Human Trafficking in Thailand

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Thailand is at Tier 3 of the 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report. It is among the worst countries in human trafficking which often fail to protect their victims. The number of victims was speculated to be in the range of 3-4 million since accurate accounts of actual incidents were near impossible for both the Thailand authorities and foreign organizations. People were trafficked from Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, etc. to Thailand to work in the sex industry. Thailand also acts as the proxy of people trafficked from China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Russia, South Korea, etc., where they are either sold as sex workers or laborers (U.S. Department of State).

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Myanmar’s Long Road of Peace and Reconciliation

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More than 5,000 civilians in Myanmar – over 3,000 ethnic Shan and more than 2,000 Ta’Ang – have been displaced last month by heavy fighting between two ethnic armies, one of which signed a recent national ceasefire accord while the other was excluded.

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African migrants tortured in Yemen

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For decades, migrants from the Horn of Africa have passed through Yemen to seek better life in Saudi Arabia. Because of political unrest, more than 260,000 Africans migrated to or through Yemen during 2011-13. The number has decreased since 2013; however, it rose again in March 2014.

The trip across the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea is dangerous, and many migrants drown to death on their journey. Thousands of migrants are stranded in the northern region of Yemen waiting to be transferred illegally to Saudi Arabia. Many are exposed to poverty, homelessness, and abuse.

A multimillion-dollar trafficking racket has developed in the northern Yemeni border town of Haradh, exploiting the migrants.  It is estimated that trafficking and smuggling make up 80% of the local economy.

A recent Human Rights Watch report describes the severe torture suffered by Somalian and Ethiopian migrants in Yemen. Since 2006, Yemeni traffickers in and around Haradh have taken migrants captive and kept them in “torture camps”, where they torture the migrants to extort money from migrants’ relatives in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia.

Aid workers observed signs of abuse in migrants caused by ripping off fingernails, burning ears, branding skin with irons, gouging out of eyes, and breaking of bones.  Health workers have seen migrants with injuries including lacerations from rape, damage from being hung by their thumbs, and burn from cigarettes.  The torture sometimes ends in death.  The Haradh hospital receives dead bodies of at least two migrants per week.

The camps are usually run by Yemeni, who typically come from families related to officials.  Captured migrants can be released if their relatives pay ransoms ranging from US$200 to over $1,000. The authorities are failing in fighting trafficking, and in some occasions even actively help the traffickers. Traffickers pay checkpoint officials so to drive through without being checked, carrying Yemeni and African migrants to the Saudi border.

According to the 2009 international corruption Perception Index, Yemen is ranked 164 out of 182 countries.  The country is in the process of dialogue to address its major issues and to draft a new constitution.  Yemen is facing a crisis in health care, security, and access to food and water; 54·5% of the population live below the poverty line and this proportion is continuously increasing.

More than 308，000 of Yemeni migrants have returned from Saudi Arabia since 2013, due to tightening labor laws.  These returns have handicapped the government’s ability to handle African migrants. The authorities stopped fighting traffickers, because they could not provide the migrants with food and shelter.

To end this human disaster, Yemen must commit to the 1951 Refugee Convention on the rights of refugees. The international community and donor countries should aim to resolve this tragedy and support governmental and non-governmental organisations initiatives. Fighting bribery in Yemen is also important to reduce human trafficking. [HRW, the Lancet]

Meditation on Scriptures

(The Queen of Sheba spoke to King Solomon:)
“Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.” (1 Kings 10:9)

“And all from Sheba will come,
bearing gold and incense
and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.” (Is 60:6)

The Queen of Sheba (present day Yemen) learnt from Solomon that a major responsibility given by God to rulers is to exercise justice.  Isaiah prophesized that Sheba would at the end time come to praise the God of all nations.  May Yemenis today learn that the security of the poor migrants is a priority of responsible governance, and come to the real knowledge of the Sovereign God.

Pray for the African migrants in Yemen:

  • Pray that the Government will raid and stop the functioning of torture camps, and provide migrants with all necessities for a decent living.
  • Pray that donor countries will exert pressure on Yemeni and Saudi Arabian authorities to investigate and prosecute the traffickers.

The International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (6 Feb)

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[ePrayer – Pray for those who are suffered and threatened by FGM]

Nengai, experienced FGM/C at 9 years of age, was told, ‘You need to be circumcised to be married, so that if you get pregnant you don’t bring shame to your family.’

Agnes, 14 years old, says, ‘They covered my face… grabbed my legs and arms, and then excised me. Blood was coming out.’

Kiouala, 51 years old, recalls, ‘When they finished cutting me and made me stand up, those who went before me were sitting on leaves. I saw blood everywhere. This fear, I still have it inside.’

Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

According to a recent UNICEF publication, at least 125 million girls and women have experienced FGM in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where the practice is concentrated. Given present trends, as many as 30 million girls under the age of 15 may still be at risk.

‘There are many traditional harmful practices which are detrimental to the women only. The most inhuman thing is that they have to go through female genital mutilation.’ CEDAR’s programme officer shared after visiting Ethiopia. FGM may cause severe pain and can result in prolonged bleeding, infection and even death. It violates a person’s rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruelty, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life. ‘Statistics show that many girls or women die from FGM. Although this is already banned by the law, it is still commonly practiced in many villages.’

With the effort of fighting against this harmful traditional practice by UN agencies and NGOs, FGM is becoming less prevalent overall and the younger generation is less vulnerable to the practice. According to UNICEF estimates, on average, 36 % of girls aged 15-19 have been cut compared to an estimated 53 % of women aged 45-49. However, there are still 30 million girls at risk who need our prayers, protection and support. [UN, UNICEF, UN Women]

Meditate on Scripture:

‘Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?’ Isaiah 58: 6-7

Oh Lord, we heard the voice, read the word and saw the video of the girls and women who have been suffered from FGM. They were created by God in Your image, just like us. However, their value and dignity of life is destroyed by the inhuman culture and traditional practice. Oh Lord, please let us know how we can stand by them to fight against FGM and gender discriminations in their culture and society.

Pray for those who are suffered and threatened by FGM:

  • Pray that FGM will be ended very soon;
  • Pray that God will protect and rescue those girls who are still threatened by FGM;
  • Pray that God will change the culture and value of those FGM prevailing nations and communities, let them recognise the value and dignity of female placed by God;
  • Pray for God’s mercy and healing to those women who are still suffered from the sequela of FGM.

The Letter from CEDAR | August 2013

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A sponsored child in Ethiopia wrote ‘Jesus is LORD’ on the wall at home.

Dear brothers and sisters,

In the last couple of decades, there were lots of discussions around the globe on the issues of poverty alleviation and development. People have exhausted all political and economical means but failed to solve the problem of income inequality. And in fact the global wealth gap has become wider and wider. The optimistic belief and confidence relying on human wisdom to solve this issue grows dim and dim, and even displaced by hopelessness and blame.

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