As millions of Ukrainians, mostly women and children, flee westward some are sounding the alarm that criminal organisations are looking to exploit refugees and traffic them into prostitution, the drugs trade, and possibly worse.
Shirin Tinnesand, refugee and migration coordinator at the NGO Wadi said that Ukrainian refugees were at risk of being preyed upon by criminals saying, “they are at risk of being exposed to human trafficking, prostitution, organ donation. Only imagination sets the limits.”
According to Tinnesand, video footage seen by her organisation from the main train station in Krakow, Poland appears to show a man approaching Ukrainian women and offering them free food and accommodation for a year if they board a “special bus” to Germany, broadcaster SVT reports.
Arrests in Germany, Slovakia for Human Trafficking; Migrants Forced to Work off Debt in Brothels, Nail Salons https://t.co/zvACbK7SbX
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 31, 2021
“We can’t say that he’s a trafficker, but that’s often how they work, that they come to collection areas and strategically seek out single women, young women,” Tinnesand said and noted that many wear the costume of humanitarian workers to deceive and operate undetected.
“It is a fact that people smugglers pretend to be volunteers who go to places where it is chaotic and where there is no clear organization and the more people who come, the more inconspicuous it becomes and with it easier for smugglers and criminal organizations to operate,” Tinnesand said.
In Germany, there have been reports of similar incidents in which men approach women and children and offer them cash to “stay” with them, with one Danish volunteer claiming that there have been several reports on the encrypted messaging app Telegram of traffickers preying on women and children travelling by themselves.
Austria Busts Romanian Migrant Sex Trafficking Ring that Lured at Least 20 Women https://t.co/wo36Pc4Ypa
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 2, 2021
Sex trafficking operations in Europe are not a new phenomenon and has affected many asylum seekers, some of which have been brought to Europe by people trafficking network, often without being told they would become prostitutes.
In Italy, a 2017 report claimed that within a period of just three years, sex trafficking of migrants to Italy increased by 600 per cent, with most of the victims coming from Nigeria, and some as young as 13.
Earlier this year, Spanish authorities broke up a major sex trafficking ring involving Chinese women as victims, arresting 63 people operating the network in two Spanish cities.
Democrat Super PACs are shelling out millions in an effort to stop Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo in Nevada. Democrat donors have contributed to numerous newly registered PACs that have been attacking the Clark County Sheriff.
Lombardo, who recently received a Trump endorsement, leads the GOP primary field by about 20 points, according to a recent poll.
“As Governor, Joe will fiercely Protect our under-siege Second Amendment, Oppose Sanctuary Cities, Support our Law Enforcement, Veto any Liberal Tax Increase, Protect Life, and Secure our Elections,” former President Trump wrote in an endorsement statement. “Joe Lombardo is the leader Nevada needs, and he has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Governor!”
NEW!
President Donald J. Trump announces his endorsement of Joe Lombardo for Governor of Nevada pic.twitter.com/5tBkGNVM79
Since Trump announced his endorsement of Joe Lombardo in late April, Democrats have poured millions into newly registered super PACs geared towards attack campaigns. One example would be the “Stronger Nevada” PAC, has pledged to spend $2.1 million on Lombardo down the stretch of the primary campaign.
Stronger Nevada has no social media presence or website but is reportedly linked to the Democrat Governors Association, according to Breitbart News. In addition, the PAC’s staff includes two Democratic party operatives in Andrew Whalen and Jillian Edelman.
Another PAC, “Patriot Freedom Fund”, is run by the husband of progressive Nevada Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui. Patriot Freedom Fund sends mailers to Nevada Republicans falsely accusing Joe Lombardo of being soft on the Second Amendment, Breitbart News reported.
Both PACs were registered with Nevada’s Secretary of State after the first quarter fundraising deadline, which means their financial information will not be revealed until after the election.
Nevada GOP Chairman Michael J. McDonald condemned state Democrats for using “sleazy, shady stunts to sow chaos in our Republican primary.”
“Truman Fleming is the husband of the biggest advocate for gun control in the legislature,” McDonald said. “If Assemblywoman Jauregui was aware of this attack and gave her husband her blessing, she’s proven to no longer be fit to serve in the legislature.”
Nevada Governor Brian Sisolak, a Democrat, is seeking his second term in November.
The state has voted for the Democratic candidate in presidential elections since 2008, when Barrack Obama flipped the state. That may soon change, however, as Donald Trump leads Joe Biden by 10 in a hypothetical 2020 rematch, according to a recent poll.
Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza plans to use the city’s federal COVID-19 relief funds for racial reparations. On Friday, the mayor signed a spending plan for $124 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding that will pave the way for the city to invest tens of millions of dollars into housing and infrastructure projects. Elorza has not ruled out direct payments for eligible individuals, which would include black Americans, as well as those who can prove Native American heritage.
“As a housing crisis persists across the state, the city is allocating $30.7 million to the issue, $17 million of which will go toward developing affordable units,” reported The Providence Journal. “The remainder of the category will be spent on rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, emergency housing, a home repair program and other initiatives.”
During a news conference on Friday, Esparza said spending decisions were driven by public input sought by the city’s COVID-19 Recovery and Resiliency Task Force, which was commissioned in January.
Addressing housing and homelessness was identified as a top priority by Providence respondents in a survey asking how American Rescue Plan funds should be spent, according to the city government. Input from “residents who participated in community meetings” was also weighed heavily.
Esparza justifies his city’s use of American Rescue Plan funds — which were allocated to states and municipalities by the federal government in order to deal with the economic fallout of pandemic lockdowns — by claiming the money is going to communities that were “hardest hit” by the virus. The “hardest hit” communities, according to the Providence city government, are populated by African Americans.
“We made it a point to go to those hardest hit neighborhoods and hardest hit communities and get an over-representative sample from those folks as well,” the mayor said. “But it still did not change the fundamental reality that regardless of where you are throughout the city, we have the same priorities.”
$10 million of the $124 million spending package will be going towards a racial reparations program in Providence. A committee will decide how exactly the funds will be spent, but the mayor has not ruled out direct payments to eligible recipients.
A 13-member panel has been tasked with examining reparation work being done in other municipalities and creating recommendations for ways the city can distribute the funds. NAACP Providence President Jim Vincent is among those already tapped to serve on the board, Elorza said.
“While we know the city alone cannot repair the full scope of harm, today’s action brings us another step closer to addressing the disparities our African heritage and Indigenous residents continue to face,” the mayor said in a written statement.
The Providence city government commissioned the reparations committee in 2020.
Orange County, California – Huntington Beach jewelry store employees on Sunday repelled smash-and-grab thieves with their own bare fists.
Surveillance footage shows thieves armed with hammers entering Princess Bride Diamonds at the Bella Terra mall at about noon.
The brave employees jumped into action immediately after one of the hooded thieves smashed a display case with a hammer and began punching and kicking the robbers.
Two of the employees are a brother and sister who work for the family business, KTLA 5 reported.
One of the female employees hit a robber over the head with a chair.
The thieves were stunned and eventually forced to retreat.
It is unclear if they took off with any stolen merchandise.
KTLA 5 interviewed the jewelry store employees after the melee.
“At some point while I was fighting them, one of them actually hit me in the head with a hammer, on the side of my left temple, but I didn’t even register it until after they left because there was so much like adrenaline going on,” employee Dallas Baca said.