Human trafficking exaggeration?

Like most people here, we are tired of hearing about Saipan’s reputation as a hub of human trafficking and the international sex trade. Like most, we sometimes see young, provocatively-dressed women walking the streets of Garapan and our gut reaction says they are lawbreakers in search of an easy and immoral dollar. But we also know that at least some, perhaps not all, but certainly some, are doing what they do because they have no choice—no other way to pay off a debt, no other way to buy a plane ticket home, no other way to buy food, no other way to avoid being physically abused. Yes, human trafficking happens here. It happens in Guam, it happens on the mainland, it happens everywhere. It stains nearly all communities, but especially those that rely heavily on laborers from poorer nations. The CNMI is such a place. But just because it happens everywhere does not mean that we should tolerate it here. Indeed, we cannot tolerate it and still call ourselves a moral and decent community.

Yes, human trafficking happens here. A typical story: a young woman comes from China following the promise of a well-paid job in a garment factory. Only upon arrival does she discover there is no job. She has lost the better part of her life savings in recruitment fees, and she probably owes someone for the cost of her plane ticket. Put yourself in her shoes. Imagine yourself in a completely foreign culture, perhaps the Middle East or central Africa. You don’t speak the language, your money is all gone, and you know nobody except for those who brought you there. You are at their mercy. What decisions do you make to survive? What options do you have? If this scenario does not frighten you, imagine that it is not you, but your daughter all alone in that foreign country. Yes, this happens here.

The good news is that the CNMI has been very aggressive, and successful, in confronting this problem. We have even earned national recognition for our efforts. Most of this work has been through the CNMI’s Human Trafficking Intervention Coalition, a task force made up of local and federal agencies. Thanks to the Coalition, the CNMI claims several convictions of human traffickers. It has also helped numerous victims rebuild their lives. Recently, when Guam encountered its first case of severe trafficking, a case in which several young women were literally terrorized into the sex trade, Guam came to the CNMI for help. Our Coalition is now serving as a model for Guam and other island nations as they establish their own task forces and pass their own anti-trafficking laws. This should be a source of great pride to the CNMI. Yes, human trafficking happens here, but few places are doing a better job of confronting it.

The Coalition’s goal is simple: to make the CNMI a very hard place to profit from unfairly exploiting a person’s status as a foreign laborer. To do this, the Coalition needs your help. We ask that you not ignore a domestic servant who you know is not allowed to leave their employer’s house. We ask that you report someone who sponsors alien farmers, but then sends them back to their home country without paying them. We ask that you not assume that every young woman working the streets of Garapan is there by choice.

If a foreign laborer gets a raw deal, it does not necessarily make them a victim of human trafficking—the Coalition knows this. But some are tricked, or coerced, or forced, to do things that they really don’t want to do. They are victims, and one is too many. If you wish to learn more, call the Coalition hotline at 234-5100, or if you suspect an act of human trafficking, call the Federal Bureau of Investigations at 322-6934.