Gardaí visit nail bars and fast food outlets in anti-exploitation operation – The Irish Times

Gardaí visited nail bars, fast food outlets and agricultural businesses as part of an operation to identify foreign nationals brought into the Republic for the purpose of economic exploitation.

Women working in prostitution were also interviewed during the week-long operation and provided with information and advice.

A high visibility police presence has been established at train stations, Dublin Port and airports to reach exploited vulnerable people. Gardaí were trying to identify people arriving in the country or being moved for the purpose of forced labor or the sex market for sale.

The Irish operation, which was part of a wider week of global police action, focused on reaching vulnerable people and victims rather than executing search warrants or the arrest of the perpetrators. The operation focused on mafia-type, ethnic and family-based criminal organizations.

Gardaí are understood to have visited a number of premises – including in Dublin, Clare and Limerick – looking for obvious signs of labor exploitation. These included foreign workers who could not produce their identity documents because they were held by others who had control of them.

Superintendent Derek Maguire of the Garda National Protective Services Office said the coordinated operation, led by Europol, from June 3 to 9, demonstrated the capability of the Garda and police forces from more than 40 other countries “to combat organized crime gangs that target criminals.” the most vulnerable in our society.

He said: “We are committed to supporting victims of human trafficking and bringing to justice those who intend to exploit human beings for personal gain. »

The Garda operation involved members of the Human Trafficking Investigation and Coordination Unit being present at Dublin, Cork and Shannon Airports, Connolly Station in Dublin and Dublin Port to identify d possible victims of trafficking and exploitation and raise awareness.

( Human trafficking becoming ‘more prevalent’ in Ireland, says Depaul chief )

Gardaí – including those from the Garda Protective Services Bureau and National Immigration Bureau, as well as officials from the Workplace Relations Commission – visited premises in Dublin, Clare and Limerick.

( Sex workers in Belgium to receive pension contributions and maternity leave as part of labor reform )

“A number of potential victims of human trafficking were interviewed at the scene,” the Garda said in a statement. “A number of women have been identified as working in the sex industry and all have been provided with information about support organisations.”

While some other European police forces – notably those in Nigeria, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Brazil and Colombia – have uncovered extreme cases of exploitation, the Garda has not detected the same types of cases.

In Hungary, for example, police arrested a couple who sold their children to locals for sex, forced them to beg on the street, beat them and tied them up in a room.

In Laos, a Chinese interpreter tricked 14 Vietnamese nationals into working on online financial scams by promising them high-paying jobs.

As part of the operation, some 219 suspects were arrested, mostly across Europe, with 1,221 adult victims and 153 child victims assisted. Some 363 documents were also seized and 276 investigations were opened.