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Wednesday 11 May 2011 - 12:46

'US hot spot for Argentine slave workers'

Story Code : 71234
Islam Times reports from Press TV: A new study released by the Latin American and Caribbean Coalition against Human Trafficking suggests that over 80 percent of those trafficked to the US work as sex workers under false pretenses.

The study also suggests that Argentina has become a transit point for women being trafficked from other Latin American countries, such as Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Peru.

“Argentina is a cheap place for organized crimes they use to traffic women and children to Europe and Japan via Chile; now they use Argentina,” Rachel Holway, President of Alerta Vida NGO said.

The study also names Thailand, Japan, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy among other top destinations for forced labor and forced prostitution.

Argentina's Supreme Court and the General Attorney's office, in collaboration with the United Nations, have launched a nationwide campaign to fight modern-day slavery in Argentina.

Mario Fernando Ganora of the Commission for People's Rights, who investigates labor abuses in the textile industry, told Press TV that “at least 500,000 people work in the textile industry, the government should introduce tough legislations to protect these workers.”

According to the latest information provided by the Federal Administration of Public Incomes, hundreds of rural workers were forced to complete 12-hour shifts in extremely precarious labor conditions.

Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has urged the workers movement to denounce these illegal practices and has promised to bring to justice the companies that fail to carry out labor standards.
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