In the two cases you mention, were the victims American? Amy is/was a beautiful young woman. What motive would the perp (s) have to abduct an American young woman off a ship to be used as a drug mule or to work in a factory? I know you don't believe it was prostitution or sex slavery but to me, that would be the only scenario that would make any sense.
This is wiki and I apologize if the information is not 100% accurate but it gives us a quick overview of human trafficking and what countries are mostly effected. If I have time this evening, I will look at more accurate statistics. It appears third world countries are most effected.
I think it's not impossible to believe a perp grabbed Amy on the ship for sexual purposes and threw her overboard after he had done the deed. IMO, it makes the most logical sense.
I understand and respect the family's hope she is still alive and the sightings do give credence that she may be still be alive but is it realistic to think all these sightings including the one in San Francisco are 100% accurate?
In Madeleine McCann's case, there have been perhaps hundreds of sightings of her all over the world including the US. None panned out. People with very good intentions see someone resembling the victim and call in the lead but many times that's all it is. A look alike. A false lead.
Anyway, just my 2 cents worth.
Human trafficking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If there is a Canadian connection as alluded to in an earlier post, if you can provide us with more information that would be greatly appreciated. IIRC, it was the Venezuela "fake" escort service (??). Perhaps we can do some sleuthing on this side of the border.
Curaçao back on watchlist human trafficking
TUESDAY, 28 JUNE 2011 12:53
WILLEMSTAD During the past year, the government of Curaçao has been unable to prove they made more efforts in tackling human trafficking and slave running compared to 2009. Therefore, the US had placed the country back on the TIER 2 watchlist. Last year, the country stood on TIER 2.
Therefore, a step backwards from light to dark grey, it appears from the annual Trafficking in Persons report from the US State Department. The report on Curaçao was drawn up by the American consulate.
The case for Curaçao namely regards that the new legislation on this field, included in the new Penal Code, has still not been approved. Subsequently, tracking authorities cannot take sufficient action against perpetrators of human trafficking. Approval seems nearby now that the Central Committee of the parliament is to submit a final report to be discussed in a public meeting of the States. Apart from the legislation, one is to work on trainings in recognizing victims and assisting in the aid and protection or such. A multi-disciplinary work group has been set up on the island to tackle human trafficking.
Aruba now stands on TIER 2. Although human trafficking is punishable in this country, no cases have been brought before the judge yet. However, this was not the case on Curaçao where the public prosecutors are to focus on indictments such as blackmail, extortion and abduction. Aruba is also to improve their screening process in order to recognize victims of human trafficking and formalize protection programs for victims.
As in previous reports, Curaçao is mentioned as destination or transit harbor for adults and children victims for forced labor or prostitution. There are also indications of child prostitution and victims repaying a debt in the form of unpaid labor. These people come from Asia, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Columbia. The report also mentions the government should take more preventative measures against human trafficking, forced labor and prostitution by launching an awareness campaign.
Four categories
The list has four categories: TIER 1, if the country complies with the minimum requirements of the Trafficking Victims Protection Acts (TVPA). TIER 2, if the country makes significant efforts to comply with the requirements. TIER 2 watchlist, if insufficient visible efforts are made. A country is place on TIER 3 if it does not comply with the requirements and if no efforts are made. According to the most recent report, Somalia and Saudi Arabia are listed somewhere at the bottom. Possible consequences are that no loans from for example the World Bank are issued to these countries.
http://amigoe.com/english/78647-curacao-back-on-watchlist-human-trafficking
2012 Trafficking in Persons Report - Curacao
CURACAO (Tier 2)*
Curacao is a source, transit, and destination for women, children, and men who are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. There are indications that child prostitution may be a problem in Curacao and that some of the hundreds of migrant women in Curacao's illegal and regulated sex trades are victims of forced prostitution. It is unclear how the recruitment process works for Curacao's walled, legal, brothel in a remote area that offers "24/7 access to more than 120" foreign women in prostitution. Local authorities believe that migrant workers also have been subjected to forced domestic service and forced labor in construction, landscaping, and shops. Some migrants in restaurants and local businesses may be vulnerable to debt bondage. Foreign trafficking victims originate from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Asia.
The Government of Curacao does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During 2011, Curacao enacted articles in its criminal code prohibiting all forms of human trafficking. In contrast to previous years, the government has not identified a trafficking victim or shown evidence of increasing efforts to protect victims.
Recommendations for Curacao: Make a robust and transparent effort to identify and assist potential victims of sex trafficking and forced labor by implementing formal proactive victim protection measures to guide officials, including health workers, on how to identify victims and how to assist victims of forced labor and sex trafficking in the legal and illegal sex trade; integrate outreach by a Spanish-speaking victim advocate, trained in human trafficking indicators, into routine health inspections at the legal brothel to ensure the rights of women in the brothel are protected and coordinate with law enforcement if signs of trafficking arise; consult with The Netherlands government on how it proactively finds victims of sex trafficking within the sex trade; vigorously prosecute, convict and sentence trafficking offenders, including any officials complicit in human trafficking; and implement a multilingual public awareness campaign directed toward potential victims, the general public, and potential clients of the sex trade.
Prosecution
The government demonstrated modest efforts in the prosecution of trafficking offenders. In November 2011, the government passed a new penal code containing articles that prohibit forced labor and sex trafficking and prescribes penalties ranging from nine to 24 years' imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for other serious crimes, such as rape. The government reported one new investigation of an alleged trafficking offense, but no prosecutions or convictions of sex or labor trafficking offenders occurred under the new statute or any other statutes that had been used in the past to prosecute trafficking offenders. There were no investigations or prosecutions of officials complicit in human trafficking. The government did not offer law enforcement training to identify trafficking victims and offenses.
Protection
The government's victim protection measures remained weak over the last year. The government did not identify any trafficking victims during the reporting period, compared with four victims identified in 2010 and 16 victims identified in 2009. The lack of identification of sex trafficking victims, despite a significant population of vulnerable foreign women and girls in prostitution in Curacao's sex trade, highlights the ineffectiveness of the government's victim identification measures. Organizations in Colombia and Venezuela reported assisting trafficking victims who had been exploited in Curacao. The government did not ensure that health officials charged with regulating the Curacao brothel employed measures aggressively to identify human trafficking victims and refer suspected victims for assistance. The government operated multipurpose shelters, but these facilities reportedly did not assist any trafficking victims during the reporting period. The government did not grant temporary or longer-term residency status to any foreign victims of trafficking during the year. The government did not report a policy to protect identified victims from being punished for crimes committed as a direct result of being in a trafficking situation.
Prevention
The government initiated few trafficking prevention efforts during the year, such as multilingual public awareness campaigns about forced labor and forced prostitution. A two-day information campaign, held around the International Trafficking in Persons Day, included televised videos, radio advertisements, and other media outreach. The Curacao government acknowledged by ministerial decree the observance of the European Union Anti-Trafficking Day. The government did not have any awareness campaigns specifically targeting potential clients of the sex trade in Curacao in an effort to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. Curacao did not have a trafficking rapporteur to monitor and evaluate its anti-trafficking efforts. The government has not identified a child sex tourism problem involving Curacao.
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,,NLD,,4fe30cd22f,0.html
