Ottawa to crack down on human smuggling
Review comes on heels of U.S. criticism
Sheldon Alberts
CanWest News Service
March 8, 2004
Two weeks after the U.S. State Department criticized Canada over rising problems with human smuggling and sex slavery, Ottawa is set today to launch a review of the Criminal Code designed to toughen laws dealing with the trafficking of women and children.
Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler will also announce plans to step up efforts at co-operating with the U.S. Justice Department to tackle what officials are calling the "new global slave trade," sources say.
Ottawa's attempt to crack down on illegal smuggling will include the creation of an RCMP human trafficking investigative team.
It comes just two weeks after border officials in both the U.S. and Canada, and members of the RCMP, foiled an attempt to smuggle 10 South Koreans across the border near Coutts-Sweetgrass.
That southern Alberta bust resulted in nine people being sent back to South Korea after they admitted entering Canada for the sole purpose of then being smuggled into the U.S.
The new police unit will be assigned to organize domestic investigations into human smuggling rings and mount joint investigations with law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and overseas, a senior Canadian official said.
As part of the new federal strategy, Cotler will set up a federal working group on human trafficking that will bring together officials from throughout the bureaucracy to co-ordinate a federal response to the problem.
The minister will outline the Martin government's plans at a meeting today in Ottawa of police, prosecutors and immigration officials, who are holding the country's first-ever seminar on human trafficking.
Cotler's move follows on the heels of a critical U.S. State Department report last month which highlighted growing problems in Canada with organized crime groups that traffic in women and children for prostitution and forced labour.
The State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices warned that Canada had become a major transit point and destination for trafficking in people.
It estimated "at least 15,000" Chinese had entered Canada illegally over the past decade. Many of those people were lured by promises of a better life, but were instead coerced into prostitution by smugglers.
Others are forced into work at sweatshops. While some men are forced into labour, most of the victims of human trafficking are women and young girls.
U.S. officials highlighted Vancouver and Toronto as hubs for a network of organized crime groups -- primarily East Asian -- that smuggle immigrants illegally into Canada.
Women end up working in strip clubs, escort services and massage parlours, while others land in Canada only to be smuggled across the border into major American cities.
The U.S. human rights report cited Canada's "lax immigration laws" for the rapid rise in human smuggling.
It said Canadian laws have led to the deportation and arrest of sex-trade victims but are not tough enough on customers. The U.S. has called Canada's efforts to prosecute traffickers "uneven" and said the federal government "does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking."
The Liberal government disputes many of the specific U.S. criticisms of Canada's handling of the human trafficking problem.
But officials say Cotler, who was appointed Justice Minister in December, has planned a diplomatic push aimed at increasing Canada-U.S. co-operation because human trafficking has become a significant problem in both countries.
The U.S. estimates between 800,000 and 900,000 women are bought and sold into the sex trade each year around the world. The industry generates upwards of $10 billion annually.
Police in several Canadian cities have launched efforts to clamp down on human trafficking in recent years.
A Toronto police operation called Project Home for Christmas led to more than 300 charges being laid after investigators discovered girls under the age of 18 working as sex slaves.
Another operation in Calgary -- called Operation Relaxation -- led to charges against two people. But Cotler believes those investigations provide only a "snapshot of a much bigger problem," said one official.
Canada's new Immigration and Refugee Act includes a specific offense for human trafficking that includes maximum penalties of life imprisonment and a $1 million fine.
The U.S. has applauded that legislation. The planned review of Canada's Criminal Code is aimed at creating new provisions to target traffickers.
In the U.S., President George W. Bush has established a task force on human trafficking and an Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The U.S. estimates between 18,000 and 20,000 people are trafficked into the country each year.
At an international conference last week in Brussels, the U.S. urged NATO countries to ban their troops from patronizing brothels and sex clubs that help foster the illegal trade in women.
Bush issued a zero-tolerance policy against U.S. troops visiting brothels.
© The Calgary Herald 2004
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=565b30eb-3d36-4eca-a3ee-9386285f4b21
Review comes on heels of U.S. criticism
Sheldon Alberts
CanWest News Service
March 8, 2004
Two weeks after the U.S. State Department criticized Canada over rising problems with human smuggling and sex slavery, Ottawa is set today to launch a review of the Criminal Code designed to toughen laws dealing with the trafficking of women and children.
Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler will also announce plans to step up efforts at co-operating with the U.S. Justice Department to tackle what officials are calling the "new global slave trade," sources say.
Ottawa's attempt to crack down on illegal smuggling will include the creation of an RCMP human trafficking investigative team.
It comes just two weeks after border officials in both the U.S. and Canada, and members of the RCMP, foiled an attempt to smuggle 10 South Koreans across the border near Coutts-Sweetgrass.
That southern Alberta bust resulted in nine people being sent back to South Korea after they admitted entering Canada for the sole purpose of then being smuggled into the U.S.
The new police unit will be assigned to organize domestic investigations into human smuggling rings and mount joint investigations with law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and overseas, a senior Canadian official said.
As part of the new federal strategy, Cotler will set up a federal working group on human trafficking that will bring together officials from throughout the bureaucracy to co-ordinate a federal response to the problem.
The minister will outline the Martin government's plans at a meeting today in Ottawa of police, prosecutors and immigration officials, who are holding the country's first-ever seminar on human trafficking.
Cotler's move follows on the heels of a critical U.S. State Department report last month which highlighted growing problems in Canada with organized crime groups that traffic in women and children for prostitution and forced labour.
The State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices warned that Canada had become a major transit point and destination for trafficking in people.
It estimated "at least 15,000" Chinese had entered Canada illegally over the past decade. Many of those people were lured by promises of a better life, but were instead coerced into prostitution by smugglers.
Others are forced into work at sweatshops. While some men are forced into labour, most of the victims of human trafficking are women and young girls.
U.S. officials highlighted Vancouver and Toronto as hubs for a network of organized crime groups -- primarily East Asian -- that smuggle immigrants illegally into Canada.
Women end up working in strip clubs, escort services and massage parlours, while others land in Canada only to be smuggled across the border into major American cities.
The U.S. human rights report cited Canada's "lax immigration laws" for the rapid rise in human smuggling.
It said Canadian laws have led to the deportation and arrest of sex-trade victims but are not tough enough on customers. The U.S. has called Canada's efforts to prosecute traffickers "uneven" and said the federal government "does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking."
The Liberal government disputes many of the specific U.S. criticisms of Canada's handling of the human trafficking problem.
But officials say Cotler, who was appointed Justice Minister in December, has planned a diplomatic push aimed at increasing Canada-U.S. co-operation because human trafficking has become a significant problem in both countries.
The U.S. estimates between 800,000 and 900,000 women are bought and sold into the sex trade each year around the world. The industry generates upwards of $10 billion annually.
Police in several Canadian cities have launched efforts to clamp down on human trafficking in recent years.
A Toronto police operation called Project Home for Christmas led to more than 300 charges being laid after investigators discovered girls under the age of 18 working as sex slaves.
Another operation in Calgary -- called Operation Relaxation -- led to charges against two people. But Cotler believes those investigations provide only a "snapshot of a much bigger problem," said one official.
Canada's new Immigration and Refugee Act includes a specific offense for human trafficking that includes maximum penalties of life imprisonment and a $1 million fine.
The U.S. has applauded that legislation. The planned review of Canada's Criminal Code is aimed at creating new provisions to target traffickers.
In the U.S., President George W. Bush has established a task force on human trafficking and an Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The U.S. estimates between 18,000 and 20,000 people are trafficked into the country each year.
At an international conference last week in Brussels, the U.S. urged NATO countries to ban their troops from patronizing brothels and sex clubs that help foster the illegal trade in women.
Bush issued a zero-tolerance policy against U.S. troops visiting brothels.
© The Calgary Herald 2004
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=565b30eb-3d36-4eca-a3ee-9386285f4b21