Displaying items by tag: South Asia

Over 700 people in one South Asian district were brought to freedom from trafficking by IJM-trained police at the end of 2022. The runup to a new year is the riskiest time for low-income workers. As industries begin recruiting people for manual labour, human traffickers deceive people with false job offers and trap them in slavery. But police officers intercepted 65 traffickers at train and bus stations as they waited to transport families to abusive businesses. Also, a government initiative brought freedom to over 1,400 children last month when police conducted an expert sweep of businesses to find children forced to work in bonded labour and hundreds more in other dangerous conditions. The authorities also arrested hundreds of suspected abusers.

In a South Asian country, approximately 15,000 women and children are trafficked each year with 1,000 being rescued. Exploitation happens frequently and many rituals and practices are hidden from sight. Although there is a minimum age for marriage, it is still common practice for children to be married off as young as twelve. A ritual where menstruating women are expected to live in a small hut away from their families for the duration is still widely practised despite being difficult for women. Child labour is still common, and many children still work in the entertainment sector, brick factories and dance bars. The sex industry has gone underground but still exists with girls that have been tricked into working. Migrant workers have left their families in search of better incomes and find themselves locked into physical labour contracts, or working as housemaids in homes where they are often abused.

One of the root causes of poverty in Asia is corruption that diverts resources from the poor to the rich in a culture of bribes. Corruption and bribery are two sides of the same coin. Another root cause of Asian poverty is recurring natural disasters - floods, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, landslides, etc. ‘Asian countries are mostly dependent upon agriculture, forestry and tourism. All can all be affected by natural disasters. Education is affected by poverty because poor people stop going to school to work; leaving them without literacy and numeracy skills needed for a career. Poor people tend to believe not only that they are poor, but that they will remain poor, leading to psychological poverty - an unhealthy frame of mind that is usually self-inflicted. Spiritual poverty occurs when people’s incompleteness and dependency overwhelms them. In their brokenness they feel that something is wrong within themselves. They need God. Ask God to brood over and touch the impoverished Asian.

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he gave us the command to make disciples among all nations. Two thousand years later, there are still hundreds of unengaged, unreached people groups throughout the world. The South Asia project trains and supports pastors living closest to those unreached groups in South Asia - pastors who have committed to go and reach them with the Gospel. These indigenous pastors also receive small business training, so they will not become dependent on the North American church. In restricted countries, operating a small business is one way to open doors for the Gospel.

Praise God for a recent conviction in a South Asia sex trafficking case from 2015. The International Justice Mission supported local authorities after they rescued a minor girl and arrested a trafficker. The police, judge and prosecutors were all sensitive to the victim throughout the trial and remained focused on securing justice - leading to a strong ten-year sentence. IJM said, ‘We are so grateful for compassionate authorities helping protect thousands of girls from being abused’.

Praise God for a local public prosecutor who has just secured her 100th conviction against perpetrators of child abuse. IJM has been honoured to work closely with this courageous woman over the last five years. It is grateful to God for leaders like her, who are stepping up to protect children every day, and are very encouraged by her enduring compassion and pursuit of justice. Please continue to pray for this prosecutor's success and safety.

Praise God for all 88 children rescued during Operation Smile in South Asia. This was a police campaign focused on finding missing children and rescuing child labourers. IJM is so grateful for the tireless work of the authorities. Please pray for the children’s aftercare and safety, and that the government can reunite them with their parents, if safe. Also praise God for a significant conviction in Kenya of a police officer who shot a fisherman and then accused two bystanders of a crime to keep them quiet about the murder. It took five years to complete the trial. Please pray that the news of this conviction would be heard far and wide, so that police would know there is accountability under the law and any abuse of defenseless citizens will result in prosecution.

Praise God for the successful rescue of two teenage girls from a small-town brothel in South Asia. A partner NGO of International Justice Mission (IJM) discovered this case and worked with local police, while IJM helped provide security and legal advice. Police also arrested one man and one woman who were selling the girls for sex in the brothel.

Louisiana and Mississippi were hit by two hurricanes and two tropical storms already this year; before recovering they are being hit again, by Hurricane Zeta, which is intensifying into a stronger-category storm as it moves north. Pray for five million residents preparing for the eye of the storm and the repair of damaged voting sites with the election days away. Across Indonesia high tides caused by the La Nina phenomenon in the Pacific has caused dozens of landslides and widespread flooding across most of 17,000 islands where millions of people live who are also bracing for further monsoon floods. Pray for emergency workers and residents, already battling the new coronavirus. May God assist them in responding to crises. A landslide at a coal mine on Sumatra killed 11 miners. After heavy rainfall over Vietnam a landslide killed 14 at an army barracks, burying many more. Typhoon Molave has now made landfall in Vietnam. 

Recently the Ghana police, working with the department of social welfare and IJM, rescued nine children and arrested five suspects. We are thankful to the resilient and brave team who made this rescue possible. Please pray for further Ghana rescues. Four Filipino children were also rescued thanks to another multi-agency effort led by the Philippines Women and Children Centre. One suspect, believed to be a child’s relative, was arrested. Finally in South Asia ten people, including children, were rescued from bonded labour at a brick kiln.