(no subject)
You know what I haven't posted in a long time? A nice politcal rant. Fortunately, I have an excellent topic today.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime released a report yesterday that they'd compiled on human trafficking. It revealed that of 127 countries of origin for human trafficking, the majority are developing, whereas of the 137 destination countries, the majority are industrialised (big surprise, right?). The report also mentioned 98 transit countries that help move the 'merchandice' from the country of origin to its destination. Germany, Greece and France were singled out on a list of about twelve countries with a high incidence of transit of human cargo. The top ten destinations are Belgium, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey and the US. Britain is also considered 'high' on the destination list, but not in the top ten. An interesting tidbit that would likely bump the US to the top of that list is that of human trafficking that is reported, the vast majority is for sexual slaves. Forced labour is not reported nearly as often, probably because a) people are more likely to find sexual slavery repugnant, and so it's more likely that someone along the way will develop a conscience and report it, and b) those in power, whether government or corporate, rely on manual labour and find it inconvienient to ask too many questions.
Now, we all know that human trafficking is a terrible thing, but let's be realistic. It's nothing new (in fact, it's been a time honoured tradition dating back to the origins of civilisation itself), and it's not likely to go away anytime soon, so what makes it such an interesting topic right now?
Well, as it turns out, the US once again has set the bar in condoning crimes against humanity. Remember all those 'private military consultants,' or as we like to call them, mercenaries? Seems that human brokers and subcontractors from all over Asia and the Middle East have formed a network to ship thousands of impoverished workers to Iraq to be employed at US military bases. This wouldn't be so bad in and of itself if it were done in such a way as to actually benefit those workers. Giving them a real income would actually be quite a help. However, what actually happens is that workers are lured to Iraq through deceptive hiring practises, the brokers that arrange these workers charge exorbitant fees, the workers are brought in in violation of Iraqi immigration law, once they arrive, they must endure grossly substandard living conditions, and most disgusting of all, they are regularly stripped of their passports, thus preventing them from leaving. When someone is held against their will and forced to work, especially with little to no compensatin, we call this slavery.
Of course, these were the civilian contractors doing this, not the military itself. So when the military found out(or rather when it became obvious that the public would find out), the top US commander in Iraq, General George W Casey, Jr. ordered 'sweeping changes' to be made. These people acting in gross violation of American, Iraqi and internation law are all going to be punished, right? Let's see...
The general's orders state that all passports have to be returned and the living conditions have to improve. Contracts must also include language to protect individual rights and contractors must 'provide workers with a signed copy of their employment contract that defines the terms of their employment.' That's a good thing. So what about the perpetrators? Failure to do so could lead to 'harsh actions' against them. That sounds good, too. What are these 'harsh actions'? Contracts could be terminated, contractors could be blacklisted from further work and commanders could physically bar firms from bases.
So basically, they've said that from now on, if you try to make a profit through human trafficking, your only punishment will be to terminate your employment with the government, and as for those that have been doing it all along, well, we'll let you off with a warning this time, but don't let it happen again.
You know what I love about this country? When I flip through channels and see the news, they're still talking about that upper-middle class white girl that disappeared in Aruba who knows how long ago, but when there's a breaking story about government contractors engaging in slavery and getting away with it, the media is strangely silent. And if you don't care in the slightest about some upper-middle class white girl disappearing, you're a heartless monster, but if you do care about American human rights abuses (which, as an American, are the ones we should care most about, since we bear responsibility for them...our elected officials sanctioned them, our tax dollars pay for them, our apathy allows them to continue), you're providing aid and comfort to our enemies.
Apologies if this isn't as well-written as I like my political rants to be. We have new neighbours next door. My bedroom shares a balcony with their apartment, and they like to use the balcony, so I was awakened earlier than I wanted to be and am still waking up. I needed to get this out of my system, so I just sat down and typed it out without bothering to get myself together first.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime released a report yesterday that they'd compiled on human trafficking. It revealed that of 127 countries of origin for human trafficking, the majority are developing, whereas of the 137 destination countries, the majority are industrialised (big surprise, right?). The report also mentioned 98 transit countries that help move the 'merchandice' from the country of origin to its destination. Germany, Greece and France were singled out on a list of about twelve countries with a high incidence of transit of human cargo. The top ten destinations are Belgium, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey and the US. Britain is also considered 'high' on the destination list, but not in the top ten. An interesting tidbit that would likely bump the US to the top of that list is that of human trafficking that is reported, the vast majority is for sexual slaves. Forced labour is not reported nearly as often, probably because a) people are more likely to find sexual slavery repugnant, and so it's more likely that someone along the way will develop a conscience and report it, and b) those in power, whether government or corporate, rely on manual labour and find it inconvienient to ask too many questions.
Now, we all know that human trafficking is a terrible thing, but let's be realistic. It's nothing new (in fact, it's been a time honoured tradition dating back to the origins of civilisation itself), and it's not likely to go away anytime soon, so what makes it such an interesting topic right now?
Well, as it turns out, the US once again has set the bar in condoning crimes against humanity. Remember all those 'private military consultants,' or as we like to call them, mercenaries? Seems that human brokers and subcontractors from all over Asia and the Middle East have formed a network to ship thousands of impoverished workers to Iraq to be employed at US military bases. This wouldn't be so bad in and of itself if it were done in such a way as to actually benefit those workers. Giving them a real income would actually be quite a help. However, what actually happens is that workers are lured to Iraq through deceptive hiring practises, the brokers that arrange these workers charge exorbitant fees, the workers are brought in in violation of Iraqi immigration law, once they arrive, they must endure grossly substandard living conditions, and most disgusting of all, they are regularly stripped of their passports, thus preventing them from leaving. When someone is held against their will and forced to work, especially with little to no compensatin, we call this slavery.
Of course, these were the civilian contractors doing this, not the military itself. So when the military found out(or rather when it became obvious that the public would find out), the top US commander in Iraq, General George W Casey, Jr. ordered 'sweeping changes' to be made. These people acting in gross violation of American, Iraqi and internation law are all going to be punished, right? Let's see...
The general's orders state that all passports have to be returned and the living conditions have to improve. Contracts must also include language to protect individual rights and contractors must 'provide workers with a signed copy of their employment contract that defines the terms of their employment.' That's a good thing. So what about the perpetrators? Failure to do so could lead to 'harsh actions' against them. That sounds good, too. What are these 'harsh actions'? Contracts could be terminated, contractors could be blacklisted from further work and commanders could physically bar firms from bases.
So basically, they've said that from now on, if you try to make a profit through human trafficking, your only punishment will be to terminate your employment with the government, and as for those that have been doing it all along, well, we'll let you off with a warning this time, but don't let it happen again.
You know what I love about this country? When I flip through channels and see the news, they're still talking about that upper-middle class white girl that disappeared in Aruba who knows how long ago, but when there's a breaking story about government contractors engaging in slavery and getting away with it, the media is strangely silent. And if you don't care in the slightest about some upper-middle class white girl disappearing, you're a heartless monster, but if you do care about American human rights abuses (which, as an American, are the ones we should care most about, since we bear responsibility for them...our elected officials sanctioned them, our tax dollars pay for them, our apathy allows them to continue), you're providing aid and comfort to our enemies.
Apologies if this isn't as well-written as I like my political rants to be. We have new neighbours next door. My bedroom shares a balcony with their apartment, and they like to use the balcony, so I was awakened earlier than I wanted to be and am still waking up. I needed to get this out of my system, so I just sat down and typed it out without bothering to get myself together first.