Indonesian maid Erwiana was severely abused while working as a domestic helper in Hong Kong. Doctors found she had a swollen brain from repeated blows to the head, several broken teeth, a broken nose, and infected wounds on her hands and feet. Around 330,000 foreigners work as domestic helpers in Hong Kong, and Amnesty International says thousands from Indonesia are deceived by brokers who disregard their welfare. Erwiana agreed to pay off a $2,320 recruitment fee through monthly wage deductions, and Amnesty says her case reflects widespread issues like underpayment, restrictions on movement, illegal recruitment fees, and lack of access to justice faced by many migrant domestic workers.

1. Brandy Tamplain
1/19/2014
Hong Kong's Domestic
Worker Abuse
Indonesian maid tells her story of violence

2. Erwiana said her wounds are the product of seven months of
abuse that she suffered while "working" as a domestic helper.
Doctors at Amel Sehat Islamic Hospital say
she is suffering from swelling of the brain
from repeated blows to the head. She also
has several broken teeth, a broken nose
and her hands and feet are brown and
swollen with cellulitis - an infection of the
skin that resulted from her long-untreated
wounds.

3. Recruited
 About 330,000 foreigners
work as domestic helpers in
Hong Kong. London-based
rights group Amnesty
International said
thousands like Erwiana
from Indonesia are being
tricked into working in Hong
Kong by brokers and
agencies with blatant
disregard for their clients'
welfare
 Erwiana was recruited in
Indonesia by PT Graha
Ayukarsa, with whom she
said she agreed to have
$328 deducted from her
$505 monthly wage, until a
$2,320 recruitment fee was
paid off.

4. Amnesty International
Asia-Pacific
 Robert Godden, Amnesty's AsiaPacific coordinator:
"actually, when you look into the
specifics…many of the factors
leading to the abuse can be
applied to thousands of migrant
domestic workers:
underpayment, the employer didn't
pay the minimum wage; restrictions
on movement; you can see that
she was heavily indebted by the
illegal recruitment fees charged by
the agency; and you can see that
she didn't know how to access
justice.“
 Amnesty International is an
organization/ global movement
with more than 3 million
supporters, members and
activists in over 150 countries
and territories who campaign to
end grave abuses of human
rights.
 http://www.amnesty.org/en

5. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/01/hong-kong-domesticworker-abuse-20141199347455882.html
http://www.amnesty.org/en
Chapter 3 Trafficking Human Subjects in the Malay Worlds, 1850-1910
Global Smuggling (K&K text)

6. Bitcoins: Part 1
What is the Bitcoin?

7. Bitcoins
 Bitcoins are units of currency in the form of software code that
are generated, transmitted, and stored digitally. They combine
the power of Gold, the U.S. Dollar, and PayPal.
 Unlike other virtual forms of currency (PayPal etc.), its value is
not backed by a hard currency such as the dollar and its value is
determined by the demand for Bitcoins.
 Some are calling it “the first decentralized digital currency.”
While other’s argue that Bitcoins are only useful to criminals.
 Terror financing is defined as “the financial support, in any
form, of terrorism or of those who engage in terrorism.”
(Botha, 2006)
 Financial experts agree that the financing of terror can occur
anywhere in the world, whether or not it has a complex financial
system in place. (Basdeo, 2011) Such as Africa, in which as
much as 70% of the population does not have access to a
formal banking system. (Smith, 2013)
 This reaches out to the World Wide Web. (Fagen, 2013)

8. Bitcoins as Currency
 1 BTC = $818.12 USD *OR* €602.83 EUR
 Online programs are used to “purchase” Bitcoins and they
are stored in electronic wallets (untethered to any
bank/financial institution or country)
 In September of 2013, digital currency worth $27m (€ 20m)
was seized from an anonymous online black market called
the Silk Road (See update below.)
 Authorities say the Silk Road is conduit for purchases of
drugs and computer hacking services – even a place where
assassins and professional forgers may have advertised.
 It was closed after FBI agents took control of its server and
arrested the man they say was its founder in San Francisco.

9. Bitcoins
 According to the F.B.I. fraud, forgery, kidnapping, money
laundering, murder-for-hire, human sex
trafficking, poaching, and numerous other criminal activities
are considered among the primary threats from digital
currency.
 E.J. Fagan of Global Financial Integrity, a group that studies
illicit financial flows, argues that Bitcoin allows criminals to
conduct business without going through intermediaries.
(Fagan, 2013)
 The danger of facilitating peer-to-peer transactions makes
these heinous crimes much more difficult to track.
 The 9/11hijackers were successful in part because their
financial transactions were small, and fell below the reporting
threshold and did not arouse suspicions.
 Due to the nature of Bitcoins, they pose a similar threat.

10. Bitcoins
 Next week:
 Bitcoins are a threatening tool in Africa’s violent and crimeridden culture.
 James Smith, Professor of African and Development Studies
at University of Edinburg says that the Bitcoin is fueling
Africa’s next banking revolution.
 News reports from Africa

11. References
 http://www.gfintegrity.org/content/view/662/72/
 http://ivn.us/2014/01/13/bitcoin-investigated-around-worldpotential-criminal-activity/
 http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/16/223293
91-30000-bitcoin-forfeiture-in-silk-road-case-is-biggest-everprosecutors-say?lite
 http://theconversation.com/bitcoin-fuels-africas-bankingrevolution-16044