Costa Rica Frees
36 Asians From
'Modern Slavery'
Costa Rican
police Sunday
freed 36 Asians
from "inhumane"
conditions
aboard two
fishing boats
operated by a
foreign shipping
company, where
they were beaten
and forced to
work for no pay.
The men - 15
Vietnamese, 13
Indonesians,
five Filipinos,
two Taiwanese
and a Chinese
national - were
forced to work
for 20 hours a
day, given
little food and
given lashes as
punishment,
officials said.
"They were in
completely
unsanitary,
inhumane,
overcrowded
(conditions),"
said Jorge Rojas
Vargas, director
of the Organismo
de Investigacion
Judicial (OIJ).
The men were
told they would
be paid $250 a
month, but no
cash was given
and the ship's
Taiwanese
operators
claimed to have
sent payment to
the group's
families. Their
passports were
confiscated in
an attempt to
thwart escapes.
"This is modern
slavery,"
director of
immigration
service, Mario
Zamora, was
quoted as
saying.
The owners of
the fishing
boats were not
identified, but
authorities said
two Taiwanese
men and a Costa
Rican were
arrested in the
operation.
Authorities are
investigating
the case as
suspected human
trafficking -
the third most
lucrative black
market business
behind drug and
arms
trafficking. The
trade brings in
some $9.5
billion a year
globally,
according to UN
figures.
Costa Rican
police had been
investigating
the case for
four months,
since nine
Vietnamese men
escaped by
jumping
overboard,
swimming to
shore and
alerting
authorities,
officials said. |
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