5 Dec, 2013
Thousands of ‘Yolanda’ women, kids risk being human trafficking victims | Manila Bulletin
December 5, 2013, Washington – Thousands of women and children in the Philippines risk falling prey to human traffickers in the aftermath of last month’s catastrophic typhoon, lawmakers and the chief US aid agency warned Tuesday.
A US congressman returning from a visit to the storm-ravaged Visayas regions in the Philippines said that while Filipino authorities and US forces were helping hundreds of thousands of storm victims, more attention was needed to thwart criminal opportunists taking advantage of the chaos after super-typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda in the Philippines) roared ashore from the Pacific.
“The most vulnerable – women, children, the elderly, and those with special needs – always fare worst during disasters,” Republican congressman Chris Smith, who led the three-member delegation to the disaster zone last week, told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee.
At particular risk of sex trafficking are vulnerable people “who over a longer period of time may have lost some hope,” said Smith.
Read the rest: Thousands of ‘Yolanda’ women, kids risk being human trafficking victims | Manila Bulletin | Latest Breaking News | News Philippines.
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