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What happened
Most of the alleged victims come from a small town in Hungary called Papa, where it is alleged the accused have recruiters working for them. Once recruited the men are instructed to fly to Canada, claim refugee status and then apply for social assistance through Ontario Works, claimed Sgt. Kevin Serniuk, of the Hamilton-Niagara RCMP immigration and passport section. The men were then made to work on construction sites for free, never seeing a dollar of their social assistance money. They were isolated, fed scraps and lived in the basements of about five Hamilton homes belonging to their captors, one victim alleged. “They didn’t have the opportunity to communicate with a large population here in Hamilton, and you couple that with the fact that once they were in Canada they were never really left alone to mingle with the community . . . so their opportunity to communicate with somebody else was limited,” Serniuk alleged. There was one opportunity to communicate and that was at Ontario Works, were social service claimants must meet with staff on their own, he said. It was at Ontario Works that the first alleged victim told his story last December. This led to further alleged victims – some here for as long as a year, others a day, Serniuk said. at first 10 victims were identified, later 6 more and then yesterday 3 more totaling 19 but there may be more.
Response and intervention
Ten family members from the Hamilton area have been charged by the RCMP's immigration and passport department, who likened the operation to a form of "modern-day slavery." Some apparently are out on bail, and have sold their house and disappeared, none of the the others been apprehended. On Thursday, his captor pleaded guilty to a handful of charges, including human trafficking. according to http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/673459--surviving-slavery "Ferenc Karadi, 47, has been in jail since his October 2010 arrest. He was sentenced to an additional 25 months in custody and will only get early parole to be deported." he was sentenced on Feb, 16, 2012 in Hamilton. The victims are in the custody of Citizenship and Immigration Canada as the RCMP continues to work with Canada Border Services Agency, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Hamilton Police Service on “Project OPAPA.” all reported and quoted from TheRecord.com - October 09, 2010 CTV.ca Fri. Oct. 8 2010 2:22 http://www.thespec.com/print/article/265847 the Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/10-family-members-charged-in-human-trafficking-case/article1749707/ The men had to report to Ontario Works, were social service claimants must meet with staff on their own, It was at Ontario Works that the first alleged victim told his story last December (2009).