Australian Scientology members Fight Human Trafficking

Scientology volunteers demand effective action to knock out modern slave trade. Australia is the destination country for victims trafficked from East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe, says U.S. State Department.

Scientology Volunteers in Sydney circulated a petition at Sydney Town Hall November 16, calling for mandatory human rights education in Australia to eliminate human rights abuses. One of the worst abuses is the criminal practice of human trafficking in the country. As many as 27 million are enslaved in the world today according to the United Nations, earning perpetrators upwards of $34 billion Australian annually. Some estimate half of those trafficked come from Asia-Pacific and that at least half of all victims are children.

According to the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report for 2009, despite major strides by law enforcement, Australia is the destination country for many of the victims trafficked from East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe, particularly the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand.

Members of the Church of Scientology of Sydney held Monday’s petition signing because they believe Australians would never stand for human trafficking and other human rights abuses in their country if they knew of it.

Scientology Churches around the world sponsor the largest non-governmental information campaign the world over, which has made the Universal Declaration of Human Rights known to more than 900,000 people through public service announcements, booklets and petition drives.

For more information about the Church of Scientology human rights initiative visit the Scientology web site at www.scientology.org.