15T19:35:18.884-07:00he process Congress wants to use for child migrants is a disaster<a href="http://www.vox.com/2014/7/15/5898349/border-children-mexican-central-american-deport-quickly-2008-law?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=voxdotcom&utm_content=tuesday">http://www.vox.com/2014/7/15/5898349/border-children-mexican-central-american-deport-quickly-2008-law?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=voxdotcom&utm_content=tuesday</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-66294519073860171452014-07-08T04:40:00.000-07:002014-07-08T04:40:57.251-07:00Immigrant Surge Rooted in Law to Curb Child Trafficking<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140707&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140707&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0</a><br />
<br />
<header class="story-header" id="story-header" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; position: relative;"><div class="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<h1 class="story-heading" itemprop="headline" style="color: black; font-size: 2.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 2.375rem; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">
Immigrant Surge Rooted in Law to Curb Child Trafficking</h1>
<div class="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-top: 2px;">
<div class="byline-dateline" style="float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-right: 45px; margin-top: 4px;">
<span class="byline" itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/carl_hulse/index.html" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem;">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/carl_hulse/index.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by CARL HULSE"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="CARL HULSE" data-twitter-handle="hillhulse" itemprop="name">CARL HULSE</span></a></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-07-07" style="color: black; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px;">JULY 7, 2014</time></div>
<div class="inside-story" style="float: right; height: 36px;">
<ul class="inside-story-menu" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"></ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</header><div class="lede-container" style="background-color: white; clear: none; color: #333333; float: none; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
<figure aria-label="media" class="promo media video lede layout-large-horizontal" data-autoplay="false" data-media-action="modal" data-videoid="100000002986589" role="group" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; clear: left; float: left; margin: 5px -10px 45px 0px; padding-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: 390px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140707&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Video</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: auto;">
<img src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/07/multimedia/nytm-070714-border/nytm-070714-border-videoSixteenByNine600.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 389.9999084472656px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.15s; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85098); border-bottom-left-radius: 5px; border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-top-left-radius: 5px; border-top-right-radius: 5px; border: 1px solid rgba(76, 76, 76, 0.85098); bottom: 15px; box-sizing: border-box; color: white; left: 15px; max-width: 225px; min-height: 45px; min-width: 110px; padding: 0px 10px 0px 0px; position: absolute; transition: background-color 0.15s; z-index: 5;">
<span class="icon" style="border-color: transparent transparent transparent rgb(255, 255, 255); border-style: inset inset inset solid; border-width: 12px 18px; display: inline-block; float: left; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 10px -10px 0px 10px; vertical-align: middle; width: 0px;"></span><div class="media-meta" style="float: left; margin-top: 15px; max-width: 100%;">
<h5 class="kicker" style="font-size: 0.75rem; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: 0.075em; line-height: 1rem; margin: 0px 0px auto; text-transform: uppercase;">
<span class="kicker-label" style="display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0.05em; line-height: 0.6875rem;">PLAY VIDEO</span></h5>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" style="bottom: 23px; color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; position: static; right: 0px; width: auto;"><h4 class="headline" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #333333; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 1px; line-height: 1rem; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">
The Immigration Debate’s Twin Issues</h4>
<div class="summary-credit" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1.125rem;">
<div class="summary" style="display: inline; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-bottom: 1em;">
As tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors cross into the United States this year, immigration reform is stalled. The issues are related but not the same, Here’s why.</div>
<span class="credit video-credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Video Credit</span>By Christian Roman, Carrie Halperin and Emily B. Hager on <span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Publish Date</span>July 7, 2014. </span><span class="credit photo-credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; float: none; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Image Credit</span>Eric Gay/Associated Press</span></div>
</figcaption></figure><div class="lede-container-ads" style="clear: right; float: right;">
<div class="ad middle-right-ad marginalia-anchor-ad" id="MiddleRight" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 40px 40px; min-height: 250px; min-width: 300px; position: relative;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140707&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><div id="pickle_ads_div_9024">
<div class="afp_visible" id="afp_608_wrapper" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-user-select: none; float: right; height: 600px; opacity: 1; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; width: 300px; z-index: 999999999;">
<div style="position: relative;">
<div id="afp_608_unexpanded" style="background-color: black; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); height: 600px; left: 0px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 300px;">
<div class="afp_visible" id="afp_608_unexpanded_pleat1" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/pleat1.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; height: 386px; left: 7px; opacity: 1; position: absolute; top: 73px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; width: 94px;">
</div>
<div class="afp_visible" id="afp_608_unexpanded_pleat2" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/pleat2.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; height: 386px; left: 103px; opacity: 1; position: absolute; top: 73px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; width: 94px;">
</div>
<div class="afp_visible" id="afp_608_unexpanded_pleat3" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/pleat3.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; height: 386px; left: 199px; opacity: 1; position: absolute; top: 73px; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; width: 94px;">
</div>
<div id="afp_608_unexpanded_gradient" style="background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/unexpanded_black_gradient.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; height: 84px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 32px; width: 300px;">
</div>
<div class="afp_end" id="afp_608_unexpanded_logo" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/unexpanded_logo.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; height: 61px; left: 9px; opacity: 1; position: absolute; top: 6px; transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; width: 284px;">
</div>
<div class="afp_end" id="afp_608_unexpanded_down_pic1" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/unexpanded_down_pic1.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat; bottom: 5px; height: 128px; left: 0px; opacity: 1; position: absolute; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; width: 300px;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="afp_closed" id="afp_608_container_wrapper" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.5s ease-in-out; background-color: black; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); height: 600px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; right: -2px; top: 0px; transition: all 0.5s ease-in-out; width: 0px; z-index: 9999999999;">
<div id="afp_608_container" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.8s ease-in-out; background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); height: 600px; left: 0px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: all 0.8s ease-in-out; width: 504px;">
<div class="afp_closed" id="afp_608_expanded_page3" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/expanded_page3.jpg); background-position: 233px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; height: 600px; left: 477px; opacity: 0.8; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; width: 27px; z-index: 500;">
<div id="afp_608_expanded_page3_pleat" style="cursor: pointer; height: 600px; left: 477px; width: 27px;">
</div>
<div id="afp_608_expanded_page3_watch" style="background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/click_more.png); background-position: 147px 275px; background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; height: 295px; left: 54px; position: absolute; top: 114px; width: 370px;">
</div>
<div id="afp_608_expanded_down_pic3" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/expanded_down_pic3.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; bottom: 18px; height: 123px; left: 168px; position: absolute; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; width: 126px;">
</div>
<div id="afp_608_video_container" style="border: 1px solid rgb(102, 102, 102); height: 344px; left: 516px; position: absolute; top: 125px; width: 423px; z-index: 999999999;">
<video class="video-js vjs-default-skin" controls="" height="344" id="afp_608_video1" preload="auto" style="-webkit-user-select: none; background-color: black; color: #cccccc; display: inline-block; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle;" width="423"></video></div>
<div id="afp_608_video_play_button" style="background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/video_play_button.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; height: 282px; left: 13px; position: absolute; top: -1000000px; width: 468px;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="afp_closed" id="afp_608_expanded_page2" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/expanded_page2.jpg); background-position: 233px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; height: 600px; left: 450px; opacity: 0.4; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; width: 27px; z-index: 500;">
<div id="afp_608_expanded_page2_pleat" style="cursor: pointer; height: 600px; left: 450px; width: 27px;">
</div>
<div id="afp_608_expanded_page2_watch" style="background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/click_more.png); background-position: 131px 275px; background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; height: 295px; left: 69px; position: absolute; top: 114px; width: 370px;">
</div>
<div id="afp_608_expanded_down_pic2" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/expanded_down_pic2.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; bottom: 18px; height: 168px; left: 100px; position: absolute; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; width: 250px;">
</div>
</div>
<div id="afp_608_expanded_page1" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/expanded_page1.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat; height: 600px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out; width: 450px; z-index: 500;">
<div id="afp_608_expanded_page1_pleat" style="cursor: pointer; height: 600px; left: 0px; width: 27px;">
</div>
<div id="afp_608_expanded_page1_watch" style="background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/click_more.png); background-position: 170px 275px; background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; height: 290px; left: 30px; position: absolute; top: 115px; width: 380px;">
</div>
<div id="afp_608_expanded_down_pic1" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/expanded_down_pic1.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; bottom: 18px; height: 168px; left: 100px; position: absolute; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; width: 250px;">
</div>
<div id="afp_608_expanded_arrow_right1" style="background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/arrow_right.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; height: 44px; left: 416px; position: absolute; top: 278px; width: 23px;">
</div>
</div>
<div id="afp_608_expanded_logo" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; background-image: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/expanded_logo.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer; height: 88px; left: 13px; position: absolute; top: 9.5px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; width: 423px; z-index: 1000;">
</div>
<div id="afp_608_closebtn" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; background: url(http://d3cxgjorprur2q.cloudfront.net/campaigns/campaign_468/creative_608/expanded_close_btn.png) 0px 3px no-repeat; cursor: pointer; height: 12px; left: 411px; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: all 0.4s ease-in-out; width: 45px; z-index: 700;">
</div>
<div id="afp_608_watch_video" style="cursor: pointer; height: 26px; left: 162px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; top: 556px; width: 119px; z-index: 700;">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<aside class="marginalia related-coverage-marginalia nocontent robots-nocontent" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" role="complementary" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: right; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 45px 30px; padding-top: 10px; width: 300px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140707&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><header><h2 class="module-heading" style="color: black; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; margin: 0px 0px 1em; text-transform: uppercase;">
RELATED COVERAGE</h2>
</header><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/us/amid-influx-of-migrants-obama-to-skip-border-visit-on-texas-trip.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 64.99998474121094px;">
<img alt="Representatives Robert W. Goodlatte, left, of Virginia and Darrell Issa of California, both Republicans, on Thursday. They were among the lawmakers on a tour of the South Texas border." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/04/us/SUBIMMIG/SUBIMMIG-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 27.0624942779541px; left: 5.196427345275879px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.4999542236328px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Amid Influx of Migrants, Obama Is to Skip Border Visit on Texas Trip</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-07-03" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JULY 3, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/us/obama-to-use-executive-action-to-bolster-border-enforcement.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 64.99998474121094px;">
<img alt="President Obama spoke in the Rose Garden of the White House on Monday." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/01/us/01BORDER/01BORDER-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 27.0624942779541px; left: 5.196427345275879px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.4999542236328px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Obama Says He’ll Order Action to Aid Immigrants</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-06-30" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JUNE 30, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/us/obama-to-seek-funds-to-stem-border-crossings-and-speed-deportations.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 64.99998474121094px;">
<img alt="Demonstrators outside a federal building in Detroit on Saturday spoke up about deportations." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/29/us/IMMIG/IMMIG-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 27.0624942779541px; left: 5.196427345275879px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.4999542236328px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Obama to Seek Funds to Stem Border Crossings and Speed Deportations</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-06-28" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JUNE 28, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/us/snakes-and-thorny-brush-and-children-at-the-border-alone.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 64.99998474121094px;">
<img alt="" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/25/us/BORDER-ss-slide-NI7R/BORDER-ss-slide-NI7R-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 27.0624942779541px; left: 5.196427345275879px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.4999542236328px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Snakes and Thorny Brush, and Children at the Border Alone</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-06-25" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JUNE 25, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/us/border-centers-struggle-to-handle-onslaught-of-children-crossers.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 64.99998474121094px;">
<img alt="A customs center in Nogales, Ariz., is struggling to care for a growing number of unaccompanied minors." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/19/us/BORDER/BORDER-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 27.0624942779541px; left: 5.196427345275879px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.4999542236328px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Border Centers Struggle to Handle Onslaught of Young Migrants</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-06-18" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JUNE 18, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/17/us/migrants-flow-in-south-texas-as-do-rumors.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 64.99998474121094px;">
<img alt="Mercedes Mejía, from Honduras, at the Sacred Heart shelter in McAllen, Tex., on Sunday. Residents have rushed to help." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/17/us/border1/border1-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 28.017850875854492px; left: 5.196427345275879px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.4999542236328px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Migrants Flow in South Texas, as Do Rumors</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-06-16" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JUNE 16, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
</ul>
</aside><aside class="marginalia comments-marginalia selected-comment-marginalia" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" data-skip-to-para-id="story-continues-7" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: right; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 45px 30px; padding-top: 10px; width: 300px;"><a class="visually-hidden" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140707&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-7" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><header><h2 class="module-heading" style="color: #326891; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; margin: 0px 0px 1em; text-transform: uppercase;">
<span class="icon" style="-webkit-transition: background-color 0.3s; background: rgb(135, 156, 180); border-bottom-left-radius: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 1px; border-top-left-radius: 1px; border-top-right-radius: 1px; display: inline-block; height: 13px; line-height: 0; margin: -3px 8px 0px 0px; position: relative; transition: background-color 0.3s; vertical-align: middle; width: 20px;"></span>RECENT COMMENTS</h2>
</header><div class="comments-view" style="margin-bottom: 15px;">
<article class="comment" data-permid="12222804" style="margin-top: 0px;"><header><h2 class="commenter" style="color: black; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; margin: 0px;">
Karla</h2>
<time class="comment-time" datetime="" style="color: #999999; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; margin-left: 5px;">34 minutes ago</time></header><div class="comment-text" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1rem;">
Yet again, the focus of the press and Washington appears to be on illegal immigrants. The impression, right or wrong, is that the only issue...</div>
</article><article class="comment" data-permid="12222917" style="margin-top: 15px;"><header><h2 class="commenter" style="color: black; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; margin: 0px;">
Neal Kluge</h2>
<time class="comment-time" datetime="" style="color: #999999; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; margin-left: 5px;">36 minutes ago</time></header><div class="comment-text" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1rem;">
There are many ways for an immigrant to the USA to pay his/her debt to one's country of birth. The flow of new ideas and the the flow of...</div>
</article><article class="comment" data-permid="12222864" style="margin-top: 15px;"><header><h2 class="commenter" style="color: black; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; margin: 0px;">
Warmingsmorming</h2>
<time class="comment-time" datetime="" style="color: #999999; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; margin-left: 5px;">38 minutes ago</time></header><div class="comment-text" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1rem;">
So we have the blame bush for everything narrative alive and well at the Times .It is almost as if Obama has not been president for the last...</div>
</article></div>
<footer style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-top: 2px;"><ul class="comment-actions" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="comment-count" style="color: #326891; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-right: 12px; text-transform: uppercase;">SEE ALL COMMENTS</li>
<li class="comment-reply" style="color: #326891; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.375rem; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 12px; text-transform: uppercase;">WRITE A COMMENT</li>
</ul>
</footer></aside></div>
</div>
<div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story sharetools-init" data-description="The White House says it is hindered in the crisis of immigrant minors by a law to fight sex trafficking, which makes it hard to return certain children to their countries." data-publish-date="July 7, 2014" data-shares="email|email,facebook,twitter,save,show-all|more,ad" data-title="Immigrant Surge Rooted in Law to Curb Child Trafficking" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html" id="sharetools-story" role="group" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 88px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140707&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="sharetools-label visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share This Page</span><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="sharetool email-sharetool login-modal-trigger" data-modal-title="Log in to Email" style="border-top-width: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="email" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140707-140435/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -388px 0px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">EMAIL</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140707-140435/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -60px -20px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">FACEBOOK</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool twitter-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="twitter" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140707-140435/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -72px -145px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">TWITTER</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool save-sharetool login-modal-trigger" data-modal-title="Log in to Save" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="save" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140707-140435/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -402px -80px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">SAVE</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool show-all-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="show-all" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s; color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase; transition: 0.2s;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140707-140435/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -122px -121px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">MORE</span></a></li>
</ul>
<div class="ad sharetools-inline-article-ad" id="Position1">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140707&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="ad-frame frame-for-article" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; height: 31px; width: 88px;"></iframe></div>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="249" data-total-count="249" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
WASHINGTON — It was one of the final pieces of legislation signed into law by President<a class="meta-per" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/george_w_bush/index.html?inline=nyt-per" style="color: #326891;" title="More articles about George W. Bush.">George W. Bush</a>, a measure that passed without controversy, along with a pension bill and another one calling for national parks to be commemorated on quarters.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="400" data-total-count="649" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
“This is a piece of legislation we’re very proud to sign,” a White House spokesman, Tony Fratto, <a href="http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2008/12/20081223151231bpuh0.1773645.html#axzz36pPxBaR6" style="color: #326891;" title="Transcript">told reporters</a> on Dec. 23, 2008, as the president put his pen to the <a href="http://www.state.gov/j/tip/laws/113178.htm" style="color: #326891;">William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008</a>, named for a 19th-century British abolitionist. “This program has been very effective around the world in trying to stop trafficking in persons.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="196" data-total-count="845" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Now the legislation, enacted quietly during the transition to the Obama administration, is at the root of the potentially calamitous flow of unaccompanied minors to the nation’s southern border.</div>
<div class="margainalia-placeholder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="309" data-total-count="1154" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Originally pushed by a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers as well as by evangelical groups to combat sex trafficking, the bill gave substantial new protections to children entering the country alone who were not from Mexico or Canada by prohibiting them from being quickly sent back to their country of origin.</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded has-adjacency has-lede-adjacency layout-large-horizontal ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/08/us/JP-IMMIG1/JP-IMMIG1-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin: 45px 0px 45px 105px; position: relative; width: 510px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: 510px;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="President George W. Bush signing the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008." data-mediaviewer-credit="Charles Dharapak/Associated Press" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/08/us/JP-IMMIG1/JP-IMMIG1-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/08/us/JP-IMMIG1/JP-IMMIG1-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/08/us/JP-IMMIG1/JP-IMMIG1-articleLarge.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 509.9999084472656px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5; zoom: 1;">
<span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140707-140435/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -456px -42px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="caption-text">President George W. Bush signing the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Charles Dharapak/Associated Press</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="464" data-total-count="1618" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Instead, it required that they be given an opportunity to appear at an immigration hearing and consult with an advocate, and it recommended that they have access to counsel. It also required that they be turned over to the care of the Department of Health and Human Services, and the agency was directed to place the minor “in the least restrictive setting that is in the best interest of the child” and to explore reuniting those children with family members.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="465" data-total-count="2083" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The Obama administration says the law is partly responsible for tying its hands in dealing with the current influx of children. Officials have suggested that the White House might seek flexibility in the law’s requirements when it asks Congress to provide emergency funds to contend with the latest immigration crisis, a request that could come as early as Tuesday. About 52,000 minors without their parents have been caught at the Southwest border since October.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="495" data-total-count="2578" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
“Giving the secretary of homeland security additional authority and discretion that he can use to confront that situation more efficiently, making sure that we are acknowledging the humanitarian issues that are at stake while also enforcing the law, is a priority,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said Monday. “It’s the priority of this administration, and if you listen to the public comments of Democrats and Republicans, it sounds like it’s a bipartisan priority.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="416" data-total-count="2994" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Senator Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who helped write the measure, said the White House does not need new power to act. “That law already provides the administration with flexibility to accelerate the judicial process in times of crisis,” she said. “The administration should use that flexibility to speed up the system while still treating these children humanely, with compassion and respect.”</div>
<div class="margainalia-placeholder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="268" data-total-count="3262" id="story-continues-4" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
On Capitol Hill, Democrats said they expected that the administration’s initial request for border money would not push for changes in the trafficking law but that the White House would try to work with relevant congressional committees to eventually win revisions.</div>
<div class="ad ad-placeholder" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin: 0px 0px 45px 40px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140707&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-5" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140707&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-5" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe frameborder="0" height="280px" hspace="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://srv.dynamicyield.com/st?sec=8765344&id=July%208%202014" style="border-width: 0px; overflow: hidden;" vspace="0" width="300px"></iframe></div>
<div class="ad text-ad middle-right-ad" id="SponLinkA" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin: 5px 0px 40px 40px; min-height: 250px; min-width: 300px; position: relative;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140707&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-5" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="ad-frame frame-for-article" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; height: 250px; width: 300px;"></iframe></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="208" data-total-count="3470" id="story-continues-5" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Democrats have shown reluctance to endorse narrow immigration law changes after House Republicans balked at a much more sweeping overhaul and seem hesitant to tinker too much with the William Wilberforce Act.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="458" data-total-count="3928" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
In a recent letter to Speaker John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, said Congress must ensure that the provisions of the trafficking victims act, “which passed the House and Senate unanimously and was also signed into law by President Bush, are fully enforced, so that due process is provided to unaccompanied children and the safety and well-being of unaccompanied children is protected.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="293" data-total-count="4221" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Republicans, who are calling for changes that would make it easier to send them back, blame <a class="meta-per" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per" style="color: #326891;" title="More articles about Barack Obama">President Obama</a> for the surge of children at the border, saying he provided a lure by instituting a program that deferred deportations for some immigrants who entered the nation illegally as children.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="136" data-total-count="4357" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
They say the effort to point to the Bush-era law is a meant to deflect attention from the administration and make both parties culpable.</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded has-adjacency layout-large-horizontal ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/08/us/JP-IMMIG2/JP-IMMIG2-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin: 45px 0px 45px 105px; position: relative; width: 510px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: 510px;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Boys waited to make phone calls in June at a United States Customs and Border Protection center in Nogales, Ariz." data-mediaviewer-credit="Pool photo by Ross D. Franklin" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/08/us/JP-IMMIG2/JP-IMMIG2-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/08/us/JP-IMMIG2/JP-IMMIG2-articleLarge.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/08/us/JP-IMMIG2/JP-IMMIG2-articleLarge.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 509.9999084472656px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5; zoom: 1;">
<span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140707-140435/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -456px -42px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="caption-text">Boys waited to make phone calls in June at a United States Customs and Border Protection center in Nogales, Ariz.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>Pool photo by Ross D. Franklin</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="294" data-total-count="4651" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Representative Jeff Fortenberry, a Nebraska Republican and a chief backer of the original bill, said multiple factors contributed to the crisis, including “exploitation of our laws, the ungoverned space in Central America, as well as the desperate poverty faced by those deciding to cross.”</div>
<div class="margainalia-placeholder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="198" data-total-count="4849" id="story-continues-6" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
“With all these factors in mind, it’s hard to think that today’s situation at the border can be directly attributed to a law that’s been in effect now for six years,” Mr. Fortenberry said.</div>
<div class="margainalia-placeholder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="218" data-total-count="5067" id="story-continues-7" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
What many can agree on is that the Wilberforce law was not enacted with the idea of dealing with the current flow of tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors or providing an incentive for children to reach the border.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="208" data-total-count="5275" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
“It is classic unintended consequences,” said Marc R. Rosenblum, deputy director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute. “This was certainly not what was envisioned.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="349" data-total-count="5624" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Given the tense partisanship that now surrounds nearly every aspect of border policy, it is hard to imagine that a bill making such substantive changes could breeze through Congress. But the trafficking measure did so in the Bush administration’s last weeks, and it did so with bipartisan backing without so much as a recorded vote in the Senate.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="176" data-total-count="5800" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Advocates saw it as a breakthrough on sex trafficking after Congress had already scuttled an earlier attempt at broad immigration reform despite the strong backing of Mr. Bush.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="281" data-total-count="6081" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Just two House Republicans — Representative Jeff Flake of Arizona and Representative Paul Broun of Georgia — opposed the measure when it first passed the House in 2007, but it went through Congress without opposition and with little notice in the post-election session of 2008.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="332" data-total-count="6413" id="story-continues-8" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Aides to Mr. Flake, now a senator, said he did not foresee the current problems but was more concerned about holding the line on federal spending at the time. He now backs revising the law. “Congress needs to change what it can, as soon as it can, to ensure that these unaccompanied minors are sent home without delay,” he said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="235" data-total-count="6648" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Immigration advocates say that they see no need for changes in the law and that the Obama administration should be able to work within the existing framework to bring some order under a law that is working to meet its original purpose.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="307" data-total-count="6955" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
“First and foremost,” said Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, who was an immigration adviser to Senator Edward M. Kennedy at the time of the bill’s passage, “there was a recognition that these kids are incredibly vulnerable when they are moving across international borders alone.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-78733290972245053942014-07-01T11:26:00.002-07:002014-07-01T11:26:32.703-07:00Are Your Food and Clothes Produced With Slave Labor?<a href="http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/are-your-food-and-clothes-produced-with-slave-labor/?_php=true&_type=blogs&emc=edit_tnt_20140630&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0">http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/are-your-food-and-clothes-produced-with-slave-labor/?_php=true&_type=blogs&emc=edit_tnt_20140630&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0</a><br />
<br />
<header class="wrap opinion-alternate" id="blogs-masthead" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; height: 113px; margin-bottom: 30px; position: relative;"><a class="opinion-kicker" href="http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/" style="color: #326891; left: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; top: 12px; z-index: 2;"><img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v5/_misc/kicker-opinionpages.png" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" /></a><div class="element1" style="float: none; height: 113px; position: absolute; width: auto; z-index: 1;">
<div id="logo" style="margin-right: 15px;">
<a href="http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/?module=BlogMain&action=Click&region=Header&pgtype=Blogs&version=Blog%20Post&contentCollection=Opinion" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none;" title="Go to Taking Note Home"><img alt="Taking Note - The Editorial Page Editor's Blog" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v5/takingnote/takingnote_post.png" style="border: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="element2" style="float: right; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: right; z-index: 2;">
<div class="inlineSearchControl" style="margin: 40px 0px 0px;">
<form action="http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/" id="searchform" method="get" style="margin: 0px;">
<input class="text" id="s" name="s" placeholder="Search Taking Note" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0666667) 2px 3px 3px inset; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0666667) 2px 3px 3px inset; color: #979797; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; height: 30px; line-height: 0.8125rem; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 10px; vertical-align: middle; width: 235px;" type="text" value="" /> <button class="searchsubmit" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(226, 226, 226); color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; height: 30px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: middle; width: 70px;" type="submit">SEARCH</button></form>
</div>
</div>
<div class="clear" style="clear: both;">
</div>
</header><div class="a-column " id="a-col" style="background-color: white; border-right-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px 30px 0px 0px; position: relative; width: 600px;">
<div class="hfeed" id="content" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; margin: 0px;">
<article class="post-17469 post type-post status-publish hentry tag-human-trafficking tag-maloney-carolyn-b" id="post-17469" style="overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0px;"><header class="postHeader"><div class="postKicker" style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
</div>
<h1 class="entry-title" style="font-size: 1.5625rem; line-height: 1.6875rem; margin: 0px 0px 6px;">
Are Your Food and Clothes Produced With Slave Labor?</h1>
<div class="story-meta-footer" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.875rem; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<address class="byline author vcard" style="color: black; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem; margin: 0px;">
By <a class="url fn" href="http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/author/carol-giacomo/" style="color: black; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;" title="See all posts by CAROL GIACOMO">CAROL GIACOMO</a></address>
<time class="dateline" datetime="2014-06-30T19:14:24+00:00" style="color: grey; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px; padding: 0px 8px 0px 0px; text-transform: uppercase;" title="June 30, 2014 3:14 pm">JUNE 30, 2014 3:14 PM</time><button class="button comments-button theme-kicker" data-skip-to-para-id="" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border: 0px; color: #6288a5; cursor: pointer; float: none; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; height: 12px; line-height: 0; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: middle;"><span class="icon" style="background: rgb(98, 136, 165); border-bottom-left-radius: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 1px; border-top-left-radius: 1px; border-top-right-radius: 1px; display: inline-block; height: 6px; line-height: 1em; margin-top: -2px; padding-left: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 8px;"></span> <span class="button-text" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 1px; vertical-align: middle;"><span class="count">6</span> <span class="units">Comments</span></span></button></div>
</header><div class="entry-content" style="margin-left: 120px; width: 480px;">
<div class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story sharetools-init" data-description="It's hard for consumers to know whether a seafood supplier in Thailand or a clothes manufacturer in Bangladesh built its business on the backs of indentured or otherwise abused workers." data-shares="email|e-mail,facebook,twitter,save,show-all|more,ad" data-title="Are Your Food and Clothes Produced With Slave Labor?" data-url="http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/are-your-food-and-clothes-produced-with-slave-labor/" id="sharetools-story" style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 0px 0px 35px -120px; width: 88px;">
<ul style="font-size: 1rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="sharetool email-sharetool login-modal-trigger" data-modal-title="Log in to Email" style="background: 0px 50%; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><a data-share="email" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/blogs/20140619-140054/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -388px 0px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 1em; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">E-MAIL</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="background: 0px 50%; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><a data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/blogs/20140619-140054/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -60px -20px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 1em; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">FACEBOOK</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool twitter-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="background: 0px 50%; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><a data-share="twitter" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/blogs/20140619-140054/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -60px -145px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 1em; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">TWITTER</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool save-sharetool login-modal-trigger" data-modal-title="Log in to Save" style="background: 0px 50%; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><a data-share="save" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/blogs/20140619-140054/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -402px -80px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 1em; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">SAVE</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool show-all-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="background: 0px 50%; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><a data-share="show-all" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/blogs/20140619-140054/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -106px -121px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 1em; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">MORE</span></a></li>
</ul>
<div class="ad sharetools-inline-article-ad" id="Frame4A" style="text-align: center;">
<iframe class="ad-frame frame-for-article" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; height: 60px; margin: 0px auto; width: 96px;"></iframe></div>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
All consumers should be outraged by the idea that they’ve bought something – from shrimp to shirts – produced with slave labor. Yet as <a href="http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2014/index.htm" style="color: #326891;">numerous reports</a> have documented, that is a serious and growing possibility, particularly in the United States, the world’s biggest importer.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
Given that much of this slave labor and trafficking activity occurs in secret, far from America’s shores, it can be hard for consumers to know whether a seafood supplier in Thailand or a clothes manufacturer in Bangladesh has built its business on the backs of indentured or otherwise abused workers.<br /><span id="more-17469"></span><br />Representative Carolyn Maloney, Democrat of New York, is seeking to compel more transparency through a bill introduced earlier this month in Congress. The legislation would require companies with over $100 million in global gross receipts to publicly disclose any measures they have taken to prevent human trafficking, slavery and child labor as part of their annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
The bill seems carefully crafted not to impose onerous new burdens on business. While companies would have to make reports to the SEC, they wouldn’t be required to take specific actions, just disclose whatever steps they feel have been necessary to combat trafficking and slave labor.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
Although the bill isn’t a panacea, at least it would provide consumers with information they don’t have access to now about what companies are doing, or not doing, to avoid using slave or trafficked labor. And it should serve as an incentive for companies to take a closer look at their supply chains.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
As the bill argues, the existing legislative and regulatory framework to prevent goods produced by forced labor, slavery, human trafficking and the worst forms of child labor from passing into American market is “gravely inadequate.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
There could be an estimated 29 million victims of all sorts of human trafficking worldwide. Lacking any clear evidence that American businesses are rejecting such sordid and dehumanizing profit-making, consumers are left to wonder about the origin of the products they are buying.</div>
<div class="story-body-text" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; max-width: 540px;">
In addition to the SEC reports, the bill aims to remedy that by directing the secretary of labor to put together a top 100 list of companies complying with supply chain labor standards. It’s hard to see why any company would not want that designation to use as a marketing tool.</div>
</div>
</article></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-15361459244498020322014-06-25T16:23:00.003-07:002014-06-25T16:23:23.790-07:00Re “Slavery and the Shrimp on Your Plate”<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/25/opinion/slavery-and-thai-seafood.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140624&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/25/opinion/slavery-and-thai-seafood.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140624&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0</a><br />
<br />
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="242" data-total-count="323" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The State Department is to be congratulated for sending a strong message to the Thai government that it must end slavery in its seafood industry. Even allies must learn that turning a blind eye to human trafficking has costs and consequences.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="370" data-total-count="693" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
But you are also right that this does not let the businesses that import this tainted seafood, or the consumers who buy it, off the hook. Good corporate intentions are worthless unless contracts are terminated when abuse is exposed. Concerned consumers must make clear that they won’t buy food caught by slaves and won’t spend money with stores that think they will.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="339" data-total-count="1032" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
These efforts must be coupled with support for those grass-roots organizations already working to free these modern slaves and help them recover from the abuses they have suffered. But this won’t work without concerted efforts to tackle the lack of opportunity that forced them into the hands of the trafficking gangs in the first place.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="32" data-total-count="1064" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
NICK GRONO<br />London, June 23, 2014</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="1" data-total-count="1065" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
<em></em></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="106" data-total-count="1171" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
<em>The writer is chief executive of the Freedom Fund, </em><em> a private donor fund dedicated to ending slavery.</em></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-24471855675904682172014-06-24T11:31:00.003-07:002014-06-24T11:31:55.423-07:00F.B.I. Cracks Down on Sex Trafficking<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/us/fbi-cracks-down-on-sex-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140623&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/us/fbi-cracks-down-on-sex-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140623&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y</a><br />
<br />
<header class="story-header" id="story-header" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; position: relative;"><div class="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<h1 class="story-heading" itemprop="headline" style="color: black; font-size: 2.125rem; font-style: italic; line-height: 2.375rem; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">
F.B.I. Cracks Down on Sex Trafficking</h1>
<div class="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-top: 2px;">
<div class="byline-dateline" style="float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-right: 45px; margin-top: 4px;">
<span class="byline" itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/michael_s_schmidt/index.html" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem;">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/michael_s_schmidt/index.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT" data-twitter-handle="MichaelSSchmidt" itemprop="name">MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT</span></a></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-06-23" style="color: black; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px;">JUNE 23, 2014</time></div>
<div class="inside-story" style="float: right; height: 36px;">
<ul class="inside-story-menu" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"></ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</header><div class="lede-container" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
<div class="lede-container-ads" style="clear: right; float: right;">
<div class="ad middle-right-ad marginalia-anchor-ad" id="MiddleRight" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 40px 40px; min-height: 250px; min-width: 300px; position: relative;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/us/fbi-cracks-down-on-sex-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140623&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="ad-frame frame-for-article" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; height: 250px; width: 300px;"></iframe></div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story sharetools-init" data-description="The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said that in the past week law enforcement authorities had arrested 281 pimps and recovered 168 child prostitutes in a sex trafficking sting." data-publish-date="June 23, 2014" data-shares="email|email,facebook,twitter,save,show-all|more,ad" data-title="F.B.I. Cracks Down on Sex Trafficking" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/us/fbi-cracks-down-on-sex-trafficking.html" id="sharetools-story" role="group" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 88px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/us/fbi-cracks-down-on-sex-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140623&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="sharetools-label visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share This Page</span><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="sharetool email-sharetool login-modal-trigger" data-modal-title="Log in to Email" style="border-top-width: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="email" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140619-223140/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -388px 0px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">EMAIL</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140619-223140/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -60px -20px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">FACEBOOK</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool twitter-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="twitter" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140619-223140/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -60px -145px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">TWITTER</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool save-sharetool login-modal-trigger" data-modal-title="Log in to Save" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="save" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140619-223140/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -402px -80px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">SAVE</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool show-all-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="show-all" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140619-223140/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -106px -121px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">MORE</span></a></li>
</ul>
<div class="ad sharetools-inline-article-ad" id="Position1">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/us/fbi-cracks-down-on-sex-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140623&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="ad-frame frame-for-article" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; height: 31px; width: 88px;"></iframe></div>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="579" data-total-count="579" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The <a class="meta-org" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/federal_bureau_of_investigation/index.html?inline=nyt-org" style="color: #326891;" title="More articles about the Federal Bureau of Investigation.">F.B.I.</a> director, James B. Comey, on Monday said that in the past week law enforcement authorities had arrested 281 pimps and recovered 168 child prostitutes in a nationwide sex trafficking sting. The arrests and recoveries were made in 106 cities, and roughly 10 percent of the prostitutes had been missing from child protective services, the authorities said. In Phoenix, 21 pimps were apprehended, and in Denver 18 prostitutes were recovered, the highest numbers in the operation. More than a dozen children were recovered in other cities, including Chicago and Cleveland.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-88010594273505629132014-06-24T06:53:00.004-07:002014-06-24T06:53:37.310-07:00Documentary film on sex trafficking in Mexico<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #1f497d;">I am excited to share with you a documentary recently finished by FusionTV (ABC & Univision joint-venture). The documentary focuses on the Tenancingo sex trafficking trade, and features interviews with one of our seasoned HSI investigators, a U.S. Attorney, and the</span><span style="color: #1f497d;"> old brothel footage came from the </span><span style="color: #1f497d;"><u>Carreto</u></span><span style="color: #1f497d;"> case.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #1f497d;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #1f497d;">The production team traveled to Tenancingo, Mexico for the story, and it is very well done~</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #1f497d;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://exchange.fsu.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=4KOf8UGtQ0-X-8YPBix2ilzU4ShFY9EIZCUYjfFFBsCg4c1C52KKJs6iWe3-PnukEMAAUGVX7kA.&URL=http%3a%2f%2ffusion.net%2fModern_Life%2fvideo%2ffusion-investigates-pimp-city-full-investigation-778729" target="_blank">http://fusion.net/Modern_Life/video/fusion-investigates-pimp-city-full-investigation-778729</a></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-68570845772416190672014-06-24T06:19:00.004-07:002014-06-24T06:19:43.384-07:00Slavery and the Shrimp on Your Plate<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/opinion/sunday/thai-seafood-is-contaminated-by-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140621&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/opinion/sunday/thai-seafood-is-contaminated-by-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140621&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0</a><br />
<br />
<header class="story-header" id="story-header" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; position: relative;"><div class="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<h2 class="story-heading" style="color: black; font-size: 2rem; font-weight: 500; line-height: 2.25rem; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">
Slavery and the Shrimp on Your Plate</h2>
<h1 class="deck" itemprop="headline" style="color: black; display: inline-block; font-size: 1.25rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.5rem; margin: -5px 10px 14px 0px;">
Thai Seafood Is Contaminated by Human Trafficking</h1>
<div class="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-top: 2px;">
<div class="byline-dateline" style="float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-right: 45px; margin-top: 4px;">
<span class="byline" itemid="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/opinion/editorialboard.html" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem;">By <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/opinion/editorialboard.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by THE EDITORIAL BOARD"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="THE EDITORIAL BOARD" itemprop="name">THE EDITORIAL BOARD</span></a></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-06-21" style="color: black; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px;">JUNE 21, 2014</time></div>
<div class="inside-story" style="float: right; height: 36px;">
<ul class="inside-story-menu" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"></ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</header><div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story sharetools-init" data-description="Seafood fishing is big business in Thailand, but the government has done little to combat human trafficking and forced labor." data-publish-date="June 21, 2014" data-shares="email|email,facebook,twitter,save,show-all|more,ad" data-title="Thai Seafood Is Contaminated by Human Trafficking" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/opinion/sunday/thai-seafood-is-contaminated-by-human-trafficking.html" id="sharetools-story" role="group" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 88px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/opinion/sunday/thai-seafood-is-contaminated-by-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140621&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem;"><br />Shrimp and other seafood fishing is a big business in Thailand. The industry employs more than</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem;"> </span></a><a href="http://ejfoundation.org/sites/default/files/public/Sold_to_the_Sea_report_lo-res-v2.pdf" style="color: #326891; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem;" title="environmental justuce foundation report">650,000</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem;">people and annually produces more than $7 billion in exports that show up on dinner tables all over the world, including in the United States. It also has a horrific dark side. Its reliance on slave labor is so pervasive and ugly that the State Department now lists Thailand as one of the worst violators among 188 countries judged every year on how they deal with human trafficking.</span>Continue reading the main story<span class="sharetools-label visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share This Page</span><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="sharetool email-sharetool login-modal-trigger" data-modal-title="Log in to Email" style="border-top-width: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="email" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140619-223140/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -388px 0px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">EMAIL</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140619-223140/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -60px -20px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">FACEBOOK</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool twitter-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="twitter" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140619-223140/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -60px -145px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">TWITTER</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool save-sharetool login-modal-trigger" data-modal-title="Log in to Save" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="save" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140619-223140/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -402px -80px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">SAVE</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool show-all-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="show-all" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140619-223140/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -106px -121px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">MORE</span></a></li>
</ul>
<div class="ad sharetools-inline-article-ad" id="Position1">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/opinion/sunday/thai-seafood-is-contaminated-by-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140621&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="ad-frame frame-for-article" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; height: 31px; width: 88px;"></iframe></div>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="445" data-total-count="931" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The ratings were begun 14 years ago, after the United States enacted an anti-trafficking law and the United Nations adopted the Palermo Protocol. Both call for countries to criminalize trafficking, punish offenders and provide shelter and support to victims. The State Department’s annual <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/asia/us-gives-thailand-and-malaysia-lowest-grade-on-human-trafficking.html" style="color: #326891;" title="NY Times article">human trafficking report</a>, released on Friday, is an important part of this effort, systematically chronicling abuses and government efforts to stop them.</div>
<div class="margainalia-placeholder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="422" data-total-count="1353" id="story-continues-4" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Thailand has long been a magnet for migrants from neighboring countries. These migrants now number two to three million people. Tens of thousands of them are victims of trafficking — vulnerable men, women and children, some forced into the Thai sex trade, others pushed into garment manufacturing and domestic work. Now comes growing evidence that many are also being exploited in fishing and fishing-related industries.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="597" data-total-count="1950" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
According to the 432-page report, men from Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand are forced to work on Thai fishing boats that travel throughout Southeast Asia and beyond. Many pay brokers to help them find work in Thailand, and are then sold to shipowners. Under threat of jail or deportation and desperate for income, they are forced to work 18 to 20 hours a day, seven days a week, for very low wages, and are often threatened and beaten. The exact scope of this abuse is unknown but the report cited two surveys that suggested between 17 percent and 57 percent of the fishermen were treated this way.</div>
<div class="margainalia-placeholder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="511" data-total-count="2461" id="story-continues-5" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The report builds on recent investigations by Reuters, the<a href="http://ejfoundation.org/sites/default/files/public/Sold_to_the_Sea_report_lo-res-v2.pdf" style="color: #326891;" title="EJF report">Environmental Justice Foundation</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/jun/11/us-blacklist-thailand-prawn-trade-slavery-revelations" style="color: #326891;" title="guardian">The Guardian</a> newspaper, which found that slavery is central to the shrimp industry’s success. So is corruption. The State Department said Thai civilian and military officials and the police profited from smuggling members of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority who are fleeing oppression in Myanmar and Bangladesh, into the country, holding them in detention centers and then selling them to brokers and boat owners.</div>
<div class="margainalia-placeholder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="681" data-total-count="3142" id="story-continues-6" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Thailand is a treaty ally of the United States. For two years, the department placed Thailand on a watch list, signifying dissatisfaction with its inaction on human trafficking. Last week, it finally listed Thailand among the worst violators of the standards set in American law, in part because “the government demonstrated few efforts to address these trafficking crimes.” Malaysia and Venezuela also made the worst list for the first time. There are 20 other countries in this bottom category, including North Korea, Iran and Russia. The United States and 30 other countries in the top category are considered compliant with the standards; the rest are somewhere in between.</div>
<div class="ad ad-placeholder" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin: 0px 0px 45px 40px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/opinion/sunday/thai-seafood-is-contaminated-by-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140621&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/opinion/sunday/thai-seafood-is-contaminated-by-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140621&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe frameborder="0" height="280px" hspace="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://srv.dynamicyield.com/st?sec=8765344&id=June%2024%202014" style="border-width: 0px; overflow: hidden;" vspace="0" width="300px"></iframe></div>
<div class="ad text-ad middle-right-ad" id="SponLinkA" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin: 5px 0px 40px 40px; min-height: 250px; min-width: 300px; position: relative;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/opinion/sunday/thai-seafood-is-contaminated-by-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140621&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="ad-frame frame-for-article" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; height: 250px; width: 300px;"></iframe></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="474" data-total-count="3616" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The revelations about Thailand should persuade major global corporations, including <a href="http://rt.com/usa/165168-thai-shrimp-industry-slave-labor/" style="color: #326891;" title="global corporations">Costco, Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco</a>, that their business models have to change. They should refuse to import from fishermen or companies that have been reliably identified by watchdog groups as using slave labor. They also need to pressure the Thai government to ensure that abusers who hire trafficked employees are prosecuted and that the victims are protected and treated with respect.</div>
<div class="margainalia-placeholder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="278" data-total-count="3894" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Under American law, aid and other assistance can be withheld if countries do not crack down on trafficking; Washington should not hesitate to use this tool when it can be effective. Consumers have a role to play, too, by refusing to purchase products produced with slave labor.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="332" data-total-count="4226" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The saddest part is that Thailand is only one slice of the problem. Slave labor has also been documented on ships flying the flags of Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong, among others. It is estimated that there could be 29 million victims of all sorts of human trafficking around the globe, including thousands in the United States.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="199" data-total-count="4425" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
There has been progress over the past 14 years in raising awareness of the problem and in dealing with it, but as the State Department report all too painfully shows, there is still a long way to go.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-9845950186633060042014-06-20T08:28:00.003-07:002014-06-20T08:28:28.987-07:00<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/asia/us-gives-thailand-and-malaysia-lowest-grade-on-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140620&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/asia/us-gives-thailand-and-malaysia-lowest-grade-on-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140620&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0</a><br />
<br />
<header class="story-header" id="story-header" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; position: relative;"><div class="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<div class="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-top: 2px;">
<div class="byline-dateline" style="float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-right: 45px; margin-top: 4px;">
<span class="byline" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem;">By <span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="DAVID MOLL" itemprop="name">DAVID MOLL</span></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-06-20" style="color: black; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px;">JUNE 20, 2014</time></div>
<div class="inside-story" style="float: right; height: 36px;">
<ul class="inside-story-menu" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"></ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</header><div class="lede-container" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
<div class="lede-container-ads" style="clear: right; float: right;">
<div class="ad middle-right-ad marginalia-anchor-ad" id="MiddleRight" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 40px 40px; min-height: 250px; min-width: 300px; position: relative;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/asia/us-gives-thailand-and-malaysia-lowest-grade-on-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140620&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="ad-frame frame-for-article" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; height: 250px; width: 300px;"></iframe></div>
<aside class="marginalia related-coverage-marginalia nocontent robots-nocontent" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" role="complementary" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: right; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 45px 30px; padding-top: 10px; width: 300px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/asia/us-gives-thailand-and-malaysia-lowest-grade-on-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140620&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-3" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><header><h2 class="module-heading" style="color: black; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; margin: 0px 0px 1em; text-transform: uppercase;">
RELATED COVERAGE</h2>
</header><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/21/us/politics/house-passes-bills-aimed-at-stemming-human-trafficking.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><h2 class="story-heading" style="color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">House Passes Bills Aimed at Stemming Human Trafficking</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-05-20" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">MAY 20, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/world/africa/real-threat-in-a-known-market-for-children.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 64.99998474121094px;">
<img alt="People rallied in Lagos on Monday to push Boko Haram to release dozens of girls who were abducted and to criticize the Nigerian government for not having rescued them." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/05/05/multimedia/nigeria-abduction-sots/nigeria-abduction-sots-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 28.017850875854492px; left: 5.196427345275879px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.4999542236328px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Real Threat in a Known Market for Children</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-05-07" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">MAY 7, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
</ul>
</aside></div>
</div>
<div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story sharetools-init" data-description="A State Department report released Friday ranks the two Southeast Asian countries with North Korea, Iran and Zimbabwe." data-publish-date="June 20, 2014" data-shares="email|email,facebook,twitter,save,show-all|more,ad" data-title="U.S. Gives Thailand and Malaysia Lowest Grade on Human Trafficking" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/asia/us-gives-thailand-and-malaysia-lowest-grade-on-human-trafficking.html" id="sharetools-story" role="group" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 88px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/asia/us-gives-thailand-and-malaysia-lowest-grade-on-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140620&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="sharetools-label visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share This Page</span><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="sharetool email-sharetool login-modal-trigger" data-modal-title="Log in to Email" style="border-top-width: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="email" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140616-160942/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -388px 0px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">EMAIL</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140616-160942/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -60px -20px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">FACEBOOK</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool twitter-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="twitter" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140616-160942/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -60px -145px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">TWITTER</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool save-sharetool login-modal-trigger" data-modal-title="Log in to Save" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="save" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140616-160942/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -402px -80px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">SAVE</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool show-all-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="show-all" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140616-160942/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -106px -121px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">MORE</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="288" data-total-count="288" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
HONG KONG — The State Department released a report Friday that ranked Thailand and Malaysia among the two dozen countries doing the least to fight human trafficking, an embarrassment for the two Southeast Asian nations and a finding that could lead to economic and diplomatic penalties.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="418" data-total-count="706" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The downgrade to so-called Tier 3 status places the countries alongside North Korea, Iran and Zimbabwe in the eyes of the State Department, which publishes an <a href="http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2014/index.htm" style="color: #326891;" title="State Department report">annual report</a>assessing efforts by the world’s governments to combat human trafficking. Thailand now ranks below its neighbor Myanmar, a former Tier 3 country whose State Department rating has improved since it began moving toward democracy in recent years.</div>
<div class="margainalia-placeholder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="505" data-total-count="1211" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
“Overall anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts remained insufficient compared with the size of the problem in Thailand, and corruption at all levels hampered the success of these efforts,” the report released on Friday said. “Despite frequent media and NGO reports documenting instances of forced labor and debt bondage among foreign migrants in Thailand’s commercial sectors — including the fishing industry — the government demonstrated few efforts to address these trafficking crimes.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="613" data-total-count="1824" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Recent reports by <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/jun/10/supermarket-prawns-thailand-produced-slave-labour" style="color: #326891;">The Guardian</a> and others have described the use of forced labor in Thailand’s seafood industry, often involving complicity on the part of Thai officials. In a Pulitzer Prize-winning <a href="http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2014-International-Reporting" style="color: #326891;">series of articles</a>last year, Reuters reported that Thai officials had been involved in selling Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar to human-trafficking rings, which sometimes sold them into servitude on fishing boats. The Thai Navy, some of whose personnel were implicated, has filed a lawsuit accusing two journalists of criminal defamation for printing an excerpt from one of the Reuters articles.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="487" data-total-count="2311" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
This week, a British researcher, Andy Hall, was detained by a Thai court and had his passport confiscated in connection with criminal defamation charges brought by a Thai food company. Mr. Hall, who was freed on bail, had spoken to Al Jazeera about abusive treatment of migrant workers by the company, Natural Fruit, which Mr. Hall had documented for a Finnish nongovernmental organization. The State Department report calls for such prosecutions of journalists and researchers to cease.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="409" data-total-count="2720" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
In Malaysia, the report said, many migrant workers are “exploited and subjected to practices indicative of forced labor, such as restrictions on movement, deceit and fraud in wages, passport confiscation, and imposition of significant debts by recruitment agents or employers.” Many foreign women recruited for ostensibly legal work in Malaysia are subsequently coerced into prostitution, the report said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="277" data-total-count="2997" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Because both Thailand and Malaysia had been in a “watch list” category for four consecutive years, both were due for automatic downgrades to Tier 3 this year unless the State Department judged that they had made significant strides in addressing their trafficking problems.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="121" data-total-count="3118" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
China, which was downgraded to Tier 3 status a year ago, was moved back up a level, to the watch list, in the new report.</div>
<div class="ad ad-placeholder" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin: 0px 0px 45px 40px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/asia/us-gives-thailand-and-malaysia-lowest-grade-on-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140620&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/asia/us-gives-thailand-and-malaysia-lowest-grade-on-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140620&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="dy-marketing-module" frameborder="0" height="280px" hspace="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://srv.dynamicyield.com/st?sec=8765344&id=June%2020%202014" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: dotted; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 10px;" vspace="0" width="300px"></iframe></div>
<div class="ad text-ad middle-right-ad" id="SponLinkA" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin: 5px 0px 40px 40px; min-height: 250px; min-width: 300px; position: relative;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/asia/us-gives-thailand-and-malaysia-lowest-grade-on-human-trafficking.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140620&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-2" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="ad-frame frame-for-article" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; height: 250px; width: 300px;"></iframe></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="446" data-total-count="3564" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Recently, Thailand has argued that its efforts have improved enough for it to avoid a downgrade. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a <a href="http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/media-center/14/46613-Thailand's-Anti-Trafficking-Progress-Exceeds.html" style="color: #326891;">news release</a> this week that it had substantially more trafficking-related investigations, prosecutions and convictions last year than in 2012. Vijavat Isarabhakdi, the Thai ambassador to the United States, said in the release that Thailand was “committed to eliminating this inhumane exploitation.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="349" data-total-count="3913" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Luis CdeBaca, the ambassador at large at the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, said that Thailand had indeed shown some improvement, mainly in sex-trafficking cases. But very little progress has been made in prosecuting the widely documented abuses of migrant workers and official complicity in them, he said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="206" data-total-count="4119" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
“There’s a reason why so many folks are looking at the abuses in the migrant population there over the last years,” Mr. CdeBaca said. “That’s an area that needs more policing, more enforcement.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="446" data-total-count="4565" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Mr. CdeBaca said it was too early to judge what <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/world/asia/thailand.html" style="color: #326891;" title="Times article">Thailand’s military coup</a> last month would mean for the country’s human-trafficking problem. The junta has said that it will address the issue of undocumented workers in Thailand, including forced labor, but it has denied engaging in a violent crackdown on illegal migrants, fears of which have apparently prompted hundreds of thousands of Cambodian workers to leave the country since last week.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="279" data-total-count="4844" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
A Tier 3 designation by the State Department does not automatically result in penalties, but it can lead to the United States withholding some forms of aid and cultural exchange, or opposing some kinds of assistance from international bodies like the International Monetary Fund.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="297" data-total-count="5141" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Phil Robertson, the Bangkok-based deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said the annual report was a motivating factor for governments in the region less because of the potential for sanctions than because of the embarrassment of “being grouped into the worst of the worst.”</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-38030286939451316562014-06-18T07:32:00.001-07:002014-06-18T07:32:12.090-07:00Thank you, Tallahassee<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.666668891906738px;" type="cite">
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Gov. Scott Signs Legislation to Increase Prosecution of Human Trafficking Criminals and Provide Better Services to Survivors<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Today, Governor Rick Scott was joined by Attorney General Pam Bondi, members of Florida Legislature, as well as law enforcement officials, stakeholders, advocates and victims to sign House Bills 989 and 7141 to increase prosecution of human trafficking criminals and provide better services to survivors.<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Governor Scott said, “I am so proud to sign these two important bills today that increase protections to victims of human trafficking and increase criminal penalties related to human trafficking. As a father and grandfather, I understand the importance of protecting our children and those who are vulnerable. We must do our part to help restore the sense of security for those who have been victims of human trafficking so they can heal.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">House Bill 989 increases protections to victims of human trafficking. The bill prohibits minors from working in adult theaters, removes time limitations to allow a prosecution for certain human trafficking offenses to be commenced at any time, creates and increases criminal penalties relating to human trafficking. <u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">House Bill 7141 provides definitions and makes changes to rules and guidelines to the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and community based care lead agencies in administering safe houses and safe foster homes for children who have been sexually exploited.<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “I thank Governor Scott for his support of Florida’s anti-human trafficking efforts. The Statewide Council of Human Trafficking will coordinate and enhance efforts to fight sex trafficking and support victims.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Niki Cross, survivor and founder of S.T.A.A.R. Ministry, said, “Survivors that have found healing, have a responsibility to mentor and guide others that may not be so fortunate. It doesn't happen overnight and it is a slow process. That is why it is so crucial to have as many resources available as possible. I cannot change my past, but I WILL be a part of changing the future. I was once a victim, now victorious. It will take all of us to make a difference in this fight, but we can do it. As I have often shared so many times before, there is no limit in what good a man can do, as long as he doesn't care who gets the credit.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Deborah Polston, Florida's Human Trafficking Advocate, said, “Governor Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi are working hard to eliminate human trafficking in Florida and making the public aware of this heinous criminal activity and the gross injustice to our most vulnerable. Florida is taking an aggressive stance in this human trafficking battle by putting laws into place which protect and defend victims, and prosecute traffickers to the fullest extent of the law. These new laws will allow us to better care for the minor victims of trafficking, protect their rights and privacy, and continue our work at the State level through a more concentrated effort.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dotti Groover-Skipper, Chair, FREE Collaborative of the Community Campaign Against Human Trafficking-West Florida said, “As these important human trafficking bills are signed into law, Governor Scott is sending the message that Florida is a ‘no tolerance’ state for the insidious crime of modern day slavery. We must continue to work together, as one powerful voice, to end demand, eradicate this horror, and restore value, dignity, and worth to the precious lives who have been impacted.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wansley Walters, Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice, said, “I am proud of Florida and Governor Scott for taking the steps to further protect the innocent victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. By signing this legislation into law, Florida’s children exposed to the horrific crime of sexual exploitation will now receive the critical services needed to address their unique needs and the trauma they have experienced at the hands of predators.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mike Carroll, Interim Secretary of the Department of Children and Families, said, “We are pleased the Governor and Legislature have provided additional resources to serve children and young adults in our communities who are being sexually exploited. It’s crucial for state agencies, law enforcement and community partners to continue to work together and collaborate on our approach to protecting and rehabilitating these young victims.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Senate President Don Gaetz said, “One thing is sure: the scourge of human trafficking has come to Florida towns and cities and among its victims are Florida children. This legislation helps fulfill the Joint Work Plan commitment Speaker Weatherford and I made to protect the most vulnerable among us. Florida will now have stronger laws to go after human traffickers and more resources to comfort and care for those who have been emotionally damaged and physically abused.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">House Speaker Will Weatherford said, “Victims of human trafficking should know they are safe when receiving care from safe houses. I'm proud of our efforts this year to further crack down on human trafficking in Florida.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Senator Oscar Braynon said, “Today marks a great change in Florida with the signing of legislation by Governor Scott that ushers in stronger penalties for those who engage in human trafficking. I took great pride in sponsoring the Senate bill and know it will make a difference in the lives of people who are negatively impacted by human trafficking.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Senator Joe Negron said, “Governor Scott and the Florida Legislature are taking action to address the terrible issue of human trafficking and providing the Department of Children and Families resources to assess and screen children in their care.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Senator Tom Lee said, “It is necessary for us to protect the vulnerable in our state and I commend Governor Scott for continuing to put Florida’s families first with this measure.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Senator Anitere Flores said, “Human trafficking is a terrible crime and I am proud to live in a state that staunchly supports victims and severely penalizes perpetrators. Governor Scott and the members of the Florida Legislature should be lauded for their support of these two bills.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Senator Greg Evers said, “Governor Scott’s public signing of HB 989 and HB 7141 will help to raise awareness about human trafficking and will shore up efforts to stop it in Florida.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Gayle Harrell said, “I am honored to be here with Governor Scott as he signs this significant legislation dealing with Human Trafficking. I am pleased to have sponsored HB 7141 which will provide certified safe foster homes and safe houses for victims of Human Trafficking. With this legislation Florida has become a leader in treating children who have been exploited and are victims of what is truly modern day slavery.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Carlos Trujillo said, “I am proud to have sponsored these legislative changes to allow prosecution for a violation of a human trafficking offense to be commenced at any time and that create more criminal penalties for those involved with human trafficking. I appreciate Governor Scott extending his support these changes that will allow Florida to prosecute criminals involved in this terrible activity.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Dana Young said, “The goal is to eliminate the evils of human trafficking and these bills help demonstrate it’s not tolerated in Florida. I am proud to have helped pass these changes to our laws and appreciate Governor Scott signing them.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Richard Corcoran said, “I am pleased to support this important legislation that says Florida is a zero tolerance state for those who sexually exploit our children. I’m thankful Governor Scott is publicly signing this critical bill and bringing attention to this very serious issue.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Matt Hudson said, “I am appreciative of Governor Scott’s support for this legislative change that will benefit Florida families. Among the effects of this legislation, this bill authorizes DCF to certify safe houses and safe foster homes that will provide safe haven for victims of trafficking.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Erik Fresen said, “It was my privilege to co-sponsor legislation to increase protections for the victims of human trafficking and I thank Governor Scott for signing it in such a public forum.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Dennis Baxley said, “Human trafficking is the modern form of slavery and a heartbreaking reality of our time. Gov. Scott and the legislature are making clear we will not sit by and allow this abuse of our most vulnerable. We thank Gov. Scott for leading to make Florida a safe place to live and work and a place where every person is valued.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Matt Gaetz said, “This legislation will help strengthen the punishment for those who engage in this terrible trade. I am proud Florida has a leader in Governor Scott who supports these necessary changes for the protection of young people.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Ross Spano said, “Victims of human trafficking will get more protections and rights because of this bill; thank you to Governor Scott and the legislative leadership for supporting it.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Larry Metz said, “Human trafficking is an evil and insidious crime that victimizes the young and vulnerable. To eliminate it will require strong leadership and an unwavering commitment over time. Governor Scott continues to lead the way and by signing this important legislation once again demonstrates his commitment to protecting the most vulnerable among us. Thank you Governor for your leadership and for signing these bills today!”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Charles McBurney said, “Today is a very important day in the lives of those who are impacted by human trafficking and I appreciate Governor Scott standing in support of victims’ rights and protections.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Dwight Dudley said, “I appreciate the leadership of the Florida Legislature for enacting meaningful change for those adversely impacted by human trafficking and I appreciate Governor Scott for signing both bills.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Irv Slosberg said, “As a Legislature we have made a commitment to crack down on human trafficking and begin a “fresh start” in the state of Florida. It was an honor to be a part of this team of co-sponsors and I thank Governor Scott for signing these bills today.”<u></u><u></u></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Representative Daphne Campbell said, “Human Trafficking is a very serious issue and one that hold with great importance. I am honored that I was able to be co- sponsor to both HB 989 and HB 7141. I know that the lives of many will be greatly improved with the increased penalties that these bills provide. I would like to extend a sincere thank you to Governor Scott for extending his support for increasing these penalties.”</span></blockquote>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1445619210981741019.post-71052178324624017032014-06-17T06:12:00.000-07:002014-06-17T06:12:45.139-07:00Life Sentences for 2 Sex Traffickers Who Preyed on Mexican Immigrants<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/nyregion/life-sentences-for-two-sex-traffickers-who-preyed-on-mexican-immigrants.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140615&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/nyregion/life-sentences-for-two-sex-traffickers-who-preyed-on-mexican-immigrants.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140615&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0</a><br />
<br />
<header class="story-header" id="story-header" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; position: relative;"><div class="story-meta" style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<div class="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-top: 2px;">
<div class="byline-dateline" style="float: left; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-right: 45px; margin-top: 4px;">
<span class="byline" itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/benjamin_weiser/index.html" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-weight: 700; line-height: 0.75rem;">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/benjamin_weiser/index.html" rel="author" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by BENJAMIN WEISER"><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="BENJAMIN WEISER" itemprop="name">BENJAMIN WEISER</span></a></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-06-15" style="color: black; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; margin-left: 12px;">JUNE 15, 2014</time></div>
<div class="inside-story" style="float: right; height: 36px;">
<ul class="inside-story-menu" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"></ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</header><div class="lede-container" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo lede layout-small-horizontal" data-media-action="modal" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/16/nyregion/16trafficking-01/16trafficking-01-tmagSF.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; clear: right; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 15px 45px; padding-bottom: 7px; position: relative; width: 300px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="A photo, filed as part of a court exhibit, of a building at 121 Elm Street in Yonkers, the site of a former brothel, prosecutors said." data-mediaviewer-credit="United States attorney's office for the Southern District of New York" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/16/nyregion/16trafficking-01/16trafficking-01-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/16/nyregion/16trafficking-01/16trafficking-01-tmagSF.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/16/nyregion/16trafficking-01/16trafficking-01-tmagSF.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 299.99993896484375px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5; zoom: 1;">
<span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140612-233240/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -456px -42px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="caption-text">A photo, filed as part of a court exhibit, of a building at 121 Elm Street in Yonkers, the site of a former brothel, prosecutors said.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>United States attorney's office for the Southern District of New York</span></figcaption></figure><div class="lede-container-ads" style="clear: right; float: right;">
<div class="ad middle-right-ad marginalia-anchor-ad" id="MiddleRight" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 40px 40px; min-height: 250px; min-width: 300px; position: relative;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/nyregion/life-sentences-for-two-sex-traffickers-who-preyed-on-mexican-immigrants.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140615&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="ad-frame frame-for-article" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; height: 250px; width: 300px;"></iframe></div>
<aside class="marginalia related-coverage-marginalia nocontent robots-nocontent" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" role="complementary" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: right; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 45px 30px; padding-top: 10px; width: 300px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/nyregion/life-sentences-for-two-sex-traffickers-who-preyed-on-mexican-immigrants.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140615&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-5" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><header><h2 class="module-heading" style="color: black; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; margin: 0px 0px 1em; text-transform: uppercase;">
RELATED IN <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">OPINION</a></h2>
</header><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/opinion/inside-the-brothels.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 64.99998474121094px;">
<img alt="Two child prostitutes in front of brothels near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 1996. The pimps don’t allow photographs, so the writer shot this photograph from the hip." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/02/27/opinion/inside-the-brothels/inside-the-brothels-thumbStandard-v3.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 27.0624942779541px; left: 5.196427345275879px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.4999542236328px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Op-Ed Columnist: Inside the Brothels</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-03-04" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">MARCH 4, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/kristof-where-pimps-peddle-their-goods.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 64.99998474121094px;">
<img alt="Once, pimps routinely advertised Alissa on Backpage.com. She escaped, and now she is a college senior." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2012/03/18/sunday-review/18KRISTOF/18KRISTOF-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 28.017850875854492px; left: 5.196427345275879px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.4999542236328px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">Op-Ed Columnist: Where Pimps Peddle Their Goods</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2012-03-17" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">MARCH 17, 2012</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
</ul>
</aside><aside class="marginalia related-coverage-marginalia nocontent robots-nocontent" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" role="complementary" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; clear: right; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 45px 30px; padding-top: 10px; width: 300px;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/nyregion/life-sentences-for-two-sex-traffickers-who-preyed-on-mexican-immigrants.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140615&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-6" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><header><h2 class="module-heading" style="color: black; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; margin: 0px 0px 1em; text-transform: uppercase;">
RELATED COVERAGE</h2>
</header><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/nyregion/city-plans-to-target-cabdrivers-who-join-in-sex-trafficking.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><h2 class="story-heading" style="color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">City Plans to Target Cabdrivers Who Join in Sex Trafficking</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2012-06-12" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JUNE 12, 2012</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/nyregion/new-york-police-to-limit-seizing-of-condoms-in-prostitution-cases.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><div class="thumb" style="clear: none; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 65px; position: relative; width: 64.99998474121094px;">
<img alt="An outreach worker gathering condoms for distribution to prostitutes in the Bronx last month." src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/05/13/nyregion/CONDOMSweb/CONDOMSweb-thumbStandard.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="bottom: 27.0624942779541px; left: 5.196427345275879px; position: absolute;">
</div>
</div>
<h2 class="story-heading" style="clear: right; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px; width: 223.4999542236328px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">New York Police to Limit Seizing of Condoms in Prostitution Cases</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-05-12" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">MAY 12, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0.75em;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/21/us/politics/house-passes-bills-aimed-at-stemming-human-trafficking.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><h2 class="story-heading" style="color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">House Passes Bills Aimed at Stemming Human Trafficking</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-05-20" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">MAY 20, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
<li style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 0px;"><article class="story theme-summary"><a class="story-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/world/europe/international-criminal-court-to-focus-on-sex-crimes.html" style="color: #326891; display: block; text-decoration: none;"><h2 class="story-heading" style="color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin: 0px;">
<span class="story-heading-text" style="color: #326891; padding-right: 0.75em;">World Briefing: International Criminal Court to Focus on Sex Crimes</span><time class="dateline" datetime="2014-06-05" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; white-space: nowrap;">JUNE 5, 2014</time></h2>
</a></article></li>
</ul>
</aside></div>
</div>
<div aria-label="tools" class="sharetools theme-classic sharetools-story sharetools-init" data-description="Isaias and Bonifacio Flores-Mendez were each sentenced to life in prison last month for smuggling hundreds of Mexican women across the border and forcing them into prostitution in and around New York City." data-publish-date="June 15, 2014" data-shares="email|email,facebook,twitter,save,show-all|more,ad" data-title="Life Sentences for 2 Sex Traffickers Who Preyed on Mexican Immigrants" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/nyregion/life-sentences-for-two-sex-traffickers-who-preyed-on-mexican-immigrants.html" id="sharetools-story" role="group" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 88px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/nyregion/life-sentences-for-two-sex-traffickers-who-preyed-on-mexican-immigrants.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140615&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-1" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><span class="sharetools-label visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Share This Page</span><ul style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 11px; padding-left: 0px;">
<li class="sharetool email-sharetool login-modal-trigger" data-modal-title="Log in to Email" style="border-top-width: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="email" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140612-233240/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -388px 0px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">EMAIL</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool facebook-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="facebook" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140612-233240/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -60px -20px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">FACEBOOK</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool twitter-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="twitter" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140612-233240/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -60px -145px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">TWITTER</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool save-sharetool login-modal-trigger" data-modal-title="Log in to Save" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="save" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140612-233240/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -402px -80px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">SAVE</span></a></li>
<li class="sharetool show-all-sharetool " data-modal-title="" style="border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.5625rem;"><a data-share="show-all" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="color: #999999; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 3px 0px; padding-left: 5px; text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140612-233240/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -106px -121px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 16px; line-height: 0; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -4px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"></span><span class="sharetool-text">MORE</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="321" data-total-count="321" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
It was a sprawling family business, employing drivers, dispatchers and doormen. There were “steerers” who passed out “chica” cards on the street to solicit customers. There was even a mechanic who swept vehicles for tracking devices that might have been surreptitiously placed by federal agents, prosecutors said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="342" data-total-count="663" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
And, of course, there were the women — smuggled into the United States from Mexico and forced to work in a network of brothels in and around New York City, or shuttled to farms in New Jersey, where they had sex with up to 25 migrant workers a day in sheds in the fields, with men paying about $30 for 15 minutes of sex, the government said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="250" data-total-count="913" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The ringleaders, Isaias Flores-Mendez, who is about 42, and his brother, Bonifacio, 35, both natives of Mexico, are among 16 people who have now pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the sex-trafficking ring, which was <a href="http://m.ice.gov/news/releases/1305/130501newyork.htm?f=m" style="color: #326891;" title="A press release on the arrests.">broken up</a> in April 2013.</div>
<div class="margainalia-placeholder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="204" data-total-count="1117" id="story-continues-5" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Most of the defendants will serve prison sentences of five years or less. But in separate hearings last month, a federal judge in Manhattan, Katherine B. Forrest, sentenced each brother to life in prison.</div>
<figure aria-label="media" class="media photo embedded has-adjacency has-lede-adjacency layout-small-horizontal ratio-tall" data-media-action="modal" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/16/nyregion/18trafficking-02-ALT-ALT/18trafficking-02-ALT-ALT-master315.jpg" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" role="group" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #333333; float: left; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin: 6px 30px 45px 0px; position: relative; width: 315px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Prosecutors said women at the Elm Street apartment each saw eight to 10 customers a day." data-mediaviewer-credit="United States attorney's office for the Southern District of New York" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/16/nyregion/18trafficking-02-ALT-ALT/18trafficking-02-ALT-ALT-superJumbo.jpg" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/16/nyregion/18trafficking-02-ALT-ALT/18trafficking-02-ALT-ALT-master315.jpg" itemprop="url" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/16/nyregion/18trafficking-02-ALT-ALT/18trafficking-02-ALT-ALT-master315.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 314.99993896484375px;" /><div class="media-action-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5; zoom: 1;">
<span class="icon" style="background: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20140612-233240/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.png) -456px -42px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="description" style="color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="caption-text">Prosecutors said women at the Elm Street apartment each saw eight to 10 customers a day.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span>United States attorney's office for the Southern District of New York</span></figcaption></figure><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="292" data-total-count="1409" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Life sentences are not unprecedented in federal sex-trafficking cases; there have been at least 11 imposed nationally in cases since 2009, according to research by Alexandra F. Levy, a lawyer with the <a href="http://www.htprobono.org/" style="color: #326891;" title="The group’s website.">Human Trafficking Pro Bono Legal Center</a>, a group that arranges free legal help for victims.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="217" data-total-count="1626" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
James T. Hayes Jr., the special agent in charge of Homeland Security investigations in New York, said the life terms imposed in the state and elsewhere were “a sign of how seriously” judges were taking such cases.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="216" data-total-count="1842" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The New York case also highlights how structured such an operation can be; Judge Forrest, of Federal District Court, called it a “vertically integrated enterprise,” as <a href="http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/May14/FloresMendezSentencingPR.php?print=1" style="color: #326891;" title="A press release on the sentencing.">she sentenced</a> the younger brother on May 30.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="128" data-total-count="1970" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
“Your criminal enterprise,” the judge said, “was, for these women, not a chosen way of life but living in a daily hell.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="274" data-total-count="2244" id="story-continues-2" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
A prosecutor, Rebecca Mermelstein, told the judge that the “entire enterprise is only workable because it is staffed, so to speak, by women who do so under duress, because the conditions are so horrific that it’s not the kind of thing that anyone could really choose.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="479" data-total-count="2723" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, has said in court papers that the Flores-Mendez ring was part of a larger network of sex traffickers operating between Tenancingo, Mexico, New York and elsewhere. Women were typically lured through the promise of romantic relationships and a better life, and were forced into prostitution after they arrived, the office said. The judge noted that women who refused to submit were beaten, isolated and starved.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="408" data-total-count="3131" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
“Because money drives these crimes — as it does so many others — we have pursued forfeiture of the traffickers’ illegal profits and restitution, seeking some recovery for the victims,” Mr. Bharara said in a statement. He added that the victims, mostly poor, without legal status and traumatized and terrorized by the traffickers, were “some of the most vulnerable and powerless in our society.”</div>
<div class="ad ad-placeholder" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin: 0px 0px 45px 40px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/nyregion/life-sentences-for-two-sex-traffickers-who-preyed-on-mexican-immigrants.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140615&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-3" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="ad-frame frame-for-article" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; height: 250px; width: 300px;"></iframe></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="405" data-total-count="3536" id="story-continues-3" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Government filings show that brothels were operated at 350 First Street in Newburgh, N.Y.; in a second-floor apartment at 613 Seneca Avenue in Queens; on the second floor of a two-story yellow house at 20 Rose Street in Poughkeepsie; and in an apartment at 121 Elm Street in Yonkers — the busiest of the brothels, with two women working weeklong shifts and each seeing about eight to 10 customers a day.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="242" data-total-count="3778" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Prosecutors have estimated that more than 400 women were victims of the trafficking conspiracy, including some who were minors. On one intercepted phone call, a defendant was heard discussing a “new girl who is only 17,” prosecutors said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="418" data-total-count="4196" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The government said it had been unable to locate or identify the vast majority of the victims, and that of the few who were interviewed by the authorities, most would not cooperate largely out of fear of retaliation. One woman who did cooperate, cited in court records as Victim 1, entered the United States at age 17 with her baby, after the brothers arranged to have her smuggled across the border, prosecutors said.</div>
<div class="margainalia-placeholder" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px;">
</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="289" data-total-count="4485" id="story-continues-6" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
She was flown from California to New York in September 2006, where the younger Flores-Mendez brother took her to a house on 112th Street in Queens; there she was forced to sleep with her baby under a kitchen table and charged $200 in monthly rent and $50 weekly for food, prosecutors said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="279" data-total-count="4764" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Over much of the next year, the government said, the woman was forced to have sex against her will. In statements she submitted at the brothers’ sentencings, she said she had been forced to have sex with 15 to 35 men a day, in brothels and through delivery to “sex buyers.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="128" data-total-count="4892" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
“I was forced to prostitute myself in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Long Island City, Philadelphia and the Bronx,” she wrote.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="389" data-total-count="5281" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Isaias Flores-Mendez’s “dehumanization of Victim 1 in the interest of profit was without bounds,” prosecutors wrote. He forced her to take birth control pills, and when he mistakenly believed that she was pregnant, “he grabbed me by the neck, slammed me against the wall, beat me repeatedly, and forced me to swallow more pills so that I would have an abortion,” the woman wrote.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="191" data-total-count="5472" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
She finally escaped, but was almost killed when the brothers saw her crossing the street one day in Queens and accelerated their car toward her, forcing her to jump out of the way, she added.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="380" data-total-count="5852" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Such callousness toward the women seemed to be typical of the operation, court records suggest. Another defendant, Alejandro Degante-Galeno, who worked as a driver, was overheard on a court-ordered wiretap telling his son, Sergio, who was also charged in the case, that one woman “should be punished for wanting to rest and for not wanting to sexually service more customers.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="314" data-total-count="6166" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
When the older brother, Isaias Flores-Mendez, was sentenced on May 14, Judge Forrest said he had run “a depraved and deplorable sex mill.” The judge noted that he had apologized briefly to his family in court. “But he owes an apology to so many more people,” she said. “He is, in my view, remorseless.”</div>
<div class="ad ad-placeholder" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin: 0px 0px 45px 40px;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/nyregion/life-sentences-for-two-sex-traffickers-who-preyed-on-mexican-immigrants.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140615&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-4" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/nyregion/life-sentences-for-two-sex-traffickers-who-preyed-on-mexican-immigrants.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140615&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-4" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="dy-marketing-module" frameborder="0" height="280px" hspace="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://srv.dynamicyield.com/st?sec=8765344&id=June%2017%202014" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: dotted; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 10px;" vspace="0" width="300px"></iframe></div>
<div class="ad text-ad middle-right-ad" id="SponLinkA" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; margin: 5px 0px 40px 40px; min-height: 250px; min-width: 300px; position: relative;">
<a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/nyregion/life-sentences-for-two-sex-traffickers-who-preyed-on-mexican-immigrants.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140615&nlid=52322620&tntemail0=y&_r=0#story-continues-4" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); color: #326891; height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; width: 1px;">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe class="ad-frame frame-for-article" frameborder="0" style="border-width: 0px; height: 250px; width: 300px;"></iframe></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="358" data-total-count="6524" id="story-continues-4" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
When, two weeks later, the younger brother, Bonifacio, was sentenced, he apologized profusely to the victims, saying through an interpreter that he had acted out of greed, for money, and asked for their forgiveness. “I’ve realized that what I’ve done was the worst thing that you can do to a woman,” he said. “I feel like the worst man on earth.”</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="268" data-total-count="6792" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Judge Forrest showed no leniency. “We know there were mornings when you woke up in your bed surrounded by your family, and a woman who had been trafficked woke up in a locked, windowless room in a basement, unable to go out unless she was let out,” the judge said.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="104" data-total-count="6896" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
The brothers were each ordered to forfeit about $1.7 million and pay $84,000 in restitution to Victim 1.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="316" data-total-count="7212" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
Lori L. Cohen, a lawyer with Sanctuary for Families, an agency that worked with Victim 1 and several other trafficking victims in the case, said the woman was “extremely grateful” for the life sentences but she remained fearful that her family in Mexico “could be at risk” because she had reported the abuse.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="200" data-total-count="7412" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
At each sentencing, one of the prosecutors, Amanda Kramer and Ms. Mermelstein, read aloud a translation of Victim 1’s statement, in which the woman had explained why she was not appearing in person.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="149" data-total-count="7561" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.99999713897705px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 105px; max-width: 540px; width: 510px;">
“I am scared for me, my family, and for my family in Mexico,” the woman wrote. “I want to forget all of this and just have peace in my life.”</div>
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03650686386299533994noreply@blogger.com0