inquiring to move to HK

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  1. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by PDLM:
    The SCMP reported that the bar was "Show Biz".

    Of course, the girl who had been trafficked in to work as a prostitute there was prosecuted, but the brothel managers and owners were not charged with anything at all.

    Quite why the ICAC doesn't get in and sort out this whole sordid business is beyond me. Are they in the pocket of the crime syndicates as well?
    I know of a girl who was found to have used a passport in the past with a false birth date in it as she would have been underage with her real birth date to work as an 'entertainer'. She told immigration the name of the bar who organised the dodgy passport, and the name of the bar she was then moved on to work in. She has just been given a year in prison. The bar owners...you guess.

  2. #12

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    Hong Kong is a signatory to the UN Convention on Human Trafficking isn't it?

    Here are some interesting pages: Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons , especially in women and children
    Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons especially in women and children

    They appear to give a mechanism for registering reports of trafficking even at an individual level with the UN Rapporteur on this subject, who will apparently take up even individual cases with the local authorities. Do you (hullexile) have enough information about this specific instance to get the UN on the case? At the very least maybe we could get the poor girl out of prison.

    This sort of stuff is outrageous, and it isn't an isolated case - I understand that 15-16 year old Filipinas are regularly shipped over on false passports to certain bars in Wan Chai where their virginity is then sold to regular punters.

    It really is sickening that the police here appear still to be in the pocket of the organised crime gangs in this business.


  3. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by PDLM:
    Hong Kong is a signatory to the UN Convention on Human Trafficking isn't it?

    Here are some interesting pages: Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons , especially in women and children
    Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons especially in women and children

    They appear to give a mechanism for registering reports of trafficking even at an individual level with the UN Rapporteur on this subject, who will apparently take up even individual cases with the local authorities. Do you (hullexile) have enough information about this specific instance to get the UN on the case? At the very least maybe we could get the poor girl out of prison.

    This sort of stuff is outrageous, and it isn't an isolated case - I understand that 15-16 year old Filipinas are regularly shipped over on false passports to certain bars in Wan Chai where their virginity is then sold to regular punters.

    It really is sickening that the police here appear still to be in the pocket of the organised crime gangs in this business.
    She wasn't trafficked but came of her own free will so no good going down that line. She is not innocent, so perhaps deserves the punishment, but as always the big boys seem immune having I am sure covered their backs. To be fair to the cops, I have seen her interview record and they did ask her about a couple of names (one Chinese, one Filipino) but she refused to talk about them. Not sure who they were but likely to be involved in the bar and trafficking side I guess.

  4. #14

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    Trafficking covers false pretences as well as the physical movement. I don't think any of the girls are physically forced to Hong Kong, but I do believe that many of them genuinely believe that they are coming to be dancers (the official version) not prostitutes (the reality). Whether that is true in this case I don't know, obviously, but I do know of others.

    Another sickening example that I learnt of recently is that one of the "recruiters" based in The Philippines (by the name of Sally) recently trafficked her own daughter to work in one of the bars in Lockhart Road (in the chain owned by Cynthia, the uber-mamasan, who should be locked away for a very long time).


  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by PDLM:
    Trafficking covers false pretences as well as the physical movement. I don't think any of the girls are physically forced to Hong Kong, but I do believe that many of them genuinely believe that they are coming to be dancers (the official version) not prostitutes (the reality). Whether that is true in this case I don't know, obviously, but I do know of others.

    Another sickening example that I learnt of recently is that one of the "recruiters" based in The Philippines (by the name of Sally) recently trafficked her own daughter to work in one of the bars in Lockhart Road (in the chain owned by Cynthia, the uber-mamasan, who should be locked away for a very long time).

    Yes that is certainly true about the false pretences, and with the debts involved they are then trapped. We have done what we can to help by sorting out her possessions, dealing with her family and getting the Philippine Consulate involved to visit her and look after her as best they can (and actually they are very caring, damn sight better than the British Consulate I think). Don't really want to get involved in the legal side, too many complications given our own past dealings with immigration.

  6. #16

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    Yes - The Philippines Consulate does seem to make good efforts about this stuff. Did you see the stroy in the HK News this week about the DH who was forced to clean up her employer's pet shop from 9pm to 2am every day after she had finished her domestic duties and then sleep amongst the animals? She complained to the Labour Department who:
    a) told her to stop and threatened her with deportation for accepting work outside the employer's home!
    b) then told the employer that she had reported them, and she was immediately terminated, forced to sign a statement that it was "by consent" (why do people sign documents they don't agree with?) and then sent home anyway.

    No action was taken against the employer of course, and I have no doubt that they will are already imposing the same illegal regime on some poor replacement.


  7. #17

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    Until they start to take action against the employers then nothing will change. But then I guess the police also have maids. It really is just blatant racism.