Human Trafficking Around the World (9 page)

Migration is a broad issue, and there are concerns in Japan as to whether the trainee programs are good or bad. Are they [migrant workers] undercutting the Japanese labor market or are they helping small companies? They are overworked, and while they are not well paid, they are paid. The Japanese government doesn’t want to open the floodgates to unskilled migrants because they feel they will bring social problems with them. At the same time, the government has pressures to not stop the program and pressures to improve the conditions that trainees face.

The trafficking of children, persons under the age of 18, is a concern in relation to both prostitution and pornography. Under the Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and for Protecting Children, production and distribution of child pornography is illegal, but possession is not (Johnston, 2009). According to the National Police Agency (NPA), 1,361 persons were arrested in violation of the law in 2007. Of those, 984 were arrested for child prostitution offenses, which include online dating services and telephone clubs; and 377 were arrested for child pornography offenses—including cases that involved the use of the Internet. The official number of children victimized in 2007 was 1,419—of whom 1,144 were exploited for child prostitution and 275 for child pornography. These numbers reflect an 8.7 percent increase in identified cases of child pornography and a 13.7 percent decrease in identified cases of child prostitution from 2006 (NPA, 2009). Children are trafficked not only for commercial sexual exploitation but also for forced labor. For instance, in 2008 it was discovered that a number of children were trafficked from Paraguay to Japan for forced labor (U.S. Department of State, 2009).
⁸

TRAFFICKING WITHIN JAPAN, CHILD SEX TOURISM, AND JAPAN AS A TRANSIT NATION

While trafficking of its own citizens does occur within Japan, only one domestic victim was officially identified between 2001 and 2007 (MOFA, 2008b). In 2008 police raided a sex industry establishment and identified 12 Thai trafficking victims. Three other women were also discovered, but because they were not illegal immigrants they were not taken into custody (U.S. Department of State, 2009). Consequently, it is unknown whether they too were victims of trafficking. The issue here is not that the three women were not taken into custody but rather that the police failed to identify potential trafficking victims at the time of the raid. According to Michiko Yokoyama, 44 percent of phone calls and emails received by Polaris Project Japan are in Japanese. Not all of these calls involve Japanese victims, but many do:

Debt bondage was typical in the past, but we think the ways victims are controlled by brokers or “boyfriends (pimps)” are getting more sophisticated. In recent years, there have been an increased number of calls and emails from Japanese teenagers in trouble in domestic violence, prostitution, sexually transmitted diseases, or sexual exploitation. In fact 1 in 10 calls/emails are from Japanese teenagers, so we created a new website that focuses on Japanese teenagers,

http://www.pol214.com/

. It is available on both PCs and mobile phones.

Japan is also a transit nation for persons trafficked to North America from East Asia for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor (U.S. Department of State, 2009). Additionally, a significant number of Japanese are sex tourists, traveling to other nations in Southeast Asia—such as the Philippines, Cambodia, and Thailand—to have sex with underage persons. Under the Act on Punishment of Activities Relating to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, the law allows for extraterritorial jurisdiction over Japanese nationals who have exploited children in another country. There has been one prosecution by the government of a Japanese national for child sex tourism since 2005 (U.S. Department of State, 2008, 2009, 2012). In order to address child pornography, a government team, which had its first meeting on February 4, 2010, works to promote comprehensive anti–child pornography measures (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 2010).

WHAT HAPPENS TO VICTIMS AFTER TRAFFICKING

Although there was a sudden increase in identified victims immediately following the adoption of the 2004 action plan, since 2005 there has been a steady drop in the number (see Table 2.1). There are several possible explanations for this continual decrease. One is that the detection and enforcement that took place immediately after the adoption of the action plan created an intimidating atmosphere for traffickers and thereby a reduction in actual trafficking. Another possibility—one that is more realistic—is that there was a boost of awareness and focus on the topic of trafficking after the adoption of the action plan but that it soon dissipated.

In 2007, 16 of the 43 identified trafficking victims were repatriated to their countries of origin without being referred to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for risk assessment and formal repatriation processing. Since 2005 this intergovernmental organization has had an established arrangement with the Japanese government to assist victims in repatriation and social integration in their country of origin (U.S. Department of State, 2008, 2009). From 2005 through 2007 the Japanese government gave $844,000 in funding to the IOM for this purpose (MOFA, 2008b). As of March 1, 2010, 176 victims had received repatriation assistance through this program, including 17 children under the age of 18 (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 2010). In 2009 the government decreased its funding to the IOM from $300,000 to less than $190,000. As a result some victims have been unable to return home or to obtain reintegration assistance (U.S. Department of State, 2010).

TABLE 2.1

Number of Identified Trafficking Victims in Japan, 2001–2010

Year

Number of identified victims

2001

65

2002

55

2003

83

2004

77

2005

117

2006

58

2007

43

2008

36

2009

17

2010

43

2011

45

Sources: MOFA (2008b); U.S. Department of State (2010, 2011, 2012).

The government provides temporary shelter for victims of trafficking and domestic violence through the Women’s Consulting Office. The office has 47 locations nationwide and enough space for up to 773 temporary residents. Victims at the shelter have access to food, clothing, temporary lodging, as well as medical and psychological treatment. From 2001 through 2006, the office aided 186 trafficking victims (MOFA, 2008b; DAW/DESA, 2009). A number of private shelters and facilities, subsidized by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, also grant lodging to female victims. For instance, 54 female trafficking victims were provided shelter in fiscal year 2005. The ministry also budgets medical costs, travel expenses to Tokyo, and interpreter expenses (MOFA, 2008b). Both the Women’s Consulting Office and those shelters subsidized by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare are available solely to female victims; thus not all forms of trafficking and their victims are adequately acknowledged. Japan’s 2009 Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons states the government’s intention to raise awareness among the general public on the topic of human trafficking. It emphasizes that victims of trafficking in persons include but are not limited to non-Japanese women and children, and that the crime should be tackled by society as a whole (Inter-Ministerial Liaison Committee, 2009). The plan also integrates concerns and suggestions expressed by Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the UN special rapporteur on trafficking in persons. These include:

5. Appropriate shelters for victims of trafficking, and lack of the resources and specialized know-how, including but not limited to language skills, required to provide adequate assistance to victims and avoid their being re-trafficked at a later stage

9. Human trafficking responses by the State and assistance to victims are gendered and [focus] solely on women and on sexual exploitation; while this is important, other forms of trafficking that affect both men and women, boys and girls must not [be] neglected (Inter-Ministerial Liaison Committee, 2009, p. 3; OHCHR, 2009a).

Nothing in the 2009 Action Plan specifies how men will be helped in terms of shelter or services. The “Protection of Victims of Trafficking in Persons” section of the 2009 Action Plan states that it will provide shelter and support (Inter-Ministerial Liaison Committee, 2009), but the section focuses on services to be provided by the Women’s Consulting Offices (presumably for women) and the Child Guidance Centers (for children). There is no mention of men. In 2010, one male victim of sex trafficking received services at an NGO shelter and no males were identified as victims of forced labor or forced prostitution by the government of Japan in 2011 (U.S. Department of State, 2011, 2012).

Under the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, a special permission for temporary residence can be granted to trafficking victims. This is determined on a case-by-case basis. With special permission from the Ministry of Justice, victims are exempt from forced deportation (MOFA, 2008b). According to Michiko Yokoyama, the special permission from the Ministry of Justice allows victims of human trafficking to stay in Japan only temporarily: “The true purpose of the special permission for residence is to prevent the expulsion of those who overstayed their visas as a result of trafficking. This allows the victim to stay in Japan without arrest while the investigation or some other procedure continues. If the victim wishes to stay in Japan for a longer period, she or he has to obtain another visa.”
¹⁰
The Immigration Bureau granted special permission for residence to a total of 74 victims in 2005 and 2006; the number decreased from 47 to 27, respectively (MOFA, 2008b). Despite the existence of the special permission for residence, there is only one case of a victim’s staying in Japan for more than several months (U.S. Department of State, 2012).

There are no formal procedures in place to aid with victim identification among law enforcement. With a lack of government focus on the topic as well as insufficient training, law enforcement is not adequately proactive in identifying human trafficking cases. Not only may trafficking victims be overlooked, but also they may be punished for acts they committed as a direct result of their trafficking experience. One example involves a Thai victim trafficked to Japan under a promise of working in the restaurant industry. Upon arrival in Tokyo she was sold to a Tokyo brothel and told that she had to pay a debt of $39,215.68. After police raided the brothel in 2009, the victim was forced to serve four months in jail and receive three months of counseling before she was sent back to Thailand (Bangkok Post, 2009).

WHAT HAPPENS TO TRAFFICKERS

In 2005 two articles were added to the Penal Code that criminalize the buying or selling of human beings (Article 226-2) and the transportation of kidnapped persons out of a country (Article 226-3) (DAW/ DESA, 2005). Offenders under Article 226-2 face three months’ to five years’ imprisonment. A person who buys or sells another person for the purpose of transporting him or her from one nation to another faces a sentence of no less than two years’ imprisonment with work. The sentence is increased to a maximum of seven years’ imprisonment when the offense involves a minor. It is further increased if the person buys or sells another for the purpose of profit, indecency, marriage, or threat to the life or body, with a minimum sentence of one year and a maximum of ten years’ imprisonment (DAW/DESA, 2005; Government of Japan, 2006). Offenders under Article 226-3, those who transport a person via kidnapping by force or enticement or a person who has been bought or sold, from one country to another face a sentence of imprisonment and work for no less than two years (DAW/DESA, 2005; Government of Japan, 2006).

According to MOFA, 369 persons were arrested for trafficking offenses from 2001 through 2007. A closer look reveals a yo-yo of arrest numbers—40 in 2001, 28 in 2002, 41 in 2003, 58 in 2004, 83 in 2005, 78 in 2006, and 41 in 2007 (MOFA, 2008b). In 2008 there were 29 prosecutions and 13 convictions reported. In 2009 the government reported prosecuting and convicting 5 persons under Penal Code Article 226-2. The government did not report sentencing data for the offenders. Corruption among authorities continues to be an issue. In December 2009 a senior immigration official was convicted of accepting bribes in exchange for helping to obtain residence permits for female bar workers. The official was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with labor. Despite the stringent prescribed sentences for traffickers, to date the severest punishment has been 5.5 years’ imprisonment. Even this sentence is a rarity; traffickers often go unprosecuted, and those found guilty are often given suspended sentences. Eleven of the 13 persons convicted in 2008 received suspended sentences and did not face imprisonment. Six of 14 persons convicted in 2010 received suspended sentences and did not face imprisonment, while another 6 received sentences ranging from 2.5 to 4.5 years’ imprisonment, and one trafficker was simply ordered to pay a fine. Eighteen out of 20 persons convicted of human trafficking in 2011 faced imprisonment; sentences ranged from 1.5 to 4 years’ imprisonment. There were no forced-labor convictions in 2011 (MOFA, 2008b; U.S. Department of State, 2009, 2011, 2012).

INTERNAL EFFORTS TO DECREASE TRAFFICKING

The issue of trafficking for forced labor has not been sufficiently addressed by the government. Experts hoped that would change with the 2009 Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons. Yokoyama believes the main reason forced labor has been inadequately addressed is a lack of awareness among both the public and government. The 2009 visit from U.N. special rapporteur Ezeilo put international pressure on the government of Japan to address the issue of forced labor. In response, the government included portions of Ezeilo’s recommendations and concerns in its 2009 Action Plan. Among them are Ezeilo’s commentary on the trainee and technical intern programs: “While this is a well-intended program to be encouraged for its objective of transferring skills and technology to some Asian countries, in a number of cases it is fuelling demand for exploitative cheap labor under conditions that may well amount to trafficking” (Inter-Ministerial Liaison Committee, 2009, p. 3; OHCHR, 2009a). Despite including Ezeilo’s recommendations and concerns, the action plan also has some worrisome elements, such as increased regulation of illegal employment and illegal stay. Yokoyama stated that NGOs have raised a concern that the government is more focused on regulating victims as criminals and not placing enough regulation on brokers. “This reflects the fact that both the government and public tend to think [of] the victims as foreigners or Japanese who have committed crimes rather than victims who need protection.”
¹¹