EU counts tens of thousands of human trafficking victims
The EU registered 30,146 victims of human trafficking from 2010 to 2012, according to a European Commission report out on Friday 17 October. The vast majority were trafficked for sexual exploitation, with women and children suffering the most. The latest trends offer a sobering glimpse into a crime that is thought to be significantly wider spread. ‘We do not claim to have measured the full extent of trafficking,’ said EU commissioner for home affairs Cecilia Malmstrom, who presented the report to mark the eighth EU anti-trafficking day. The data, compiled by the EU’s statistical office Eurostat, comes from national authorities and also notes it ‘does not aspire to measure the full extent of the phenomenon’.However it estimates that over 1,000 children were trafficked for sexual exploitation. Around 80% of the victims were women of which 95% were also trafficked for sex. Others, mostly male, were enslaved for labour
Ukraine: Amnesty deplores abuses by both sides
Human rights group Amnesty International says there is evidence of atrocities committed by both warring sides in eastern Ukraine, but not on the scale reported by Russia. It said ‘strong evidence’ implicated government forces in the killing of four men near rebel-held Donetsk. When the bodies were discovered Russian media spoke of ‘mass graves’ there. Meanwhile a huge blast has rocked part of Donetsk, as clashes continue despite a truce agreed on 5 September. ‘There is no doubt that summary killings and atrocities are being committed by both pro-Russian separatists and pro-Kiev forces, but it is difficult to get an accurate sense of the scale of these abuses,’ said Amnesty's Europe and Central Asia director John Dalhuisen. In a new report, Amnesty urged both sides to investigate such killings and other abuses thoroughly, because some had been ‘deliberately misrecorded’.
USA: Students embrace evangelism challenge
College students across the United States were joined by believers of all ages as they participated in Engage24, a one-on-one evangelism initiative that challenged Christians to share the Gospel with at least one person in a 24-hour time period. October 14 marked this observance on several college campuses this year and saw participation expand to churches. When the development of Engage24 began they encouraged college students to share their faith with a creative approach. ‘Instead of concentrating on how many people came to Christ on one particular day, we wanted to see how many college students would share their faith on that particular day. And if we did that first, then we could ultimately accomplish the goal of seeing people come to Christ.’ They rely heavily on Twitter to track results and read reports from students who had the opportunity to share the Gospel during the day. See also
North Korea Jeffrey Fowle released
In September you were asked to pray for Jeffrey Fowle, the American who was detained by the North Korean authorities after leaving a Bible in his hotel room. CNN has reported his release this week. He was picked up by an American government plane on Tuesday and is now back in the US. It was not clear from the report how the release came about, but a senior State Department official confirmed to CNN that the North Korean authorities had indeed let him go. Last month Fowle told the network that he was due to go on trial soon and had pleaded with the US for help to secure his release along with two other Christians in prison with him
