By Charlene Smith[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

The most profitable crime in the world today is trafficking in humans and South Africa has become a key African hub for slavery, a United Nations study has found.[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

今天世界上最有利可图的犯罪行为是贩卖人口，一项联合国的研究表明，南非已经成为非洲关键的奴隶交易中心。[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

Mac Piecskowski of the International Organisation on Migrancy said there were reports of South Africans being trafficked to Macau and Hong Kong, while South Africa was a large importer of mostly sex slaves from central Europe, Thailand, Lesotho, Mozambique and other African nations.[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

国际移民组织的Mac Piecskowski表示，报告表明，南非人被运送到澳门及香港，同时南非也成为中欧、泰国、莱索托、莫桑比克和其它非洲国家性奴隶的进口国。[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

"The public is still in denial about it, but there are many women being held (against their will) in houses in the suburbs, especially Randburg, Bedfordview and Benoni," Piecskowski said in an interview.[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

“南非政府现在还否则这个事实，但实际上许多妇女被留在（违反她们的意愿）郊区的别墅内，特别是在Randburg，Bedfordview和Benoni”Piecskowski在采访时说。[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

The organisation, a UN body, estimates that South Africans involved in the sex industry import about 1 000 Mozambicans and 800 to 1 000 Thai women a year.[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

该组织表示，估计南非现在每年性产业需要输入一千名莫桑比克及800到一千名泰国妇女。[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

They have identified nine categories of slavery operating in South Africa, ranging from women brought in taxis from Mozambique and sold to gold miners, to Thai and central European women sold to brothels, Lesotho children used in orgies by farmers and Free State businessmen, and Cape Flats children reportedly sold to ships' crews.[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

The most recent International Organisation on Migrancy publication, Eye on Human Trafficking in Southern Africa, released this week gives the case of unemployed 20-year-old Sara from central Africa, who was approached by a woman friend who told her she could get her a "well-paying job as a nanny in South Africa".

She was ferried by a truck driver to a small village close to the South African border. There the driver was met by four men who ordered Sara to the back of their 4x4 vehicle. Other young women were already seated there and all appeared to have been beaten. Sara and the other women were taken to a private house in an urban area where they were held captive, beaten and raped. Over time they were forced to have sex with other men and then sold to a brothel. One night, the brothel was the target of a police raid and Sara was deported.[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

Real capacity to address the crime in South Africa has been hampered by a lack of legislation on trafficking. But Piecskowski said that huge advances had been made since South African government denials of trafficking 18 months ago. The South African Law Commission adopted a special focus on trafficking this year and a task force was formed to address the issue by the National Prosecuting Authority in December last year.

In May, the International Organisation on Migrancy and crisis counselling organisation Lifeline will launch a trafficking helpline for those forced into slavery and this year a shelter will be opened to assist those trafficked women and children who have escaped from slavery.[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

South African government officials who are working on anti-trafficking legislation - that is only likely to be tabled before parliament in 2006 - say they are hampered by no laws relating to trafficking here and no policing resources allocated to the crime. Women or children trafficked here are likely to be deported, with their kidnappers usually getting off any charges,.

Law enforcement officials and the International Organisation on Migrancy say that the gangs involved in trafficking are among the most brutal in any organised crime. "There are a lot of trafficked women from Belarus and Bulgaria here and that gangs that control those women are among the most ruthless," Piecskowski said.

Worldwide more than a million people are trafficked a year in a crime that UN officials say is more profitable than the drug trade.[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

该联合国官员说道，每年全球有超过一百万人被贩卖，这是超过毒品买卖更大的生意。[ 南非故事 Cooltang.com ]

南非故事并不是一个新闻媒体，也没有独立的新闻来源，但考虑到中文的南非新闻可以提供很多有用的信息，同时南非也是一个新闻自由度非常高的国家（点击这里看国际记者无国界组织对南非新闻自由的评价），通过新闻可以对各方面有真实的了解，所以我们定期及时对南非各媒体新闻进行转发并对关键内容进行中文转述，但我们无法保证能第一时间发布同时内容也请以英文原文为准。新闻内容以国内无法了解到而且感兴趣的为主，主要以治安、要闻为主，不着重体育、娱乐、科技、财经、军事等类别，如果需要全面的新闻，还请访问南非本地新闻媒体网站。