Review of "Global Human Smuggling: Comparative Perspectives," second edition, edited by David Kyle & Ray Koslowski, 2011. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Notes and ideas on a terrible international problem...
Advocates for social justice will be alarmed to hear about the sheer scope of the human smuggling problem internationally. It is not a few kids a year. It is not a few captives from this or that country. It is, quite frankly, big business!
Teachers, at the forefront of social change, would do well to read this book about a topic we really only rarely consider: human smuggling. It is a big business. It goes on all over the world. It brings people—young people especially—to more advanced nations around the globe.
It brings children from Thailand and Russian and Iraq to a house right down the street from your school.
Becoming current on this topic is essential as human smuggling is one of the best kept secrets in your neighborhood, in mine, in everyone’s. How does this business thrive—and increase—with all of the different local, state, national, and global law enforcement agencies and watchdog groups working so hard to stop it?
Dollars. The huge profit drives people to take crazy risks, treat other people like commodities to be bought and sold, and bartered, traded, and abused. Children are sold to serve as sex slaves. Bys and girls alike are worth big dollars to those who would find them, transport them, and deliver them to adults who wish to use them for entertainment. Adults are sold to become servants who must perform a certain number of household or service duties.
Adults surrender their passports to the new “owners” and are told they will be allowed to leave their captivity after a certain amount of time. Of course, the amount of time usually gets extended, and the adults are threatened constantly with abuse, being turned over to authorities, and having their family members back home beaten or killed.
Children are the most vulnerable, having nobody to speak up for them. From disparate cultures and speaking little or no English, they are made to perform a wide variety of duties and acts…
Children rely on adults. They have nobody to turn to, and they are kept away from others of their same home culture so that it is difficult for them to seek help.
Teachers can educate themselves about human smuggling and can watch for various signs of this illegal activity within their communities and schools. Teachers can connect to a wide range of fields and experts working on the human smuggling problem: sociologists, law enforcement officers, writers, elected officials, researchers, school district administrators, members of the clergy, leaders of state and national councils watching human smuggling, community activists, social scientists, econ professors, advocates for children, directors of refugee programs, historians, individuals running for office, local business leaders, those who help new arrivals, statistics professors, and teacher education leaders.
Any teachers needing a good cause to support—and a sometime dangerous crime to monitor—will do well to embrace campaigns against human smuggling in their areas and buildings. As an educator myself, I take for granted teachers will be involved in various social justice projects as a natural part of both their personal and professional lives. I assume teachers and other educators are well suited to advocacy for the social justice issues involved in finding, fighting, and ending human smuggling.
Why are educators a good choice for this advocacy? How can they help? What powers do they control? Educators know how to conduct research and find resources. Educators are able to command respect from their peers and citizens, and at the same time they are able to garner support from elected officials and law enforcement officers. They know how to find information on the computer, from community members, and from books. They know how to speak in front of large groups. They know how to draft clear letters. They know how to influence others, build consensus, find supporters, and encourage groups forward.
In short, educators “get things done.” Learning more about this terrible business is one good area for educators to focus on. Watching for the opportunities to help will not be necessary. Human smuggling is about alive and well in your community.
Maine, Chicago, Texas, Arizona. These are all places where human smuggling is alive and doing well. Advocacy is crucial. We need to work on this and similar problems in our communities.
Hey teachers – out of everybody in town, I think you are the best professionals to attack this terrible problem…
Teachers do NOT need to look to far to find important causes to work on… As the joke goes: “Do you need a hand-written invitation to attend?”
BTW, there are some very active organizations attempting to thwart the purchase and sale of persons worldwide, such as the group started by actor and former model Ashton Kutcher called “Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children.” He started this as “DNA” with then-wife Demi Moore and it addresses mainly the sexual exploitation of children. The foundation (started as DNA in 2009) is modern: “The primary programming efforts of the organization focus on Internet technology and the role it plays in facilitating child pornography and sexual slavery of children on a global scale” (Thorn (organization) - Wikipedia).
It is hoped teachers, advocates, community organizers, social workers and others can work together to get rid of this terrible exploitation of children – and others. I think teachers could lead them in this work!
My call to teachers shows I think they are tremendously capable persons who I am convinced should be at the forefront of this endeavor.