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Forced LaborArchive 2008–2016

Forced Labor in Borken (2009)

A forced labor case from 2009 in Borken, Germany. 1 source on file.

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What happened

Following more than a year-long investigation, the German Federal Police have busted an international ring involved in smuggling Sri Lankan Tamil people into European countries, with the connivance of certain French and British authorities. Police, during simultaneous raids on 37 places from early morning last Wednesday in Germany and elsewhere abroad, arrested 16 suspected German, French and British nationals of Sri Lankan origin, diplomatic sources said. According to these sources, a special team from the German Federal Police has been investigating the activity of a German-based Sri Lankan Tamils smuggling ring under cover since August 2008, on the orders of the public prosecutor in Osnabrück. Out of the 16 suspects arrested, four are from Germany and more arrests will follow, according to German Police. Among the arrested is the leader of the smuggling ring. He is a 44-year-old Tamil known among the diaspora as an ardent supporter of the LTTE,” sources added. The report also stated that the suspect was residing in a small town called Borken in the Federal State North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) where there is a large concentration of Sri Lankan Tamils domiciled in Germany. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of two more Tamils in Germany – from Rhine and Lingen.

Response and intervention

Although the article is titled 'German Police bust int’l human trafficking ring', it is unclear from the article whether it is actually trafficking or smuggling, which is why no information is here posted about the victims. The link for this article is http://www.nation.lk/2009/10/11/news5.htm.

Sources

Nearby cases

All 8 in Germany →
Sex Trafficking2010

Bonn, Germany, 2010

Germany DE

A 30 years old woman. The „Madame“ how the pimp was called had her victim in a brothel in Bonn. She was caught in Koblenz and was leading towards apartments in Berlin, Oberhausen, Duisburg, Essen and Hamburg. With this case another „Madame“ pimp in Hamburg was caught. The trafficker was caught and charged by the department of public prosecution for contravention of the Immigration Law, illegal transportation of foreigners, money laundering, support of human trafficking and human trafficking. The trafficker was into a kind of Vodoo-magic from her hometown. She made her victim swear to a „Ju-Ju“ priest unconditional obedience to her. In case she would not obey or talk about it she should be dead. The a so called Voodoopac, contains finger nails, hair, garments, a photo of the person and the name of the person. The vivtim believes that the owner of this pack has power over them. On Thursday the 14.10.10 she was finally convicted and placed on probation. She was giving an all out plea of guilty and namend another perosn who was invovled as well. Because of her cooperation they saved a lot of time in hearing of evidence and was able to be finished during one day. Informations of the State Office of Criminal Investigation show that there was already a case of Voodoo in 2009 in the State of NRW, Germany. In December 2009 another „Madame“ pimp in Hamburg was caught as well and convicted at the court of justice. The court of justice already convicted her and placed her on a two years suspended sentence. The trafficker got a rightless VISA for her victim and her victim promised her 50.000€ for it. To earn the money for her pimp she worked in brothels.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016
Bonded Labor2009

Hanover, Germany, 2009

Germany DE

Police arrested two Chinese men and a woman in Hanover. The trio had founded a firm to orchestrate their smuggling activities, according to criminal investigations. The three Chinese held in custody - aged 46, 38 and 35 - are thought to be the chief operators in the trafficking ring. For years, the traffickers are said to have smuggled more than 1,000 Chinese into Germany and to have exploited them in abusive working conditions. Chinese emigrants paid 10,000 euros ($14,000) for a valid visa and work contract as so-called specialty cooks. But upon arrival in Germany they were forced to surrender their passports, essentially putting them in "debt servitude," Frank Federau,spokesman for the Hanover State Office of Criminal Investigation said. The immigrants were made to work as chefs for up to 80 or 90 hours a week, at an hourly wage of 3 euros ($4.23). Their lack of German language skills made it difficult for the immigrants to complain. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4580456,00.html

1 sourceArchive 2008–2016
Sex Trafficking2006

Frankfurt, Germany, 2006

Germany DE

After three weeks of captivity and abuse, including multiple rapes, Lucy acted compliant to gain trafficker's trust, then asked to use a cell phone. She called a friend in Finland, who gave her the number of the German police hotline. She called and German police arrived and rescued her. The

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016