Lankan ‘sex slaves’ in Singapore sex ring (Special)

‘Do not fall prey to bogus job agents’ – Police

“In this case (Singapore prostitution ring operated by Sri Lankans), there is very little that the Sri Lankan police can do about. It is not under our jurisdiction. However, if facts concerning the employment agents who are involved in these illegal activities are unearthed, we will take strong action” he said.
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by Thava Sajitharan

(March 02, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The police have warned Sri Lankan citizens, especially women who hope to fly abroad for employment to be vigilant of false promises given by some foreign employment agents and not to fall prey to their seemingly lucrative offers.

S.S.P Ravi Waithyalankara, the Police Head of the Women and Children Bureau, when contacted by us said strict laws should be introduced in the country in order to curb the alleged fraudulent activities of foreign employment agencies.

However, he pointed out that the responsibility pertaining to the issue lay largely within the ambit of the Foreign Employment Bureau.

Lat week it was revealed that a prostitution ring was being operated by Sri Lankan pimps in a noted ‘red light’ area in Singapore involving a large number of Sri Lankan women. It is learnt that several employment agents dupe Sri Lankan women with prospects of lucrative employment abroad.

Treated like slaves

Waithyalankara said this was not the first time that incidents of this nature have been reported.

“We have heard stories about Sri Lankans working abroad being treated like slaves” he said.

“The country is earning a huge foreign exchange revenue from foreign employment every year. So it is the responsibility of the Government to protect those who go abroad seeking employment” he said.

“There must be a strong mechanism to monitor foreign employment agents” he stressed.

“In this case (Singapore prostitution ring operated by Sri Lankans), there is very little that the Sri Lankan police can do about. It is not under our jurisdiction. However, if facts concerning the employment agents who are involved in these illegal activities are unearthed, we will take strong action” he said.

Clients and rates

The video which was shot on the sly and is available on Google’s youtube website shows Sri Lankan women seeking ‘customers’ at Lorang 15 in the Geylang district under the watchful eyes of Sri Lankan pimps. One Sri Lankan sex worker is shown getting into an argument in Sinhala with another woman over clients and rates.

Prostitution is not barred by law in Singapore.

It is learnt that many women were coaxed into prostitution and are stranded there without a means of returning home. The narrator of the said video says that some women are keen to return home. Nonetheless, they are however not keen to reveal the identity of the pimps out of fear. However the secretly shot video gives a close-up view of the pimps while CCTV images also reveal their identity.

Several initiatives

An official of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment who wished to remain anonymous said the Bureau has taken several initiatives to enlighten those who go abroad about the problems they may have to face.

“We are doing our best to see that malpractices don’t occur” he said.

“Yet those who decide to go abroad must also take utmost care of themselves and ensure that they don’t get trapped” he said.

“We are aware of the importance of the need to protect our citizens. We are conducting several programmes to educate them on these very important issues” the official of the Bureau said.