Human Trafficking, Democracy and
Transnational Crime Syndicate.
SHARMILA BOSE
Independent
Researcher in Political Science
9811915670
Abstract
Human Trafficking is viewed as organized crime and
neo-slavery, but it is a parallel regime that survives under the legitimacy of
Democracy. The theory of Dependency in
the World System played a crucial role in proliferating bonded labour under the
tag of Globalisation. The origin of
Human Slavery has the ancient lineage which is redesigned and developed even
when the civilized societies have abolish Slavery as International Covenant.
This document will explore the theoretical inadequacies in
handling the issues of slavery in the era Globalisation and Dependency where an
economy from the slaves from selling and reselling humanity as resources
towards the illicit economy of drugs, sex, violence and smuggling human organ. The economy from the trafficking population is
facilitated by Wars and Corruption that is both man-made.
The role of Political theories based on Identity and
Ideologies create a divisive society and conflicts which further create a
stream of networking that traps population under the tag of democracy and
political process and become the member of the parallel regime, i.e.
trafficking network.
Representative Democracy under Political parties creates
feudalism in the population that controls the Power and Resources. Further Globalization has erased the
boundaries and accountability and limited State control on the economy and
policies.
The dynamism of globalization has erased the boundaries and
the global movements have taken a phenomenon to which illicit movement has
dominated the World system. This illicit
movement has a specific network which further promotes the security threats. Human Trafficking is not limited to the
periphery population that are vulnerable to poverty or lack of resources, but
those who are urban population are victim of trafficking due to creation of
destitution of broken marriages and shattered societies. These urban victims become a tool of high
profile crimes, financial frauds, drugs trafficking and espionage.
INTRODUCTION
Human Trafficking
should be viewed from the dynamism of Transnational Crime since in every
organized crime there is a need of resources that is forced than
consensual. The work populations towards
the illicit economy are always vulnerable to exploitation, oppression and
enslavement and they are routed through trafficking which has fortified system. So, it will be incomplete to understand the radar
of Human Trafficking without discussing Transnational Crimes syndicates since
these crime syndicates are operated by people and most of them are forced
labour.
The end of Cold War
and the disintegration of USSR has brought huge change International Relations
and International behavior. From Bipolar society to Unipolar world dominance
brought a restlessness in the International Politics especially in Asian
Dynamics. From Communism / Socialism to
Liberal Economy and to Globalisation brought the change in socioeconomic
dynamics in the region. This germinated
many non-state actors which had intra-national and international network. In
the 1970s, international relations introduced the concept of the transnational
actor. The focus on non state
transnational actors grew out of the pluralist theories of the state and its
decision-making process. In domestic
politics, pluralist theorists have always argued that political outputs
resulted from competition among different interest groups.[1]
Asia is home to some
of the largest crime syndicates in the world.
The recent economic, political and social changes in Asia have been
conducive to the spread of Organised crime in this region. These changes include the economic opening of
China and its gradual shift towards capitalism, and the 1997 Asian financial
crisis. The crisis exacerbated already
growing economic disparities within and between countries in Asia, creating
opportunities for organized crime organizations to operate and find new
recruits. Furthermore, the economic
growth of the region since the 1980s, including the development of financial
centres such as Singapore and Hong Kong, and the increase of trade and beyond
Asia, has been advantageous for operations conducted by Asian-based organized
criminals.[2]
Rapid integration in Southeast Asia is creating new
economic, social and development opportunities, but also poses significant
security challenges underpinned by organised crime, according to a new report
released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).[3]
There are indications that organized crime and associated problems are
expanding and diversifying as regional integration intensifies.
The largest and most
prominent criminal syndicates operating in Asia are the Japanese Yakuza and the
triads in China. They are not only the
most powerful criminal organizations in their home countries, but also control
many illegal operations in other Asian nations.
The Yakuza is divided into more than 2000 clans, the Yamguchi-gumi, with
over 25,000 members, being the largest among them.[4] These clans are developed through Multi-Layer
marketing scheme to which the benefit of illicit economy reaches to the
top. It is very difficult to catch the
actual perpetuator in the present Criminal Justice system due to its
multi-layer schemes through contract and sub-contract systems.
The Chinese triads
consist of a range of different competing groups and include the Sun Yee On in
Hong Kong, the United Bamboo Gang in Taiwan, and the Wo On Lik in Macau. On the Chinese mainland, triad activity was
successfully suppressed by the Communists government and it was only in the
1970s that the first modern triad group, the Big Circle Boys, emerged there,
followed by the establishment of other such groups. Since the return of Hong Kong and Macau to
China, triads based in these cities have also been able to expand their
operations to the Chinese mainland, where they have benefited from, and
invested in, the new and expanding Chinese economy.[5]
The organized crime
groups based in Bangladesh and Southeast Asian nations, even though these
countries are home to numerous crime syndicates operating nationally,
regionally, and internationally. In
Bangladesh, organized crime groups are involved in the smuggling of weapons,
robbery and forgery and are hired by politicians to intimidate to kill
opponents. The so-called mastans (hoodlums, thugs), in particular
have strong links with local politicians and the police, and play an
influential role in elections.[6] The non-stop infiltrations into the Indian Territory
by the illegal Bangladeshi migrants are the frontline crime operator which has
the political affiliation on the basis of Identity and Ideology in the region.
In Southeast Asia,
transnational crime groups are involved in illicit activities such as
prostitution, gambling, money laundering and the smuggling of illegal goods and
human destine for Europe, the United States, and Australia. The trade in illegal drugs is also booming in
the region, mainly because the so-called Golden Triangle between eastern
Myanmar, northern Thailand, and western Laos, is still one of the world’s
largest supply areas for drugs such as heroin.[7]
Other Thai-based
crime syndicates are involved in illegal gambling, prostitution, the trade in
counterfeit products, and the smuggling of wood, gems people and oil. The illegal trade in oil emerged in the early
1990s and has developed into a lucrative source of income, as the smugglers
circumvent the high taxes on oil. However,
the majority of the illegally imported oil is pumped at sea from tankers into
fishing boats that are often modified to hold 10,000 to 100,000 liters. Eighty percent of the illegal oil enters the
country thorough the Gulf of Thailand, while the remaining 20 per cent is
smuggled via the Andaman Sea coastline.
So-called jao phor (Godfathers)
and politicians are involved in the illegal trade in oil. In fact, many Thai-based organized crime
groups have close links with Thai politicians, and many jao phor have entered politics themselves and have gained position
in central and local governments.
Furthermore, members of the military and police in Thailand are also
actively involved in illegal activities.[8] The Political Parties in the democratic
system are States within States and occupy its own regime within the
Statehood. To run their organization, it
needs population and resources.
Corruption and illicit economy provides them funding to sustain their
legitimacy in the Political process. The
Foreign investments in any country are actually the funds raised through
illicit economy through the political process and make the illicit money to
licit economy through share market.
In Malaysia,
organized crime syndicate, some with connections to Taiwan, are engaged in the
illegal production and sale of DVDs, VCDs, and CDs. Other groups are involved in the manufacture
and sale of fake medicine, robberies, or smuggling activities, including the
trafficking in endangered species, such as orang utans from East Malaysia.
In Indonesia, the preman, Organised Criminal groups are
involved in protection rackets. Many of
these groups press a belief in Islam and have links to, or work directly with
security forces and politicians in Indonesia.
Other organized criminal syndicates operating from Indonesia include
Pakistani-led organizations involved in the smuggling of people, mostly from
the Middle East to Australia.[9] It is important to understand the identity of
this country has the affiliation to its economy, i.e. protection racket and
Pakistan provides human resources through this channel. So, Pakistan is not just terror breeder,
i.e. defacto army and strategist but
also into the International Protection racket. Pakistan’s International
Relations highlights its supply of human resources in the Protect rackets.
Organised crime
groups in Philippines do not have the pronounced organization structure
prevalent in groups such as Yakuza. Yet,
even though Philippine groups are generally more loosely knit, the organizations
are nonetheless highly efficient.
Criminal groups are based and operated in all parts of the Philippines,
with kidnapping for ransom, being one of the more typical activities of these
groups. Other illegal activities include
bank robberies, drug and people smuggling, and illegal gambling. As in other countries in the region,
criminals in the Philippines have links to politicians and members of law
enforcement agencies and some criminal organizations cooperate with politically
motivated movements.[10]
In addition to those
organizations discussed above, ethnic Chinese criminal groups are active
throughout Southeast Asia. These include
the Chiu Chow group in Burma and Thailand, the 18 Gang and Wah Kee in Malaysia,
and the Tiger Dragon Secret Society in Singapore. Furthermore, criminal organizations from out
the region have begun to operate within Southeast Asia, often through contract
with local crime groups. These include
Russian criminal groups which are active in Thialand and provide, for example,
Slavic women to brothels in Thailand.
Other criminal organizations operating in the region include group from
South Asia, Japan and Korea, as well as Nigerian criminal enterprises which
participate in the drug trade.[11]
The impact of China’s
one child policy and India’s cultural preference for male has left large
populations with more men than women.
This gender imbalance has created high demand for women that has fueled
trafficking of women to both nations.
Acquiring women and girls for the purpose of brides has become a common
occurrence in the region. Females are
obtained through multiple ways such as coercion and force that have been
previously mentioned, but also through kidnapping. Kidnapping has become a common means for
acquiring women and children as the migration of populations between and within
states increases the ability for kidnapping to occur. In China, persons travelling from the
countryside to cities are extremely vulnerable to kidnapping as paths traveled
are not always high trafficked routes (State 2014; Baculinao 2004)
The demand for sex
creates it market for the sale of sex to which pimps who are the part of gang
of the criminal network of the region creates a bridge of demand and
supply. But it cannot be denied that
only the socio-cultural environment creates a market for sex. The market of sex is also created through
liberal sex environment through the instigation through porn and glamourisng
sexual behavior in the society. Sex is
the biological need and it has a confirmed market and resources. So, the Sex syndicates create the
socio-economic environment, i.e. generating resources and creating the market
for sex so that the economy of sex encouraged.
These Criminal
Syndicates are run through people as forced labour and human trafficking is the
route for Human Resources generation and are collected from the family system
which is a socio fabric of any society. These socio fabric has a cultural
affiliation which is further being exploited by the social elites to facilitate
the dynamism of Transnational Criminal Syndicate. International Relations and International
Politics play a crucial role in protecting the operation of International
Criminal Syndicate in the name of Race and Identity. Crime has no identity and it is always threat
to Civility which is still not touched in tune of Political Science.
Human Trafficking in
Asian countries cannot be studied in isolation without evaluating the works
done in the Core nations. Core nations
are the destinations, whereas the regional power in the Asian countries like
China and India play a multiple role of periphery, semi-periphery and Core
nation. Human Trafficking exploits the
market of cheap labour in the global environment that aspire many for the
better life elsewhere. The concept of
better life is due to deliberate inadequate indigenous policies that could
facilitate the aspiration of growing skills of the population. The theory of Poverty that compel population
trafficking is not complete. Poverty is
created due to corruption in the Political system in a democratic process.
Democratic process
plays a crucial role in Human Trafficking.
Politicians are the feudal lords that work under the networking of
supply and demand of trafficking population.
These populations not only facilitate towards economy generation for the
Political regime but also earn them the Political capital. More trafficking population creates more fund
raising and political capital makes more stability in the political career.
The close network of
the Political regime in a democratic system across the globe provides them an
access of unorganized labour market towards cheap and uncompensated labour. The methodology of trafficking business is
based on demand and supply. One
country’s demand is fulfilled by another country’s supply. E.g. Indonesia,
Laos, Thailand and Timor-Leste, have a thriving fishing industry, much of which
is supported with forced labour. Men travel to Indonesia for legitimate jobs in
fishing agriculture, factories, and mines, and find themselves trafficked into
forced labour. Fisheries are a large
area of forced labour in South Asia, as exemplified in Thailand. Victims are enticed by employment where there
are promised decent wages and working conditions. What is found in that labourers are forced to
work long hours on ships in the waters of the destination country given the
most grueling jobs, are beaten, not provided breaks or limited food, and pay a
typically withheld Health regulations, along with working regulations, are not
followed on these ships and have many times resulted to ship fires, which often
times result in death. Similar
conditions and experiences are common in factories and construction. Employers take advantage of human trafficking
due to the cheap labor they provide and the limited pressure to abide by state
regulations (State 2014; Larsen 2010).
The Demand by men
looking for commercial sex and bondage arrangements lead to massive human
trafficking of women from the periphery nations to the destination
countries. The political instability
plays a crucial role in this. Since the
1990s, the classic scenario in Central and Eastern Europe has been that
recruiters – both male and female – coercive women into the sex trade by
advertising through newspaper or job fairs seemingly legitimate opportunities
including modeling or waitressing.
Especially seductive in the imploded economies of post-communist
countries, such job offers promise financially desperate individuals
employment, possibility to build a new life in a foreign country, and a chance
to provide for their families back home.
This “employment”, of course, results in a life of sexual
exploitation. This archetypal pattern is
also visible in conflict zones and in areas of extreme poverty. In South Asia it is common for dalals (pimps) to have young girls and
women to what they promise will be lucrative position as domestic servants in
big cities, often in other countries. A
common trafficking route is to transport girls from Nepal, Myanmar and
Bangladesh across the Indian border via land routes. Ultimately, the girls end up in Mumbai
brother or Karachi slums, from which they are sold upcountry or shipped off to
the Gulf States. Sometimes the men who
buy girls enter into fake marriages with them.
In an extension of these abuses, hundreds of thousands of small children
of both sexes are kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery, even by family
members.[12]
Politics
is usually reserved for the elite that control important economic interests in
their respective regions. These local leaders are the ones who often use
organized crime for their own benefit (e.g. to gain and/or maintain political
control in key territorial areas and increase funding for personal and
political purposes by forging strategic alliances with these networks). This
becomes apparent with the type of structure that organized crime increasingly
uses in this region: operating as a network (where the various links in the
chain work together but are independent) rather than an organized group. Those
involved are not always connected to each other and they often operate through
temporary arrangements in a non-hierarchical fashion. This type of structure
allows political forces to participate in the business without being
subordinated to a particular group.[13]
Even
though violence is still an important tool for organized crime, it often draws
too much attention to the network’s activities. This is why many opt to create
strategic alliances to get the State’s support (by means of action or
omission). The benefit crime networks often derive from political actors is not
always in the form of direct quid pro quo arrangements, but rather is paid off
by a series of diffused favours. Contributions are often in the form of the
omission by State institutions to take action against a crime network - in the
same way that politicians can “facilitate” the business activities of
legitimate interests.[14]
Alliances
between organized crime and the State are not only established through
traditional political leaders, but also through foundations and institutes that
have important contacts (and sometimes contracts) with the local establishment.
Some criminals carry out charity work around their communities to gain popular
support and create a shield to protect them against state pressure.[15]
The political
inadequacies in handling the gender issues that facilitate the human
trafficking are that there is no collective effort in analyzing the
socio-cultural criteria. India's current
laws and policies
do not comply
with India's obligations to adopt measures to
prevent human trafficking under
the UN Trafficking
Protocol. The Immoral Traffic
(Prevention) Act (ITPA)
(hereafter referred to as the ITPA) authorizes the Central Government to
constitute an authority for the prevention of trafficking in
persons. However, outside of
this enabling provision to
establish such an
authority, the ITPA predominantly focuses
on the punishment
of trafficking offenses
as well as
rehabilitation efforts (i.e., rehabilitation homes).
There is little mention of ‘prevention’ within the
ITPA. Furthermore, the
ITPA does not address
trafficking for any
purpose outside of sexual
exploitation. The Bonded Labour
Act similarly neglects to create human trafficking prevention measures. The
Preamble of the
Bonded Labour Act states
that the Act is
intended “to provide
for the abolition
of bonded labour
system with a view
to preventing the
economic and physical exploitation
of the weaker
sections of people.”
However, the Act
does not address
‘prevention’ efforts at any
other point within
the text.[16] The prevention measures for the trafficking
population needs specific policy than laws since the implementation of the Laws
becomes weak due to lack of policies.
Rehabilitation of victims is an enormous expenditure to which the system
is beyond to afford, so prevention is better than cure. The Policies need to redesign the Economic
standing for the country which should be self-sufficient. Presently under the Global Economic policies,
the indigenous economy is absolutely neglected to which there is huge crisis of
underdevelopment of skills that forced population to get trapped into the Crime
Syndicates. Human Trafficking is not
just limited to sex slavery or bonded labour but also involved in Crimes and
terror network to which no legal or Institutional framework is created to
checking the flow of trafficking persons.
Although the concept
of transnational crime could seldom be found in any legal text or law
enforcement handbook before the last decade (Mitsilegas, 2003, p.82), today the
term is commonly employed by specialists and non-specialists alike. Yet, transnational crime is not a legal
concept; it lacks a precise juridical meaning. It remains a concept within criminology that
describes social phenomena (Mueller, 2001, p.13). The term is both sociological, because we are
concerned with the understanding criminal groups or networks, and political,
because transnational criminal actors operate within an international
environment structured by nations-states by politics (Serrano, 2002, p.16)[17] The dynamics and dimensions of the
Transnational Organised Crime is not limited to Human Trafficking towards Sex
Trade, rather is a para-community that runs through defacto order in the World of Rule of Law. Sex Slavery is part of this brutal reality to
which women and children become a public urinal in the civilized world.
In the concluding
statement of this paper is that Human Trafficking is more like a captivation of
the Political Capital in the name of Liberalisation and Globalisation where the
State apparatus and tools are too weak and unequipped to handle the
Transnational Crime Syndicate that work with the hand in gloves with the
Political Establishments. Democracy in true sense is subjugated under the
Feudalism, i.e. Feudalism of Human Resources and Natural Resources. In fact, the UNODC has not addressed the
Neo-slavery in the right direction, i.e. evaluating the Global licit and
illicit movement due to Global Economic Policy which is under the grip of Global
Central Banks controlled by Rothschild and few Royal Families and neglected
Indigenous Economy that could check the trafficking of persons and making the
Political Class accountable to its population in a Democratic environment.
[1]
Reichel Philip, Handbook of Transnational Crime and Justice, Saga Publications,
London, 2005
[2] Carolin Liss, Oceans of Crime : Maritime
Piracy and Transnational Security in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh, Institute
of Southeast Asia Studies , Singapore, 2011
[3]
UNODC, Bangkok, https://www.unodc.org/southeastasiaandpacific/en/2016/02/organized-crime-southeast-asia/story.html
[4] Carolin Liss, Oceans of Crime : Maritime
Piracy and Transnational Security in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh, Institute
of Southeast Asia Studies , Singapore, 2011
[5]
ibid
[6]
ibid
[7]
Ibid
[8]
ibid
[9]
ibid
[10]
ibid
[11]
ibid
[12]
Hunt Swanee, Deconstructing Demand : The Driving Forces of Sex Trafficking, The
Brown Journal of World Affairs, Volume XIX – ISSUE II, Spring /Summer 2013
[13] Burcher, Catalina Uribe, The link between
politics and organized crime in the Andean region, IDEA, 2013, http://www.idea.int/americas/the-link-between-politics-and-organized-crime-in-the-andean-region.cfm
[14]
ibid
[15]
ibid
[16]
India's
Human Trafficking Laws and Policies and the UN Trafficking Protocol:Achieving
Clarity, 2015
[17]
Felsen David, Kalaitzidis Akis, AHistorical Overview of Transnational Crimes,
p. 5, Handbook of Transnational Crime and Justice, Saga Publication, London,
2005.
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