Report claimed few Asian workers forced into the country

MANY Asian men and women working in the Solomon Islands are recruited to work as slaves, a workshop on human trafficking was told.

Representatives of the Department of the Public Prosecutions (DPP) office told participants at the workshop this week that they were aware of cases involving Asians who were brought into the country unwillingly.

The workshop heard that some were taken to work at logging camps without proper work permits whilst some reportedly worked as sex slaves.

Discussions by civil society organisations, lawyers and police during the workshop also highlighted that it was still unclear whether human trafficking and prostitution were professionally organised businesses.

But it was revealed there were 'amateur pimps' around the country that regularly ran these illegal activities.

A 2010 report on the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) released by the U.S. Department of State last month also stated that Asian women from China, Malaysia and the Philippines used to be recruited from their home countries for legitimate work.

However, upon arrival into the country they were forced into prostitution.

A copy of the report which was cited by the Solomon Star stated that these Asian women were also deployed to logging camps around the country to work as prostitutes.

As for Asian men, the report highlighted that they subsequently subjected to force labour within the logging and mining camps in the Solomon Islands.

"The Solomon Islands is a destination country for local and Southeast Asian men and women subjected to forced labour and forced prostitution," the report stated.

Meanwhile, participants of the workshop agree that human trafficking is real and it is at the country's doorstep but the Government ignored to accept that it is really happening.

Human trafficking is the illegal trade in human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labour, or a modern-day form of slavery.

The theme of the workshop is 'Human Trafficking in the Solomon Islands: Risks, Challenges, and Multi-stakeholder solutions.'

It is organised by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) for lawyers, police, Ports Authority officials and Government officials in the country.

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