Written by Edward Lai (Senior Communication Officer)

　

As the pandemic is raging around the world, criminals do not only “hunt” civilians in a hidden way in poor villages, they also target their prey via the internet. By using their poor and fragile situation, they can easily force or lure the victims to work in sex industry, or engage in forced labour or any work that is obviously not commensurate with pay. Facing the “new normal” under the pandemic, Aashima Samuel, EFIC@R’s National Director, who has been engaged in anti-child trafficking for many years, shared her team’s coping strategies.

Continue reading How to Combat Child Trafficking under the “New Normal”?

　

Written by Tony Chan (Senior Partnership Development Officer)

　

“During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God.” (Exodus 2:23)

　

The old Pharaoh promised to the prime minister Joseph that Joseph would take his father’s family to live in Egypt and live in the “best part of the land” (Genesis 47:6), the region of Goshen. Jacob, the ancestor of the Israelites, was able to reunite with his son Joseph and escape the famine with his family, so he seized the opportunity and moved to Egypt with his family of 70 members. Over the years, Jacob’s family and his offspring lived in Goshen, where they led a prosperous life and increased in numbers. However, the promise of the Egyptian authority did not extend to the new king. Many years later, the pharaoh did not like these foreigners and treated them badly.

Continue reading Listen to the Cries of the Oppressed

Editor’s note: The COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong is still unsettled and the labour market has been severely damaged. When the local situation worries us deeply, we are even more worried about the situation of the poor in developing countries. Not only do they face the risk of infection, they also suffer from losing their livelihoods and food shortage due to the pandemic. In order to survive, they desperately find a way out, and they are more likely to fall into the prey of human traffickers.   This issue of SHARE will talk about the more rampant human trafficking problem under the pandemic, especially the situation of poor children who are the most vulnerable to the influence of online fraud (“Focus”). Also we will share how our partner has responded to the “new normal” and continued in rescuing work under the pandemic (“Blessings by Offering”), and mobilised the church and community to fight against child trafficking (“Learn a Little More”). May the Lord who laments with us, encourages us to hear and respond to the needs of the exploited and trafficked (“Back to the Bible”).

　

[“SHARE” OCT – DEC 2020 ] FOCUS

Written by: Clara Chiu (Head of Partnership Development)

　

　

From July 20th to 23rd this year, several CEDAR staff participated in the “Asia Region Anti-Trafficking Conference” (hereinafter referred to as the conference). The conference was held for the first time three years ago, and this year is the third. It was changed to conduct online due to the pandemic. The purpose of the conference is to gather people from all parts of Asia who are concerned about human trafficking, and learn about it with other forms of modern slavery through various workshops, and know more about the latest anti-trafficking measures.

Continue reading Hidden Crisis in the Pandemic: Human Trafficking