Prostitution in Seychelles
New forms of trafficking emerging
This week, the police announced that a couple who were using their home as a brothel had been found guilty and given a 6 month prison sentence. Other girls using this facility had also been found guilty and punished. What hypocrisy on the part of Mr. Michel’s government.
The question that we ask is why did the police pick on that couple when foreign prostitutes flood this country to do their thing and leave with Euros and Dollars? Is the message not a continuation of the two-tier Seychelles, where sauce for the goose is poison for the gander?
Why should a resort in south Mahé be allowed to house foreign prostitutes for their Arab clients and not charged with a criminal offence, but a Seychellois couple be sent to prison for doing so? LSH is not supporting prostitution, but rather pointing to the double standards adopted by the government.
Any immigration officer will tell you that during Holy Week this year over 50 women entered Seychelles and the address given was one particular Resort. Seychellois workers at the hotel corroborate their account. They went through the fast track system at the airport and were whisked away in a waiting bus. During the week these same women were seen openly flouting their goods at Intendence beach in the presence of their Arab hosts. What did the government do? What action did the police take? Nothing!
We can inform our readers that another cohort of prostitutes is due to arrive in the country this week. We know that the immigration authorities will again be given orders to let those women in, even though it is obvious that they are here to trade their bodies and be involved in illegal activities. But because their host will be arriving by private jet later, they will not be intercepted.
Now that Mr. Michel has taken the fight against prostitution to another level, maybe he should also tackle high-class prostitution in the country. His police force should investigate other local brothels where these ‘bon dimonn’ sell their stuff in exactly the same way that the girls at Independence House do. Send the Gurkhas to arrest them like they have done at Independence House. Only then shall we say this government is serious.
While this couple spend time in prison, take a look at what was reported in the international press regarding prostitution in Seychelles this week and ask whether this makes us proud:
Ukrainians Return from Sex Slavery in Seychelles, UAE
Kharkov police have returned to Ukraine three young women who were sold into sex slavery in the Seychelles and the United Arab Emirates, the Kharkov general office of the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior reported on Tuesday. According to investigators, the girls of 19, 20 and 22 years were sent abroad in early May. A 24-year-old resident of Kharkov organized their travel, promising the victims employment in the modeling industry.
An investigative case under laws relating to ‘human trafficking or other illegal agreement with regard to a person’ was initiated. It provides penalties from five to twelve years imprisonment with confiscation of property.
U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons 2011 Report indicates forced prostitution problems
A US government report published earlier this year linked Seychelles to human trafficking crimes such as forced prostitution, which led to angry reactions from government officials.
The report says that foreign part-time residents in Seychelles have reportedly created a demand for the import of young women from Eastern Europe and Australia to serve as “party hostesses” in resort hotels and provide sexual services.
“It is possible that some of these women experience conditions indicative of forced prostitution,” says the report.
Whilst the country’s law does not specifically prohibit human trafficking, the government is said to be not fully compliant with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and no known effort to address trafficking crimes through law enforcement action was recorded during the reporting period.
The report made the following recommendations for government action:
- Expand its existing campaigns to educate government officials and the general public about the nature and dangers of human trafficking;
- Increase prescribed penalties for forced labour offenses in Section 251 of the Penal Code Act;
- Over the longer-term, consider the feasibility of drafting comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation that clearly defines human trafficking offenses and prescribes sufficiently stringent punishments;
- Utilize existing legislation to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, and convict and punish trafficking offenders;
- Strengthen penal code penalties prescribed for forced labour and forced prostitution offenses; employ the existing district task force structure
- And designate an official coordinating body or mechanism to facilitate anti-trafficking communication and coordination among the relevant ministries, law enforcement entities, working groups, and NGOs.
Source: Le Seychellois Hebdo 6-1-12