Asian pop stars back fight against human trafficking, August 7

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Asian pop stars back fight against human trafficking

Tue Aug 7, 2007 9:48PM IST

By James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters Life!) - Two of Asia's hottest pop acts, Thailand's Tata Young and South Korea's Rain, are to help highlight the fight against rampant human trafficking in Asia in an MTV-backed initiative on Wednesday.

"How could people do this to each other?" Thai pop sensation Tata Young told Reuters by phone from Bangkok.

"To hear all these stories of children and women and men going through human trafficking and exploitation, it hurts me so bad," added the confident, brassy 26-year-old, whose skimpy outfits and best-selling albums have led to her being dubbed Asia's Britney Spears.

Young will help host shows and documentaries on youth music channel MTV which is aiming to raise awareness of what has been described as a "tragic form of modern day slavery" in collaboration with the U.S.-based Agency for International Development (USAID).

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says economic disparities in Asian countries such as Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia fuel the trafficking of children and women towards Thailand.

Australia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan are also considered major destinations by the ILO for the trafficking of prostitutes from Indonesia and the Philippines.

Human trafficking is a major global problem, particularly in Asia and Africa. The United Nations estimates 2.5 million people are currently coerced into forced labour or prostitution in a trade worth $7-10 billion annually.

Another Asian star, South Korea's King of Pop, Jung Ji-Hoon -- better known as Rain, will also help MTV publicise the cause.

Read rest of article, visit: http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-28869620070807

Swedish embassy e-mail link to combat Asian child sex tourism

Posted on : 2007-07-17 | Author : DPA
News Category : Internet

Stockholm - The Swedish embassy to Thailand has set up a special e-mail link on its web site as part of efforts to combat child sex tourism in South East Asia, reports said Wednesday. The e-mail links to the Nordic police liason office located at the embassy where two police officers from Denmark and Sweden liaise with authorities in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The Swedish branch of the ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography & Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) network welcomed the move that if successful could be introduced at other embassies.

"This is not a day too early," ECPAT Secretary General Helena Karlen told daily Svenska Dagbladet, saying the group had suggested something similar for several years.

ECPAT Sweden, founded 10 years ago, set up its own web-based hotline in 2005 and also cooperates with travel companies in an effort to counter child sex tourism.

The group has estimated that nine in 10 Swedish tourists that have seen indications of child sex tourism outside Europe never file any reports.

The Swedish embassy website urges tourists who believed they have witnessed child sex tourism to write down their observations, mentioning the place (town, location, hotel), when the sighting was made, as well as a description of the suspect and child.

Tips could also be filed anonymously.

To date, two Swedish nationals have been sentenced in Sweden for child sex tourism, including one case in Thailand.

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