The following connects to a post on Canada's Lax Refugee System Mar. 9, 04. Somehow I missed posting it; nevertheless, the topic is serious enough to post now.
Quote to note:
*** 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 Americans are quite aware what's not being done in Canada and the reports have finally got the government's attention. Canada's government has known about this for years and did nothing. Instead of putting additional manpower on it, usually, they just move people around; they move from the left side of the desk to the right side of the desk -- depending, I suspect, upon the sound bite needed to feed the media maw for the day.
Since an officer with the expertise of Cpl. Read knows so much about human smuggling, did the RCMP rehire him? If the government were truly serious about getting to the bottom of this -- going back to Sidewinder -- why wasn't this followed up years ago? The proof will be in the pudding -- how many will be arrested? Rest assured, the media will go back to sleep after this latest PR "offensive" [earlier this month].
Two weeks after the U.S. State Department criticized Canada over rising problems with human smuggling and sex slavery, Ottawa is set [earlier this month] to launch a review of the Criminal Code designed to toughen laws dealing with the trafficking of women and children.
I suspect the problem is not with the laws. More likely, investigation, enforcement of present laws, and judicial performance are the problems. There is a lack of funds to ensure adequate investigation and enforcement of present laws; security forces require sufficient manpower to get the job done. Then, the courts must send a tough message to those involved. Read on. NJC
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.
Will this be with new money -- or simply reallocation of officers from one desk to another? Try to find out from the budget. More smoke and mirrors? It appears that way to me. NJC
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.
More talk, little funding. Check the budget for the details. Funding is spread over several years and I could find nothing on hiring more security/police officers.
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.
[. . . .] 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 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.
[. . . .] 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.
[. . . .] 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.
