June 18, 2008
BANGKOK – The criminal court on Tuesday sentenced a 63-year-old woman to 14 years in prison for trafficking young women to Italy.
Jomsri Srisam-aung from the northeast lured two women in their 20s and 30s from her hometown with the promise of work in her daughter's restaurant, a statement from the Fight Against Child Exploitation (FACE) said.
But when the two women arrived in Italy via France in 2005, they were told no jobs were available at the restaurant and they had to work as prostitutes to repay the money Jomsri lent to them to travel to Europe.
The two victims were rescued by Italian police in 2006 and sent home.
"Jomsri was sentenced to 14 years in prison," a court official told AFP. "The suspect has many similar cases awaiting trial and sentencing."
The United Nations has said that about 2.5 million people, mostly women and children, are being trafficked around the world at any given time for purposes such as forced labour and sexual exploitation.
