Forced marriages and slavery: The trafficking signs Australian travellers are told to watch for

Travellers are being enlisted to help spot victims of a dark reality happening right under their noses at Australian airports.

Holiday-makers and travellers are being asked to keep an eye out for human traffickers and their victims – some of which are children – at Australian airports.

It is estimated that 41,000 people in Australia live under conditions of modern slavery.

While the crime is vastly under reported, police say reports are at a all time high and have doubled in the last five years.

Out of a total of 420 reports to police in the last financial year, 75 involved people leaving the country.

The majority of the those being trafficked out of Australia are victims of forced marriages, according to Australian Federal Police Commander Human Exploitation, Helen Schneider.

“In the past financial year, the Australian Federal Police recorded a more than 100 per cent jump in reports of exit trafficking, where coercion, threats or deception were used to exit, or attempt to exit, an individual from Australia,” Ms Schneider said.

Airports are a key environment where traffickers seek to move victims across borders.

“Airports are a key environment where traffickers seek to move victims across borders, so awareness campaigns in these locations can play a critical role in helping travellers and frontline airport staff recognise and report these crimes.”

Last year the AFP launched a campaign to raise awareness of the increase in forced marriages, which are increasing mainly among the immigrant community.

Human trafficking also includes sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, debt bondage, forced labour and deceptive recruitment, with many of those tricked into coming to Australia on dodgy work deals, from the Pacific Islands.

The AFP last yer launched a campaign to raise awareness of the increase in forced marriages, which are increasing mainly among the immigrant community. Picture: NewsWire/David Swift

Anti-human trafficking organisation A21, behind the awareness campaign Can you See Me? running across at Sydney, Melbourne and Perth airports this month, said travellers should look out for someone showing signs of physical abuse or fear, being unfamiliar with the local language, exhibiting submissive or anxious behaviour, or being accompanied by a controlling individual.

Digital screens and billboards at the three airports will be featuring messages during November to remind travellers, “If you suspect it, report it”.

Last week, a Victorian couple – Kumuthini Kannan, 58, and Kandasamy Kannan, 61 – who enslaved a woman for eight years, had the proceeds of the sale of their home forfeited and ordered to pay $140,000 in combined penalties to the Commonwealth.

It is hoped that providing passengers and the airport workforce with the information they need to recognise and report the signs of human trafficking, “will help save lives”.

The prosecutor described it as the longest enslavement period Australia had ever seen.

During her ordeal, the woman was burnt with boiling water and beaten with a frozen chicken.

The victim, who can’t be named, became so malnourished that her teeth fell out and she spent more than two months in hospital recovering.

Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus said she hoped that providing passengers and the airport workforce with the information they need to recognise and report the signs of human trafficking, “will help save lives”.

Christian Elliott from A21 said, “human trafficking thrives in silence and invisibility”.

She said the campaign will shine a “light in places where exploitation often hides in plain sight”.

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR: Avoids eye contact and social interaction​ 

Is not in control of own passport/documentation​ 

Language barrier with their travelling companions​ 

Unusually submissive​ 

Unaware of their destination​ 

Clothing is not appropriate/does not fit the route of travel 

 

HOW TO MAKE A REPORT:

If you, or someone you know, are in immediate danger, call 000 for help.   

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) protect people who are victims of modern slavery and can help keep you safe. If you suspect someone is at risk, you can: 

Make an anonymous report through Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.

https://forms.afp.gov.au/online_forms/human_trafficking_form 

Originally published as Forced marriages and slavery: The trafficking signs Australian travellers are told to watch for