Organised Crime-Maritime Piracy, Smuggling and Human Trafficking:
Organised crime groups will utilise the Indian Ocean space to conduct their illicit operations (Hastings, 2012). Major crimes include piracy, smuggling and human trafficking. Piracy is a major security challenge in the IOR as it threatens peace and regional stability, trade and commerce as well as international energy movement (Herbert-Burns, 2012). It has encountered a lot of attention within the media as a successful means of financial gain through hijackings of private and merchant vessels. Maritime piracy has been prevalent since the early 1990’s and occurs primarily around shipping lanes (Lehr, 2013). In 2009, the list of reported piracy attacks was over four hundred, in which approximately three hundred of those occurred in the IOR (Hastings, 2012). The operation usually involves the pirates taking the crew or significant members of the crew (the captain) hostage and asking their families or employer for a significant ransom (Laipson, 2009). These ‘pirates’ will commandeer or utilise the crew to steer the ships back to their country. The strategic location of Somalia in the Horn of Africa, makes it an ideal departure location for piracy operations (Bhaskar & Kemp, 2011). The geographical chokepoint of the horn of Africa, in particular the Gulf of Aden, sees regular vessel traffic and this promotes an ideal environment for piracy to thrive. In recent years, piracy operations off the coast of Somalia have
There are seven forms of transnational criminality are Illicit drug trafficking, Money laundering, Infiltration of legal business, Computer crime, Illicit arms trafficking, Traffic in persons, and Destruction of cultural property. Illicit drug trafficking is a very lucrative enterprise producing billions of dollars in profit that terrorist organizations can without much of a stretch take advantage of. The ties between international terrorist organizations and drug trafficking changes incredibly from organization to organization (Clarke, 2016). For instance, the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), otherwise known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, is emphatically attached to drug trafficking in Colombia.
In the last decades, narco trafficking and organized crime had emerged as the main security threats in Latin America. Deviant globalization increase their power by establishing connections with similar organizations in other parts of the world, like cocaine distribution networks, for example. This perceived danger increases the pressure on the governments for effective solutions, and some of them consider that these problems had overwhelmed the capabilities of the local police. Consequently, the intervention of military forces would be necessary to secure the stability of the countries. However, the use of force as the only solution is the outcome of a misunderstanding of the root causes that generates them. This paper presents the research for a general pattern in the region that is helpful to understand how the civil society perceives the failures of governance and how the networks of illegal activities exploit this perception.
It was previously mentioned, by Adams, how America should not wage war against the Barbary states, unless, America had plans of fighting them forever. While Adam’s words were not heeded, they rang true. From the ten years after the first Barbary War, to hundreds of years after the Barbary Wars, there is still piracy. Modern Day Piracy is commanded by Somali fisherman who attack cargo ships that travel along Somalia and the Gulf of Aden. The Somalian Fisherman first struck in the year of 1990, while their numbers have declined after 2012, there are still Somali Pirates. Some of the countries that have been attacked by the modern day pirates include Hong Kong, India, Liberia, Kenya, Taiwan, Denmark, North Korea, The United States, and numerous
In recent years, due to the threat it poses to human security, human trafficking has been identified as one of the major and fast growing transnational problems. It is also perceived as a form of modern slavery and one of the greatest human rights challenges of our times. Therefore, tackling human trafficking is highly prioritized in many countries (European Commission, 2009). In the last 20 years the occurrence of human trafficking has dramatically increased, and trade in human beings has become one large part of the illicit global economy. Many criminals see this type of transnational crime as a low risk- high reward crime, and this may be one of the reasons why they show a preference for it (Lee, 2007). The United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, also known as the Palermo Protocol, adopted in 2000 defines human trafficking as: “The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a
One of the major issues today in criminal justice is human trafficking. As a definition, human trafficking is the illegal transporting of people, by use of force, to be sold or sent to modern-day slavery (Homeland Security, 2017). There are countless methods of human trafficking throughout the world. Unfortunately, each one is more horrendous than the preceding. To elaborate, some types of human trafficking are Forced Labor, Debt Bondage, Domestic Servitude, Commercial Sex Trade, Child Soldiers, and Child Commercial Sex Trade (The United States Department of Homeland Security, 2017). That being said, the most widely discussed forms of human trafficking are sexual subjugation (Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, 2017).
During the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries, piracy was rampant in the Atlantic, specifically in the West Indies. Piracy has existed since the earliest days of ocean travel, for a range of personal and economic reasons. However, one of the major reasons why piracy was wide spread and rampant in the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries was Great Britain’s endorsement and usage of piracy as an asset; in wars fought in the New World. Great Britain with its expanding power and conflicts with other nations would make piracy a lifestyle and lay down the foundation for the Golden Age of Piracy and eventually bring what it created to a screeching halt.
Human trafficking is the modernized version of slavery that involves force, fraud, and/or a type of labor in a sexual act. The United States government defines it to be “In which a sex act is forced in which the person induced has not yet been attained eighteen years of age” (National Institute of Justice). Human trafficking is a threat to all nations and promotes breakdown of families and can support organized crime. Trafficking can occur everywhere. Human trafficking and human smuggling are related to one another, but different crimes. The difference between smuggling and trafficking is that smuggling is the illegal movement of someone across a border while trafficking is the illegal exploitation of a person.
This past year in the United States, there were an estimated 21,431 calls made to authorities concerning potential human trafficking situations and yet, the average American does not know that forced labor and prostitution is even a problem. (Melissa) Second to drug dealing, human trafficking is the largest criminal industry in the world today, and is growing fast. (Human Trafficking – Exploitation…) This modern day form of slavery takes victims captive against their will by using violence, threats, deception and other manipulative tricks. Even though each trafficking target has a different story, they all have similar experiences because they lose their freedom. In the United States, the First amendment protects all people citizens or aliens with basic freedoms. Therefore, human trafficking goes against ones American civil rights; human trafficking is major issue in the USA that needs to be stopped.
Human trafficking is on the up rise; therefore, we have an increasing opportunity for greater interventions within our community. Human Trafficking is one of the biggest forms of hidden organized crime in the world. It is a world we hardly ever hear about. Human trafficking is the fastest increasing criminal industry in today’s world, coming second only to illegal drug-trade. Collin states in the article, “Sex Trafficking on the North Shore,” that sex trafficking does not only happen in other countries and it affects the North Shore here in Duluth, Minnesota every day. Native American women are one population that are deeply affected by human trafficking. One study found that nearly 350 Native American women and girls were victims to sex trafficking over the past 4 years. The author states, that the statistics only include the survivors that have spoken out. Another study found that one and three Native American women will be raped in their lifetime. (Study Mode. “Human Trafficking.”)
There are approximately twenty to thirty million slaves in the world today. Unfortunately due to trafficking being a fast growing crime it is very difficult to identify and locate these organizations and victims. Although there are many groups created to support victims, not enough awareness is being made and not enough action is being applied to stop human trafficking.
The Article 100 of the UNCLOS Agreement, highlights that all states have to cooperate in the repression piracy if it falls outside the jurisdiction of any state. Furthermore, the Article 101 explains the acts of piracy, it states that the actions of piracy must be taking place on the high sea. Pirates get away easily with the hijack ships from territorial water, all because the government of Somali does not have the capacity to control them. Somalia is depended on UN’s shipped food by boat. Because of this, warships are in the Gulf of Aden in order to keep a free narrow corridor from pirates, so the food can arrive to Somalia. More ships are nowadays armed and have armed security staff. Nevertheless, the risk of killing another country’s citizen has to be taken in consideration due to the possible legal issues coming
Human trafficking is the trade of humans by force, mainly women and female children, for the purposes of sexual slavery, sexual exploitation, and domestic labor. Global human trafficking has often been labeled as modern- day slavery; however the history and causes have been identifiable just as the causes of traditional slavery have been. What causes human trafficking? In this present paper, the hypotheses on the primary causes of global human trafficking will be identified. There are three major themes that cause human trafficking: a nation’s economy, political and legal factors, and social factors that enable the continuance of human trafficking. According to previous research indications of historical influence and social hierarchy have the greatest impact on the causes of human trafficking; these topics will further be elaborated upon during the discussions of political influences and social factors that impact human trafficking.
In this research paper I will discuss one transnational crime, and compare the contrast of two nations for their definition of the crime rate, and tools used to measure the crime. I will give each country’s legal tradition and their major influences on crime definition, rate, and measurement. In this assignment I will analyze the extent to which crime statistics collected in different nations can adequately be compared.
Today, piracy has resurfaced, but in smaller numbers. It is centered mainly around the Middle East on important waterways. For instance, Somalia and the Gulf of Aden are hotspots for pirates, because the passing cargo ships are full of supplies for African relief (May, Laura. “History of Piracy”).
She’s the girl who’s running away from her abusive past, the one who is impoverished and looking for a way to make ends meet, or perhaps, she’s the girl who naively fell in love with the wrong man. Regardless of the reasons, there are nearly 30 million victims of human trafficking globally. There are more slaves now than ever before. Trafficking of persons is not a subject that should be ignored or taken lightly. In order to fully understand the enormity of this crisis, we will examine the root causes, facts, and the impact of human trafficking throughout the world.