Gardaí to meet Latvians over 'sham marriages'

SENIOR MEMBERS of the Garda National Immigration Bureau will meet their Latvian counterparts early next month to bolster co- operation in the fight against “sham marriages” that circumvent Irish immigration laws.

The meeting will follow a joint operation on Monday between the two police forces to free two Latvian women who were allegedly lured to Dublin on the promise of work and then pressured to get married by two men.

A Garda spokesman said two men arrested on suspicion of imprisoning the women – a 23-year- old Indian man and a 32-year-old Pakistani man – were released without charge yesterday afternoon pending the forwarding of a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1027/1224282071548.html

Gardai smash immigration scam

GARDAI have smashed a lucrative scam in which human traffickers were smuggling illegal immigrants into the State.

The scam involves illegals being put on flights into the country without any documentation. When they are stopped on arrival here, they claim to be minors and are put into the care of the HSE. They later disappear from the HSE hostels after lodging claims for asylum.

Gardai have suspected for some time that many of those who disappear from HSE care are being manipulated by traffickers and have noticed that a large amount of Chinese have been travelling here from Spain.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/gardai-smash-immigration-scam-2324410.html

Latvian woman in marriage scam claims she was raped

A YOUNG Latvian woman has told gardai that she was raped and sexually assaulted by men who lured her to Ireland to take part in an arranged marriage.

The woman claimed that she was used for sex by a group of Asian men who moved her between different houses in Waterford and the Cork towns of Midleton and Cobh. She was poorly fed, intimidated and left without any money.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/latvian-woman-in-marriage-scam-claims-she-was-raped-2316070.html

Gardaí object to 57 suspected 'sham' marriages

GARDAÍ HAVE objected to 57 marriages in the last nine months as part of an ongoing operation to combat “sham” marriages aimed at circumventing immigration law.

They are investigating allegations of false imprisonment and rape from several women who were lured to the Republic by men promising jobs who subsequently pressured them to get married.

Chief Supt John O’Driscoll of the Garda National Immigration Bureau said yesterday many cases involved vulnerable young women, recruited particularly from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. “We have made 16 arrests so far as part of Operation Charity, which includes nine people who were removed from the State because they were here illegally. A further seven have been arrested for suspected criminality,” he said.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0818/1224277071207.html

Fears for young asylum seekers

SEPARATED children who came to this country, often by being trafficked, are being moved into adult direct provision accommodation once they turn 18.

The use of direct provision – centres where asylum seekers are housed – has been widely condemned, and now concerns are being raised as young people are moved the moment they turn 18.

It is understood there are about 70 such young people in the system at the moment who live in Dublin, but who will be moved to centres around the country.

http://irishexaminer.com/ireland/fears-for-young-asylum-seekers-125618.html#ixzz0uFnMztu4

Missing minors traced to Chinese restaurateur

GardaÍ are to recommend a wealthy Chinese restaurateur be charged with the trafficking of several Chinese children who disappeared from state care at accommodation hostels for unaccompanied boys and girls in the past few years.

Detectives in Dublin launched an investigation last year into the businessman's involvement in the disappearance of 34 unaccompanied Chinese minors whom gardaí suspect were trafficked into Ireland to work in the sex and labour industry.

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2010/jun/13/missing-minors-traced-to-chinese-restaurateur/

Women cursed to life of slavery

OVER the last five years, one province in Nigeria has consistently cropped up when Ireland’s human trafficking problem is being addressed.

Up to 100,000 of Europe’s 500,000 trafficking victims have been brought from the west African country and of those, anywhere between 60%-80% originate from the Edo state.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/women-cursed-to-life-of-slavery-121875.html

Foreigners trafficked to Ireland

"GIRLS in their early teens are being trafficked to Northern Ireland and forced into prostitution and servitude right under our noses."

That was the stark admission, not of an anti-prostitution campaigner or women’s rights activist, but of the assistant chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and it was made during a Stormont Public Accounts Committee meeting last month.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/for-sale-121874.html

Chinese girls brought in to grow drugs

Chinese women are being trafficked into Ireland to work on cannabis farms. They are alongside other illegal Chinese and Vietnamese who have arrived here through Europe.

Six Chinese were caught at Dublin Airport, without documentation, apparently having flown in from Spain last week.

The Chinese-run cannabis factories spread from England, through Scotland and into Northern Ireland before being established in the Republic.

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/city-news/chinese-girls-brought-in-as-slave-workers-to-grow-drugs-2129887.html

Trafficking of children 'is a reality'

A LEADING children's charity has called on health service bosses to recognise the "reality" of child trafficking in Ireland.

Concerns were raised after figures showed more than 500 unaccompanied children seeking asylum vanished while in the care of the State over the past 10 years.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/trafficking-of-children-is-a-reality-2043516.html

Roma men jailed for trafficking into Ireland

THREE MEN have been sentenced in Romania for up to seven years for trafficking 28 people – including one child – into Co Wexford for labour exploitation.

Remus Fusteac (41) was jailed for seven years, while his son Arthur Sergiu (21) and nephew Alexandru Fusteac (20) were both sentenced to five years for trafficking, illegal possession of firearms and organising a criminal syndicate.

The three had previously been deported from Ireland in 2004 after being investigated for money-laundering.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1203/1224259991063.html

Most minors missing from care in Dublin are Chinese

SOME 80 per cent of minors who are reported missing from State care in Dublin are Chinese teenagers who had sought asylum.

According to the Garda missing persons bureau, 28 Chinese minors have been publicised as missing from the care of the Health Service Executive (HSE) over the past 12 months. Seven other minors were reported missing in the same period: four Africans – from Gambia, Somalia, Togo and Nigeria – an Iraqi, a Bosnian teenager and an Irish child.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1005/1224255887682.html

Chinese restaurant owner linked to 34 missing children

A wealthy Chinese restaurateur has been arrested in connection with a major probe into the disappearance of 34 unaccompanied Chinese minors whom gardaí suspect were trafficked into Ireland to work in the sex and labour industry.

Gardaí based in Dublin raided the restaurateur's three eateries, including a popular high-end restaurant recently refurbished at a cost of €60,000, in the north-east after receiving intelligence that some of the 34 missing children were in contact with the Chinese businessman.

The minors disappeared from accommodation hostels for unaccompanied boys and girls in Dublin city centre over the past couple of years.

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2009/jul/05/chinese-restaurant-owner-linked-to-34-missing-chil/

European people trafficking trial goes ahead in the Netherlands

FOLLOWING an international investigation involving gardaí, 11 people accused of forcing up to 150 young Nigerian girls into prostitution in Europe have gone on trial in the Netherlands.

The traffickers, mainly Nigerian, are accused of bringing the girls into the Netherlands as asylum seekers with false identity papers and instructions for an application in 2007.

The girls would then disappear from the asylum system only to reappear in other European countries.

In 2008, a Nigerian girl suspected of being trafficked into Ireland and forced to work as a prostitute was brought to the attention of gardaí and other state agencies in Kilkenny.

Kilkenny District Court was told the 17-year-old had spoken with members of Ruhama, an organisation that works with prostitutes and trafficking victims, and that gardaí had received documentation from the Nigerian embassy, which had spoken with the minor. The Health Service Executive was asked to intervene, but the girl disappeared.

In another case, an RTÉ reporter found a Nigerian girl who had been trafficked via London and Belfast to be placed in brothels and apartments here. She was expected to give her share of the money to the man who brought her over and the rest to the agency owner.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/idqlauidkf/

Leaders of trafficking gang face 15 years in prison

THE alleged leaders of a gypsy crime gang accused of trafficking more than 100 people into Ireland for labour exploitation are facing trial in their native Romania.

The four accused face jail sentences of up to 15 years if they are found guilty.

Their arrests followed a joint operation, codenamed Sibling, involving Romanian police and gardai in July last year.

The prosecution allege that the gang netted more than €100,000 from taking a slice of the workers' pay over the previous two years.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/leaders-of-trafficking-gang-face-15-years--in-prison-1597749.html

Nigerian lawyer’s trafficking sentence appeal dismissed

THE Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a Nigerian lawyer against his four-year sentence for trafficking illegal immigrants into Ireland.

Olaitan Ilori, aged 40, a father of four, of Oak Drive, Blessington, Co Wicklow was convicted in July 2007 on 12 counts of organising or knowingly facilitating the entry into the state on October 27, 2004 of 12 adult Mauritian nationals whom he knew, or had reasonable cause to believe, were illegal immigrants.

The court had previously rejected Ilori’s appeal against conviction.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland-qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=80327-qqqx=1.asp

Nigerian trafficker fails in appeal

The Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a Nigerian lawyer against his conviction for trafficking illegal immigrants into Ireland.

Olaitan Ilori, a father of four, Oak Drive, Blessington, Co Wicklow was convicted in July 2007 on 12 counts of organising or knowingly facilitating the entry into the State on October 27, 2004 of 12 adult Mauritian nationals whom he knew, or had reasonable cause to believe, were illegal immigrants.

The 12-day trial was the first case of trafficking of illegal immigrants to come before the Circuit Criminal Court and Ilori was jailed for four years by Judge Martin Nolan.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhideycwgbey/

Nigerian sex trafficking ring investigated

The Gardaí and the PSNI are investigating an international sex trafficking ring, which brings women and young girls into Ireland to work as prostitutes.

The victims, who are promised education and employment, first undergo a voodoo ceremony in Nigeria before travelling through London and Belfast to be placed in brothels and apartments here.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1020/sextraffick.html

More than 50 cases of trafficking into Ireland

AT LEAST 50 foreign nationals have been trafficked into the Republic for forced labour in the past six years, according to new research.

Preliminary findings of a study being carried out by the Irish School of Ecumenics at Trinity College Dublin also show that victims included Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Egyptians and Filipinos, and that catering, manufacturing and domestic work were among the sectors where the practice arose.

The figures were compiled from case files held by support groups, trade unions and other bodies. Presenting their research at a seminar on the topic in Dublin yesterday, Dr Gillian Wylie and Deirdre Coghlan said their data - showing at least 50 cases were recorded since 2002 - gave a conservative estimate of the problem.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1015/1223988037567.html