Hong Kong's Domestic Worker Abuse Indonesian maid tells her story of violence

Brandy Tamplain1/19/2014

Erwiana said her wounds are the product of seven months of abuse that she suffered while "working" as a domestic helper.

Doctors at Amel Sehat Islamic Hospital say she is suffering from swelling of the brain from repeated blows to the head. She also has several broken teeth, a broken nose and her hands and feet are brown and swollen with cellulitis - an infection of the skin that resulted from her long-untreated wounds.

Recruited About 330,000 foreigners

work as domestic helpers in Hong Kong. London-based rights group Amnesty International said thousands like Erwiana from Indonesia are being tricked into working in Hong Kong by brokers and agencies with blatant disregard for their clients' welfare

Erwiana was recruited in Indonesia by PT Graha Ayukarsa, with whom she said she agreed to have $328 deducted from her $505 monthly wage, until a $2,320 recruitment fee was paid off.

Amnesty International Asia-Pacific

Amnesty International is an organization/ global movement with more than 3 million supporters, members and activists in over 150 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights.

http://www.amnesty.org/en

Robert Godden, Amnesty's Asia-Pacific coordinator:

"actually, when you look into the specifics…many of the factors leading to the abuse can be applied to thousands of migrant domestic workers: underpayment, the employer didn't pay the minimum wage; restrictions on movement; you can see that she was heavily indebted by the illegal recruitment fees charged by the agency; and you can see that she didn't know how to access justice.“

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/01/hong-kong-domestic-worker-abuse-20141199347455882.html

http://www.amnesty.org/en

Chapter 3 Trafficking Human Subjects in the Malay Worlds, 1850-1910 Global Smuggling (K&K text)

Bitcoins: Part 1 What is the Bitcoin?

Bitcoins are units of currency in the form of software code that are generated, transmitted, and stored digitally. They combine the power of Gold, the U.S. Dollar, and PayPal.

Unlike other virtual forms of currency (PayPal etc.), its value is not backed by a hard currency such as the dollar and its value is determined by the demand for Bitcoins.

Some are calling it “the first decentralized digital currency.” While other’s argue that Bitcoins are only useful to criminals.

Terror financing is defined as “the financial support, in any form, of terrorism or of those who engage in terrorism.” (Botha, 2006)

Financial experts agree that the financing of terror can occur anywhere in the world, whether or not it has a complex financial system in place. (Basdeo, 2011) Such as Africa, in which as much as 70% of the population does not have access to a formal banking system. (Smith, 2013)

This reaches out to the World Wide Web. (Fagen, 2013)

Bitcoins

Bitcoins as Currency 1 BTC = $818.12 USD *OR* €602.83 EUR Online programs are used to “purchase” Bitcoins and they

are stored in electronic wallets (untethered to any bank/financial institution or country)

In September of 2013, digital currency worth $27m (€ 20m) was seized from an anonymous online black market called the Silk Road (See update below.)

Authorities say the Silk Road is conduit for purchases of drugs and computer hacking services – even a place where assassins and professional forgers may have advertised.

It was closed after FBI agents took control of its server and arrested the man they say was its founder in San Francisco.

Bitcoins According to the F.B.I. fraud, forgery, kidnapping, money

laundering, murder-for-hire, human sex trafficking, poaching, and numerous other criminal activities are considered among the primary threats from digital currency.

E.J. Fagan of Global Financial Integrity, a group that studies illicit financial flows, argues that Bitcoin allows criminals to conduct business without going through intermediaries. (Fagan, 2013)

The danger of facilitating peer-to-peer transactions makes these heinous crimes much more difficult to track.

The 9/11hijackers were successful in part because their financial transactions were small, and fell below the reporting threshold and did not arouse suspicions.

Due to the nature of Bitcoins, they pose a similar threat.

Bitcoins Next week:

Bitcoins are a threatening tool in Africa’s violent and crime-ridden culture.

James Smith, Professor of African and Development Studies at University of Edinburg says that the Bitcoin is fueling Africa’s next banking revolution.

News reports from Africa

References http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/662/72/ http://ivn.us/2014/01/13/bitcoin-investigated-around-world-po

tential-criminal-activity/

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/16/22329391-30000-bitcoin-forfeiture-in-silk-road-case-is-biggest-ever-prosecutors-say?lite

http://theconversation.com/bitcoin-fuels-africas-banking-revolution-16044