Trafficking For Sex

[Andrew Hicks]

There's recent news of an ex British cop being nabbed for alleged involvement in trafficking of Thai women (not 'girls') to UK for prostitution. If something's being done about this at that end, then that's good news.

I met a Brit on the beach recently who told me his intriguing story. He'd just moved to Thailand having fallen for a Thai woman who was on the game in London. She had been trafficked for sex and was bonded to pay off a large sum to those who'd obtained her visa and set her up in business.

He had 'rescued' her and brought her back to live with him in Thailand. As she had massively over-stayed her transit visa, I asked what happened when they left Heathrow airport together. The immigration officers had immediately spotted that she was an illegal immigrant and twigged what she had been up to. They were polite and courteous, stamped her passport saying, 'Don't even think of coming back to UK' and sent them on their way through Departures.

The story irked me more than a little. Thai girlfriends wanting to go to UK pay fat fees to be harassed by an Entry Clearance Officer who can refuse entry on a whim. Yet once an 'alien' has landed in Englnd they can do whatever they like. They can stay as long as they want as at that point enforcement comes to an end.

Returning to the story, the officials should have held his girlfriend as an illegal immigrant and through her traced all those who had exploited her. In return for a promise not to prosecute for overstaying, she could have told them where she lived and worked and who had brought her in. While Mr Big might be elusive, there would be every chance of catching some offenders as well as flushing out a gaggle of illegal workers.

Let's face it, prostitutes cannot solicit easily on the street so they have to advertise in one way or another. It has to be relatively open. Undercover officers could pose as clients and nab them. Catching them is hardly difficult.

Trafficking of this kind could thus be quickly contained if there were the will to do so. I do not blame the police who are constrained by lack of resources and the priorities that are given to them. These prioroties are driven by politics and public perceptions... does it matter much if a few thousand women from the Far East are shipped to London to be shafted.

Trafficking of under-aged girls is the biggest evil but tricking poor and gullible women into the sex trade is still a hideous crime. Some women try their luck willingly but those who are promised jobs as waitresses who are then threatened and have their passports confiscated need the protection of proper law enforcement. If the traffickers know that illegal prostitution is regularly and effectively targetted, they will not try it again.

So I ask myself why does the British system take so tough a line on Thai wives and girlfriends applying for visas to come to England but then studiously ignore the abuse going on just down the street right under the noses of the authorities?

[Spee]

So I ask myself why does the British system take so tough a line on Thai wives and girlfriends applying for visas to come to England but then studiously ignore the abuse going on just down the street right under the noses of the authorities?

I suspect there might be similar stories and situations within the US system (i.e., getting in and staying legally is much harder than getting in and staying illegally). I am almost 100% certain that things happen in this way because one set of laws and rules are easier to enforce than another set of laws and rules. Regardless it is an embarrassment to both nations.

In the specific cases of the trafficking of females for the sex trade, the sex worker, the sex trade customers and the trade itself, things would be much better off over all if the prudish societal and political mores would be revised so as to further enhance freedom, safety, liberty and empowerment of women, and to further reduce the abuse of women and the monetary benefit to the criminal underworld. This too is an embarrassment to both nations.

[TheDon]

I used to live in STrathfield Sydney and there was a Thai girl on my street who was a sex slave for this chinese couple and the brothel was there house. She was rescued by one customer when she asked him for help. Apparently she came over to work in a resturant but then the chinese couple removed her passport. It was about 100m from my house. The couple got about 20 years behind bars. serves them right

[Dakhar]

a lot of times enforcement workers just are not motivated to do their job, and if they toss someone in jail it just a bigger burden on the tax payers... so they just say, "have a nice trip, and don't come back"

[damocletian]

So I ask myself why does the British system take so tough a line on Thai wives and girlfriends applying for visas to come to England but then studiously ignore the abuse going on just down the street right under the noses of the authorities?

Er, maybe 'cos there are about 66 cities and probably in excess of 1000 towns in Britain where maybe upwards of 50,000 massage parlours are operating from establishments working from someone's home or in licensed premises employing anything up to 5 girls each. And that's a conservative estimate.

You sound a right nana ( excuse the pun ) if you think tracking a few Thai tarts is as easy as you try to make out.

[Scott]

I think enforcement of some of these laws on trafficking and prostitution are difficult to enforce. I think it would be a gross violation of people's rights if an immigration officer, as someone is leaving a country, decides he thinks she was a prostitute and detains her to 'investigate' what may not even be a crime. If they want to hold her for an immigration violation, so be it, but that doesn't guarantee that she's going to talk.

It's probably much easier for a lot of people to first get out of the place, if they are being held against their will, get home or to a safe environment and then report the crime. I don't know that it's a whole better to get out and then up being held by the authorities in a strange country.

[sgunn65]

I used to work in a Street Agency in London where alot of Sex workers would come to get condoms. The Met busted a sex trafficking gang from Thailand by undercover work watching our centre and the ringleaders got long sentences. The girls were returned to Thailand where the Met fund a charity which helps to rehabilitate the girls and get them into legal work. A small thing but significant nonetheless. They just don't advertise it.

Also you have to remember that intimidation of families can play a big part in keeping the girls working or silent. These gangs can be ruthless so it is very hard for the authorities to get the evidence they need to prosecute when the witnesses and victims are in fear of their and their families lives

[PeaceBlondie]

Ignoring the fact that we probably should not be discussing prostitution.....

I don't know what the immigration officers in London understood in the scenario in the OP, but that doesn't keep us from second-guessing. They see that yet another overstayed alien (who entered the UK legally) is going home, so they let her go. She has a story (as we all do when we have overstayed, not always true story), but the officers do not have the time or chance to check it out. Stamp her out, and go on to the next departing alien. We hope the Thai officer is that nice to us if we overstay.

[Scott]

Thanks for the reminder PB, probably best to stick to the human trafficking side of stories like this and leave the other part out. I think it's generally understood what most of them are going to be doing to earn money.

Also, in a lot of instances, it doesn't matter what they are doing, if they have been deprived of certain rights, liberties and freedom of movement that comply with the laws of the country they are in, then it is a serious offence.

[JetsetBkk]

..The story irked me more than a little. Thai girlfriends wanting to go to UK pay fat fees to be harassed by an Entry Clearance Officer who can refuse entry on a whim. Yet once an 'alien' has landed in Englnd they can do whatever they like...

I don't see what's so hard to understand here. The reason it's difficult to get in is precisely because once they are in, the immigrants can do what they like.

[Andrew Hicks]

So I ask myself why does the British system take so tough a line on Thai wives and girlfriends applying for visas to come to England but then studiously ignore the abuse going on just down the street right under the noses of the authorities?

Er, maybe 'cos there are about 66 cities and probably in excess of 1000 towns in Britain where maybe upwards of 50,000 massage parlours are operating from establishments working from someone's home or in licensed premises employing anything up to 5 girls each. And that's a conservative estimate.

You sound a right nana ( excuse the pun ) if you think tracking a few Thai tarts is as easy as you try to make out.

It would be harassment if the police were to raid all of the establishments you refer to where no offence is suspected. And whoever said enforcement is easy?

My point is that when an opportunity was given to investigate the circumstances of a woman traficked for sex, nothing was done.

[EmptyMind]

So I ask myself why does the British system take so tough a line on Thai wives and girlfriends applying for visas to come to England but then studiously ignore the abuse going on just down the street right under the noses of the authorities?

Probably for the same old reason, they have to keep up with their numbers and %'s so they pick on the easy targets who sadly are probably not the worse offenders.

[britmaveric]

You are assuming the authorities know about such establishments - remember some of these ladies actually work willingly which does make the matter a bit different.

[Andrew Hicks]

..The story irked me more than a little. Thai girlfriends wanting to go to UK pay fat fees to be harassed by an Entry Clearance Officer who can refuse entry on a whim. Yet once an 'alien' has landed in Englnd they can do whatever they like...

I don't see what's so hard to understand here. The reason it's difficult to get in is precisely because once they are in, the immigrants can do what they like.

Too true! A good point with which I fully agree!

There has been general criticism of the absence of vigilance in UK ever since it was discovered that many of the cleaners working at the immigration headquarters in London were illegals.

In the UK there is no system of national identity, no identity card and National Insurance numbers which are necessary for formal employment were being handed out without any check on immigration status. Illegals could easily then find employment as there was no obligation on employers to check their right to residence and to work.

While there are massive visa checks before coming in, the authorities have rarely checked passports when people leave so they have little idea how many overstay.

Because of this failure to enforce immigration policy, ergo they refuse visas to as many as possible and I fear Thai women do particularly badly. If internal enforcement were better, then consulates could be less restrictive in granting visas.

The two aspects are, as you say, inextricably linked.

Andrew

[cophen]

All UK employers are required to check that anyone they offer a job to has a right to be in the country. Penalties for employing illegals are high. The fact that a goverment department was caught red-handed simply illustrates the 'do as I say, not as I do' tendency of goverments in general.

The checking of passports on leaving the country used to be standard procedure. The present government stopped it in 1994(?)

[cophen]

All UK employers are required to check that anyone they offer a job to has a right to be in the country. Penalties for employing illegals are high. The fact that a goverment department was caught red-handed simply illustrates the 'do as I say, not as I do' tendency of goverments in general.

The checking of passports on leaving the country used to be standard procedure. The present government stopped it in 1994(?)

Correction. I think that should be 2000 not 1994.

[thaihome]

There are rumors that a couple of officials at the British consulate may be involved in getting visas for the women Ian talked into this scheme. I hope they are not true, but you have to wonder how he got the visas. I do know he had been in Thailand a while and had a large circle of acquaintances.

TH

[steveromagnino]

There are rumors that a couple of officials at the British consulate may be involved in getting visas for the women Ian talked into this scheme. I hope they are not true, but you have to wonder how he got the visas. I do know he had been in Thailand a while and had a large circle of acquaintances.

TH

I recall a documentary years and years ago where they shot with hidden camera and showed the exact cycle including the corruption at the British embassy (NZ embassy staff told me that it was going on there too) and yet it continues.

I reckon at least 80% of the women know what they are getting into. 20% genuine victims, and that is already too high.

[t.s]

I used to live in STrathfield Sydney and there was a Thai girl on my street who was a sex slave for this chinese couple and the brothel was there house. She was rescued by one customer when she asked him for help. Apparently she came over to work in a resturant but then the chinese couple removed her passport. It was about 100m from my house. The couple got about 20 years behind bars. serves them right

did you check her out?

[Andrew Hicks]

There are rumors that a couple of officials at the British consulate may be involved in getting visas for the women Ian talked into this scheme. I hope they are not true, but you have to wonder how he got the visas. I do know he had been in Thailand a while and had a large circle of acquaintances.

TH

I recall a documentary years and years ago where they shot with hidden camera and showed the exact cycle including the corruption at the British embassy (NZ embassy staff told me that it was going on there too) and yet it continues.

I reckon at least 80% of the women know what they are getting into. 20% genuine victims, and that is already too high.

Yes, many women go into it taking an open desision and hope to do well out of it. Who would take the risk though if other opportunities were available at home.

As for corruption... in the British Embassy??!! Surely not?

Every visa application has to be screened and approved by a British entry clearance officer, don't they? Outsourcing has only relieved the Embassy of some of the paperwork and not the substance of decision making.

I cannot see where the risk of corruption arises, especially as the officer making the decision is now far removed from the applicant, except of course where there is an interview, when there is always an ECO and an interpreter present.

Perish the thought!

[Neeranam]

I'd like to comment but I got suspended for a week for starting a similar topic.