Slaves have already existed in the pre-Qin period.

People generally associate this word with keywords such as backwardness, feudalism, ignorance, etc. But this word that should have disappeared from history has reappeared in civilized society.

At first glance, the world has already entered a civilized society. From mobile phones and air conditioners to airplanes and rockets, science and technology are advancing rapidly, and human civilization is also prospering and developing. With the development of culture and technology, the world seems to have long since escaped the era of slaves, and everyone's destiny is in their own hands.

But in fact, in the dark corners where the sun does not shine, there is still a sinful slave trade.

While people are enjoying all the conveniences brought by civilized society, some people are being whipped, enslaved, treated as cheap goods, and slaves are conveniently resold...

Just a few years ago, the UK uncovered the largest slavery case in modern times, in which more than 400 people were forced into slavery. This case also revealed the tip of the iceberg of the human trafficking industry, making more and more people begin to pay attention to and think about the issue of human trafficking.

So, how did the victim become a slave? What kind of life did they live after being forced into slavery? Is international human trafficking really far away from us?

According to an announcement issued by the United Nations, among the known cases of human trafficking in the world, human trafficking exists in 118 countries. Those victims come from at least 136 different countries. Among them, the Middle East, Western Europe, North America and other regions are the main areas of population inflow. East Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America are the main export areas for human trafficking.

It is understood that there are at least 510 human trafficking flows around the world, with more than 20 million victims of human trafficking. Take the UK as an example. In 2017 alone, 5,145 victims from different countries were discovered.

The number of people being trafficked is horrifying.

At the same time, many people expressed confusion:

Why are there still slaves? And how did these victims become slaves?

In fact, some clues to these issues can be found in the largest modern slavery case that was exposed in the UK a few years ago. At that time, as all eight suspects were captured by the police, their crimes gradually emerged...

According to the memory of a victim named Miroslaw Lehmann, he was killed in 2014 When I first got out of prison, I met the criminal suspect. According to his description, the scene at that time would probably look like this.

"Hey, man, do you want a high-paying job? I know a place abroad that not only pays more for less, but also includes food and housing."

"Just do it In a few years, you won’t have to worry about it for the rest of your life. I didn’t tell anyone about this good thing. I only told you because of my fate.”

“What? You said you don’t have money to buy a plane ticket?” It’s not a problem, I can cover it for you first, and then pay it back to me after the salary is paid.”

A conversation like this sounds ridiculous because it is too beautiful, and most people will not be easily fooled. But Miroslaw had just come out of prison and it was really difficult to find a job. The criminal suspect captured his heart at that time and kept tempting him with high salary.

In this way, Miroslaw finally followed the criminal suspect to the UK with the idea of ??giving it a try. But it was only after he arrived in the UK that he realized he had been deceived.

He did not get a high-paying job, and he even said with tears: "Life in prison is much better than this!"

It turned out that after Miroslaw arrived in the UK, he was strictly controlled and became many slaves a member of. There, many people who were deceived like him were crowded into a dilapidated house in the countryside.

Miroslaw said numbly during the interview: "There is no heating or hot water here. We can only sleep on the ground or on straw mats, covering ourselves with our own clothes to sleep..."

After Miroslaw found out that he had been deceived, he also thought about running away, but it was too late. Not only was he strictly controlled, but even the slightest hint of dissatisfaction would result in a severe beating.

At the same time, Miroslaw and others were forced to work all day according to the requirements of the traffickers. He does hard work almost all day long, such as decorating, painting, mowing lawns, etc. He has to work at least 12 to 13 hours a day.

What makes Miroslaw even more painful is that his salary is completely inversely proportional to his heavy labor. At the end of the day, he sometimes only gets 50p. Converted into RMB, his work only brought him less than 5 yuan in income.

As for his real wages, they fell into the hands of the human traffickers gang. Through human trafficking and exploitation, they extracted an estimated profit of more than two million dollars for themselves.

While criminals were buying luxury houses, driving luxury cars, and having fun, Miroslaw could only drag his exhausted body back to that shabby and crowded room.

After a tiring day, Miroslaw urgently needed a shower to wash away the smelly sweat, but there was obviously no such facility in the room. Forced to have no choice, he could only go to the canal to simply solve the bathing problem like everyone else.

In addition to Miroslaw, the victims who came out for interviews at that time also included Mariusz Rycaczewksi. He said the gangs barely gave him a break. He said: "Every day we have to spend 90 minutes to go to work. I pick vegetables in the rain."

Only by completing these arduous tasks can he get a meager reward. Even though those rewards are extremely low, they still don't belong to him. Because he will be charged for cigarettes, bad food, etc.

The criminal gang said it was a "huge debt owed by immigrants."

As a result, they can hardly have enough to eat and have completely become a tool for criminal gangs to make money. Faced with such severe oppression, other victims such as Miroslaw and Mariusz naturally thought of seeking help. But it was clear that they could not escape at all.

Once they arrive in the UK, their ID cards and other documents will be forcibly taken away. Even if you go out to work, you will be closely monitored and it will be difficult to find an opportunity to ask for help. Even if they find a rare opportunity, because they are Polish and do not know English, it is difficult to communicate with the outside world.

Anyone who tried to violently break through the blockade was beaten with bruises all over his body and threatened to be dragged into the forest and buried alive.

This case in the UK is actually just a microcosm of human trafficking in the world. Similar cases are still happening in other countries. If they were accidentally deceived into becoming slaves, there would be more than that waiting for them.

If someone accidentally falls into the trap and is detained as a slave, they will be roughly divided into three categories.

One of them is labor.

According to reports, hundreds of workers live on a remote island in Indonesia. They had to work long hours but could only eat very little rice every day. If they are thirsty, they can only drink dirty water. As for the sleeping place, it is a cage that can only be barely upright after sitting down.

For them, rest is an extremely luxurious thing.

These workers, mostly from Myanmar, thought they would have a decent job when they signed the agreement. But what they didn't expect was that they were forced to work 20 to 22 hours a day in order to earn a little money. Even that little money, sometimes they can't get it.

Usually when the ship owner is slightly unhappy, he takes it out on them. In the eyes of the shipowner, they are tools and slaves, but they are not human beings. Some people were beaten to disability, and some were beaten to death. In such an environment, some people would rather commit suicide by jumping into the sea than continue to be beaten. There are also some people who choose to live quietly, looking forward to rescue who doesn't know when it will come.

During the long wait and torture, they did not dare to get sick because they would not get treatment at all. But long hours of work and poor environment are eating away at their originally healthy bodies. This resulted in them falling ill one after another.

When a large number of people get sick, the ship owner will curse. If they encounter people who are seriously ill and can no longer work, ship owners will throw them into the sea to save medical expenses.

When they were rescued, many people were actually in despair and never dreamed that they would be able to wait for rescue. A laborer in his 30s who escaped from trouble said: "If Americans and Europeans eat these fish, they should remember us. Because at the bottom of the sea, the bodies of my dead companions are enough to pile up a small island."

In addition to becoming laborers, involuntary victims may also become sex workers.

In 2017, a special auction was held on the dark web. The "items" being auctioned were not calligraphy, paintings, or gems, but a beautiful young woman.

Her name is Chloe Ayling, she was originally a model and lived an ordinary and happy life. But from the moment she was kidnapped, she was forced to step into the darkness.

Judging from the photos at the auction, she was lying flat on the marble floor with a label specially placed on her belly. It contains some basic information about her: 19 years old, British model, Caucasian, 34D-25-35, starting bid of $300,000, global shipping, free shipping in Europe.

In addition, the purchase method, website address and brief information of the buyer are also noted on the note. After Chloe was auctioned, she heard some news through the kidnapper. It is said that they belong to an organization called "Black Death". The task of the members of the organization is to kidnap people from various places and then sell them to others to become sex workers.

Not only will these poor people be abused in every possible way by buyers, they will even be sold to others after they are no longer interested, and they will be forced to trade with many men every day. Then came another round of torture.

However, although Chloe was kidnapped, she narrowly escaped because she was the mother of a 2-year-old child. After extorting 50,000 euros from Chloe's agent, the kidnappers sent Chloe to the British Consulate. Because of this, he was caught by the police ambushing here.

Chloe is lucky, but many people are still like toys, being bought and sold and used as a tool to make money or vent their sexual desires. In the process, their bodies are often severely damaged. At this time, they will become the third type of human organ carriers in the eyes of human trafficking organizations.

Employers and human trafficking organizations will squeeze every last drop of value out of these slaves. It is understood that dead sex workers will be frozen by their employers in preparation for selling various organs that can still be used.

In addition to the familiar hearts, kidneys, etc., even hair and bones are within the scope of trading. Blood can be separated into plasma, red blood cells, platelets, etc. to treat patients on the operating table. The ligament can be scraped down into the injured person's knee.

If a man dies, his still viable sperm can also be used.

Because this allows women to get pregnant and give birth to children, and then sell the children to people who need children.

Even bones that may seem worthless to ordinary people are still profitable in their eyes. They will make tibias into flutes and sell them to Buddhists in Bhutan...

Seeing this, some people may say that these look terrible, but they are far removed from real life and are unnecessary. Too worried. But is this really the case?

Trafficking channels, be alert

Before that, let’s take a look at a table compiled based on data from the American dating software OkCupid.

This table shows that in the dating market, Asian women are particularly popular. And this also shows from one perspective that Asian women are at a higher risk of being kidnapped and trafficked than other women.

Seeing this, some people may say that it doesn’t matter, after all, our country is very safe. This is indeed true. According to the 2018 "Global Law and Order Report" released by Gallup, an American public opinion polling company, my country's security index ranks in the top ten.

But our national security does not mean that accidents will not happen. For this reason, it is still necessary to briefly understand the several ways in which illegal elements commit crimes to prepare for a rainy day. There are roughly three ways to do this.

One is cross-border migrant work.

The criminal suspect Miroslaw encountered above controlled him in this way. They are an organization that, in order to increase their success rate, usually squats at the entrance of Polish prisons so that they can lure innocent victims.

In addition, criminals will also target homeless people, alcoholics, etc. Such people have a strong desire for money and are easily persuaded. In one real case, a criminal gang even defrauded a man who attempted suicide. They first used high salaries to arouse the victims' hope for life, and then pulled the victims into another abyss.

Now that technology is developing rapidly, some criminals have begun to change their methods in order to improve efficiency. They will publish some false recruitment information online. These recruitment information have almost the same characteristics. They can easily earn hundreds of thousands a month, and they require low academic qualifications and no limit on work experience. It only takes a few years to save a substantial fortune, and buying a house in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou is no longer a dream.

As a result, some people who want to get rich suddenly will be deceived and fall into a trap.

The second is transnational marriage.

In life, there are often people who are not satisfied with the current development situation and want to go to developed countries to seek a better development environment. However, there are various restrictions on development in other countries. If you want to develop smoothly, it is best to find a way to get a green card. As a result, some criminals took advantage of the opportunity and said that they could use marriage to defraud green cards.

In order to enjoy the glory and wealth in developed countries, some women will be deceived, resulting in tragic endings.

The third is to travel abroad.

Generally speaking, if you go abroad with a regular travel agency and don’t run around by yourself, it is still very safe. But if some people come here even if they want to seek some excitement, they will be targeted by criminals.

For example, if someone goes to Thailand, they may go to some nightclubs where there is a mixed bag of transvestites. Then this is actually a gamble with your life, because Thailand also has another title - "Global Human Trafficking Transit Station."

Of course, this does not refer to just one country. In different countries, you may encounter dangers. Some people may ask, is it relatively safe if you just travel with a group or stay in a luxury hotel when traveling by yourself without a group?

Actually, this is really relative. Because women traveling alone are easily targeted by criminals.

In 2014, a 24-year-old Chinese girl Liu Jinni almost fell into despair when she traveled to Paris.

At that time, Liu Jinni specially booked a very prestigious luxury hotel for safety. In the middle of the night, she was woken up by a phone call from the hotel, saying that she was asked to go downstairs to the front desk to verify the information, but the reason for verifying the information was not told to her.

This made Liu Jinni instinctively feel that something was wrong, so she did not go down, but before long, there was a knock on her door. The voice on the phone just now rang at the door and asked her very seriously to go down and cooperate with the work as soon as possible.

Although Liu Jinni still grumbled a little, she felt that the environment she lived in was quite safe. It would not be a good idea if she really caused trouble due to incorrect information. So, when the person at the door left, she hesitated and went down in her pajamas.

Then, Liu Jinni saw the empty hotel front desk, the white van parked at the door, and two tall and muscular men. This made her suddenly wake up. In a panic, she walked around the corridor and hid in the back of the cleaning room.

Fortunately, it was just a near miss that time. Afterwards, after receiving a message from Liu Jinni asking for help, a friend who rushed over criticized her with lingering fear: "How can you trust people like this? In Paris, let alone a woman like you, even a grown man like me would not dare to lay down in the middle of the night. Lou, you will probably be killed!"

Later, Liu Jinni found out. Someone stole the hotel's check-in information, and she was already targeted when she came back from shopping in the mall on the day of the accident.

The United Nations has stated that the human trafficking industry is already the third largest international black industry after drugs and arms trading. Approximately 38.5 million people around the world are still in a state of "modern slavery" (forced labor, forced marriage, human trafficking, etc.).

There is human trafficking, and naturally there are activities to combat human trafficking.

In July 2010, the United Nations Global Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking was adopted at the United Nations General Assembly. In 2018, my country established the National Immigration Administration to crack down on illegal immigration...

In addition to the government's unremitting efforts to maintain people's safety, individuals should also be vigilant and always put safety first in their hearts.