(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Five hundred Brazilian victims of human trafficking have been registered since 2005, with the Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain being the main destinations. The US Justice Department released this information on Tuesday. Authorities in both the USA and Suriname believe the problem might actually be much bigger.
Figures collected by the US Justice Department show that Suriname is now the main exit point from Brazil for these criminal organizations, above all when the victims are being shipped to the Netherlands, a country to which at least 133 Brazilians have been smuggled since 2005, US broadcaster Fox News reports. “We have no official data on this problem because neither the victims nor the Brazilian government or Embassy ever file complaints,” police spokesman John Jones says. “Yet we have strong indications this is taking place in our territory,” he adds immediately. “We have open borders that are difficult to monitor, particularly in the south, and Brazilians often enter Suriname illegally to work in the gold fields. We have no concrete proof of human trafficking, but when we consider the hinterland’s population it is possible.”
Jones says it is difficult for Suriname to determine the problem if no complaints are being filed. He mentions the case of some Chinese who were found some years ago and were clearly victims of human trafficking, adding, “That was a clear case.” The Americans also report that 337 of these 500 cases involve the sexual exploitation of women. The real extent of the problem is also difficult to determine as many victims do not report their situation to the authorities out of fear, shame or simple ignorance about what can be done.
The report also states that about 55 percent of the heads of the criminal networks involved are women who deceive young females in impoverished areas and take them to the abovementioned nations – and others – and then force them into prostitution. Information provided by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was used to draft the report. The UN body is cooperating with the Brazilian government to develop a strategy to fight the trafficking networks.