- The Economist: Death of a mockingbird: “Toshiro Igari, a former prosecutor who worked on cases against the yakuza, Japan’s mafia, was found dead in August. His death was ruled a suicide. But Jake Adelstein, an American journalist who specialises on yakuza activities, suspects murder….As in few other countries, the business of Japan’s criminal gangs is woven densely into the life of the country, its economy, government and society… But there is a deeper and uglier dimension lying beneath the surface, profiting by human-trafficking, extortion and the trade in hard drugs. It can be exceedingly violent.”Read Jake Adelstein’s essay on Igari’s passing here.
- Newsweek: Cambodia no longer a pedophile’s haven: “Among the 141 arrests for “debauchery” and “indecent acts” in Cambodia since 2003, only 37 of the suspects were Cambodian and just 19 were men from other Asian countries, according to APLE. And yet, Western men represent only a minuscule fraction of the population in Cambodia that is sexually exploiting children. According to a report released last month by the juvenile-protection NGO, ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Abuse and Trafficking), the vast majority of former child sex workers say their clients were local men.”
- France 24: Hong Kong: capital of domestic slavery