By Ivan Cairo
From Caribbean Net News:
PARAMARIBO, Suriname- Police in Suriname have arrested and subsequently detained a Korean national (49) on suspicion of human trafficking, a prosecutor has confirmed. The suspect was the captain on a fishing boat with four Vietnamese fishermen on board. The arrest came after one of the crew members committed suicide by hanging, to escape his ordeal.
Preliminary investigations have revealed, said prosecutor Garcia Paragsingh, that the four Vietnamese nationals working on the boat, were forced to hard labour on the vessel without payment, proper medical care and food. For over a two year period, two of ill-treated crew members did not receive payment for their work, while the remaining two fishermen told police that for over one year they did not receive salaries and were not allowed to leave the boat.
The captain, a Korean national, allegedly refused to allow them to see a doctor when they became sick, while they were forced to work long hours under very poor conditions even when they were physically unable to do so. According to police sources, the worker who committed suicide apparently got sick and asked to be taken to shore to seek medical treatment. After his requests were rejected by the captain, the man hung himself.
The suspected trafficker was arrested by officers of the Trafficking in Persons Unit of the Suriname Police Force (KPS) said police spokeswoman Maritha Ritfeld-Asontoe. According to the spokeswoman, the captain refused to pay salaries, telling his crew that there was no money.
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