Human Trafficking

I was switching channels back and forth on my Astro remote control last Saturday night, the 4th of October, when up popped this movie on the Hallmark Channel 702, with this disturbing title: "Human Trafficking".

The 2005 tele-movie starring Mia Sorvino and Donald Sutherland is a composite story of a 16 year old Ukrainian girl, a single mother from Russia, an orphan from Romania and others who are caught in the ruthless web of human trafficking and sold as sex slaves in various parts of the world.

What I saw was enough to disturb my sleep that night. I was alternating between feeling raging anger against the perpetrators and utter helplessness for the victims. Until I figured I could rant and rave all day long and it wouldn't change a thing. Except raise my blood pressure even higher. So, I did some "research" and found out things I was maybe just vaguely aware of at best, and totally ignorant at worst. This is what I found, thanks mainly to Google and another local blogger, Miss Crankshaft.

Read the sheer extent of the misery brought on by human trafficking by clicking on the following link:

• Human Trafficking.Org
  

Malaysia isn't spared either. According to one country report, Malaysia is NOT only a destination country but also a source country for human trafficking. It is purpotedly controlled by organised crime syndicates. Now, does this mean that the many children who have gone missing in Malaysia end up like these unfortunate ones too? Like Sharlinie, aged 5, who went missing in January this year, and who has still not been found. Or has something even worse happened to them? Are they still alive even, given the circumstances? It's terribly shocking and numbing.

Tenaganita, the local NGO championing the rights of women in the country highlights this in detail on its webpage.

Watch this You Tube video by Free The Slaves.net

Co-incidentally, the gospel (the Good News) for 6th October was Luke 10:25-37, about the Good Samaritan. We can draw parallels between this biblical parable and real life situations like human trafficking. There is so much misery that is going on all around us while we go about our daily routine, mostly oblivious to us. Is it because we are too caught up with our own life situations? Is it because we are cocooned within our own comfort zones? Is it because we think this sort of thing doesn't happen around us? Is it because this sort of thing will somehow "defile" us?

Both the parable of the Good Samaritan and the news contained in the websites mentioned above testify to the stark reality this is indeed the kind of world we are living in today. The sad truth is that, however we may want to avoid it, evil is right here among us, in front of us, behind us. Like what one character in the movie mentioned: "the next victim could be your own mother, sister or daughter."

Hallmark may have reminded us of that reality. The Gospel may have pointed out what we we can choose to do or not in a given situation. We have been informed. What we do with it or not is our decision.

For comprehensive action plans and information on human trafficking and how you can help, go here.

"It is impossible to help another without helping yourself, or to harm another without harming yourself" - Anthony de Mello, in "the Prayer of the Frog".