Human Trafficking News Roundup: 19 December 2010

- Tough anti-trafficking law in the offing: Draft suggests speedy trial tribunal, considering the offences non-bailable‘

- Breaking the silence of Gambia’s sex tourism: The tiny West African state has become a magnet for Western predators looking to abuse children.

- 24-Hours Vancouver: Craigslist bows to pressure, drops sex ads

- Sunday Observer: Indian Ocean navies vow to stop drug trafficking, human smuggling

- The Moscow Times: U.S. Jails Russian For Human Trafficking

- Vanguard Nigeria: Group vows to tackle human trafficking, child abuse

Click here to read the articles.

Child Protection in Europe Newsletter n°86

. .0. .0. Top News » .0. .0. .0. .0. Europe Mario speaks out at the CoE 24 Sep 2010 On September 13th, the secretariat of the Council of Europe (CoE) Anti Trafficking Convention organized the 4th meeting of the committee of the parties in Strasbourg. Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. News on the net » .0. .0. .0. .0. Russia Boy abandoned in Caribbean to return 28 Sep 2010 'The Moscow Times' reports that children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov flew to the Dominican Republic to repatriate the 12-year-old Russian boy, who was left there in 2005 by his foster parents. Since then he lived in a ... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. Romania In the dock: Modern-day Fagins who 'sent 200 Romanian children to beg and steal in UK' 28 Sep 2010 'Mail Online' reports of the Romanian court case of the criminal network that trafficked Romanian children into the UK to beg. It was mentioned during the trial that Romanian police was putting some of the gang member... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. UK Anti-human trafficking post criticised 25 Sep 2010 'BBC' reports that the Welsh Assembly Government appointed an anti-human trafficking officer, and discussion ensued whether this post is needed, or other measures would better serve those who are exploited. Some have ... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. UK Time for England's children and young people to get a strong children's rights champion 24 Sep 2010 'CRIN' reports that a group of children NGOs in England published minimum standards for the Office of Children's Rights Commissioner. With the help of an online survey they are also collecting views and evidence to he... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. International Education of Roma children among the subjects of World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education 24 Sep 2010 UNESCO reports on its website is announcing the first World conference on Early Childhood care and Education in Moscow, 27-29 September. For this conference UNESCO published a report on Europe and North America. Accor... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. International UN launches $40B campaign to improve women, children's health - report 23 Sep 2010 'Sofia Echo' reports that during the UN MDG Summit $40 billion new commitment was made for the next five years, which the UN will use for the improvement of women's and children's health, to fight malnutrition, preven... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. Spain Spain joins EU hotline for missing children 22 Sep 2010 'Leader' reports that Spain is the most recent country to join the 116 000 hotline to report missing children. According to Spanish authorities each year there are 20,000 reports of missing children, which fall into f... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. Kosovo Stop deporting Roma to Kosovo, Council of Europe tells Germany 22 Sep 2010 'M&C News' reports that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed a resolution saying Germany should not return Roma to Kosovo 'until it is proven that they can live there safely and sustainably'. The... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. Bulgaria Parents pull children out of school because of Roma classmates 22 Sep 2010 'Sofia Echo' reports of an allegedly unique case in which the parents of 24 children pulled them out of school in an outrage of the "high number of Roma children" in the class of first graders. The headmaster refused ... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. Bulgaria Bulgaria to investigate hundreds of children deaths in orphanages 20 Sep 2010 'Sofia Echo' reports that Bulgaria's Prosecutor's Office investigated 166 cases of deaths of children in children homes, after a joint investigation with the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee uncovered 238 deaths over a de... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. News from the field » .0. .0. .0. .0. Regional Project 4 national NGO coalitions gather to coordinate and share best practices 28 Sep 2010 Tirana, Albania: "For me it was very important and helpful to get to know each other, the project's team, and to establish contact with you all. I realize now that the first steps we took to establish the group in Bul... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. Documents » .0. .0. .0. .0. International Early Childhood Care and Education 28 Sep 2010 The report is organised as follows: in addition to the introductory chapter, the report includes three substantive chapters (Chapters 2, 3 and 4) based on data collected from recognized sources, such as, the UOE (UNES... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. Kosovo Roma asylum seekers in Europe 23 Sep 2010 Around 100,000 Roma who fled violence in Kosovo are now facing return, after having spent up to ten years in Western European or neighbouring countries. If they are returned they face great social difficulties, discri... Read More .0. .0. .0. .0. Image Galleries » .0. .0. .0. .0. International Mario Project: Knowledge Exchange Meeting between NGO coalition coordinators 28 Sep 2010

Europe: Terre des Hommes Newsletter.

Child Protection in Europe Top News » Bulgaria Bulgaria to investigate hundreds of children deaths in orphanages 20 Sep 2010 'Sofia Echo' reports that Bulgaria's Prosecutor's Office investigated 166 cases of deaths of children in children homes, after a joint investigation with the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee uncovered 238 deaths over a de... Read More UK PM urged to sign up to a directive on human trafficking 15 Sep 2010 'BBC' reports on the British Parliamentary session during which the Prime Minister was questioned about the EU directive on human trafficking and also on child poverty. The Prime Minister said the UK was already takin... Read More News on the net » UK Should children be expected to work? 20 Sep 2010 'BBC' published an article, questioning whether children should be expected to work more while studying. According to the article, the number of young people in part-time jobs has halved in the last five years. There ... Read More Malta Group claims Malta 'destination' for child trafficking 16 Sep 2010 'Times of Malta' quotes a report by ECPAT saying that Malta was primarily a destination country for women and children trafficked for sexual purposed from Eastern Europe, mainly Ukraine, Russia andRomania. Victims of... Read More Europe Council of Europe puts forward initiative to improve Roma situation 16 Sep 2010 The Council of Europe (CoE) reports that the Secretary General presented the Committee of Ministerswith an initiative to clarify the applicable CoE and EU standards in the case of Roma migration and to launch a joint... Read More Europe Not making the cut: soccer documentary 'Soccer Slaves' 15 Sep 2010 'Nutmeg Radio' published an introductory article of the documentary 'Soccer Slaves'. The documentary is being aired on 'Current TV'. It explores the story of many African boys who are lured into Europe with the promis... Read More Switzerland The trauma of Switzerland's morality detentions 14 Sep 2010 'BBC' reports that victims of a Swiss practice called "administrative detention" are now calling on an official investigation into it. Decisions were made by local politicians about the detention of teenagers that wer... Read More UK Four face jail over plot to 'sell virginities' of girls 14 Sep 2010 The 'Guardian' reports that thanks to an undercover operation of the Scotland Yard, a four-member child prostitution ring caught last year selling the virginity of girls as young as 13 will be sentenced today. They cl... Read More Press Reviews » Roma: A new political weapon? 18 Sep 2010 In an article published by the Romanian newspaper 'Dilema Veche' published on September 18th 2010 and entitled “Roma: a new political weapon”, the French sociolog and deputy director of the NGO “Hors la Rue”, Olivier ... Read More Documents » UK Punishing Disadvantage 21 Sep 2010 At any given time, between 2,000 and 3,000 children aged 10 to 17 are likely to be in custody, either under sentence or on remand, in England and Wales. This study has asked: who are these children, and why and how do... Read More European Union Children's Voices 16 Sep 2010 The purpose of this paper is to give meaning and insight into some of the key drug and alcohol issues that affect children from the perspectives of the children themselves. It is not to estimate the relative magnitude... Read More Malta SexTrafficking of Children in Malta 16 Sep 2010 ECPAT, as part of its 'Stop Trafficking Children and Young People Campaign', together with the Body Shop, produced a factsheet about the situation of child trafficking in Malta, including the country's legislative fra... Read More UK 'State Sponsored Cruelty' 16 Sep 2010 This report is the first large scale exploration, in the UK, of the physical and psychological harms caused and aggravated by the detention of children for immigration purposes. Despite recent statements by the coalit... Read More International The Rights and Guarantees of Internally Displaced Children in Armed Conflict 14 Sep 2010 This Working Paper - the second in a series issued by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict - draws attention to the particular vulnerabilities and risks face... Read More