Korean Prostitutes Freed in Sydney
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The Korea Times
03-07-2008 17:32
Australian police said Friday that it rescued 10 Korean women who were forced to work at a Sydney brothel by a sex slavery syndicate that lured them to Australia with promises of legitimate jobs.
A total of five people including a Korean national were arrested early Friday and charged with multiple offenses related to sex trafficking, Australian Federal Police and the Immigration Department said in a joint statement.
The business market volume is estimated at more than $2.8 million a year, according to police.
The victims, who were rescued by police Thursday, were receiving counseling and government support, said an immigration official.
The official said the government did not decide whether the Koreans would remain there as prosecution witnesses.
Police said the syndicate recruited women in Korea to work as prostitutes but deceived them about the work conditions and then organized their work visas.
Police Assistant Commissioner Tim Morris told reporters that the victims had agreed to work in the Australian sex industry “under more reasonable conditions.''
The syndicate members took the women's passports upon arrival and made them work in a legal syndicate-owned brothel for up to 20 hours a day, police said.
pss@koreatimes.co.kr
