Trafficked:An international investigation
Investigation

Trafficked:An international investigation

A global human trafficking syndicate has exploited flaws in Australian border security and the immigration system that allowed it to run a national illegal sex racket.

15stories
Trafficked:Women shunted ‘like cattle’ around Australia for sex work
Exclusive

Trafficked:Women shunted ‘like cattle’ around Australia for sex work

An international investigation has revealed the identity of the Australia-based Mr Big running a human trafficking ring and an illegal sex racket.

  • byNick McKenzie,Amelia Ballinger andJoel Tozer
‘I begged him for my life. I cried begging him to open the door’

‘I begged him for my life. I cried begging him to open the door’

Karen was smuggled into Australia from South Korea for sex work,and was sent to a brothel where she was made to work up to 25 hours in a row. She narrowly escaped with her life.

  • byNick McKenzie
‘It’s easy’:Migration agents offering fake visas for $500 a month
Exclusive

‘It’s easy’:Migration agents offering fake visas for $500 a month

Undercover recordings expose flaws in the immigration system despite years of warnings to the federal government.

  • byNick McKenzie,Amelia Ballinger andWing Kuang
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Immigration taskforce to hit visa criminals after trafficking investigation
Exclusive

Immigration taskforce to hit visa criminals after trafficking investigation

A new taskforce will target criminals exploiting the migration system after revelations of widespread visa rorting,foreign worker exploitation and drug crime.

  • byNick McKenzie
‘Repulsive abuses of human rights’:Alleged human trafficking kingpin under investigation

‘Repulsive abuses of human rights’:Alleged human trafficking kingpin under investigation

Binjun Xie,the alleged boss of a human trafficking ring,is now the focus of an investigation by Australian law enforcement agencies and facing deportation.

  • byLisa Visentin andLachlan Abbott
Labour trafficking is leading to a growing underclass of undocumented workers
Opinion

Labour trafficking is leading to a growing underclass of undocumented workers

Australia needs to do more to stop undocumented workers being exploited by organised crime. We cannot sweep the problem under the carpet.

  • byAbul Rizvi
Gaps in migration system need to be quickly plugged
Editorial

Gaps in migration system need to be quickly plugged

Failures of the Immigration and Home Affairs departments have allowed a crime boss to enter and operate in Australia after his release from jail in Britain.

  • The Herald's View
Laws doing little to tackle visa rorts
Editorial

Laws doing little to tackle visa rorts

While the Home Affairs Department says legislation exists to prevent worker exploitation,it is clear the measures are either not fit for purpose or are not being applied with the rigour required.

  • The Age's View
Australia signs deal to counter scourge of human trafficking

Australia signs deal to counter scourge of human trafficking

Human trafficking has been a long-standing stain on Thailand,with victims including children,Burmese migrants and Thai nationals.

  • byChris Barrett
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Watchdog granted licence to a business used by ‘money launderers’
Exclusive

Watchdog granted licence to a business used by ‘money launderers’

The company got a green light to move money into and out of Australia despite intelligence warnings and the prosecution of a related business in New Zealand.

  • byNick McKenzie andAmelia Ballinger
Australian colleges identified in allegedly helping women enter country to work in sex industry

Australian colleges identified in allegedly helping women enter country to work in sex industry

More than a dozen education providers have been identified as allegedly “corrupt” by investigators probing the sex industry.

  • byNick McKenzie
‘Full power’:How Brazilian criminals set up an Australian sex-trafficking business
Exclusive

‘Full power’:How Brazilian criminals set up an Australian sex-trafficking business

A court case in South America has revealed how women are smuggled into Australia as part of an elaborate international sex-trafficking ring.

  • byNick McKenzie
The migration agent and the Liberal ministers:How one man gamed Australia’s visa system

The migration agent and the Liberal ministers:How one man gamed Australia’s visa system

A company run by Jack Ta,who boasted of “cosy” dinners with former Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton,has been used by more than a dozen drug offenders to remain in Australia on bogus asylum seeker claims.

  • byNick McKenzie andAmelia Ballinger
‘A state of disrepair’:Home affairs minister slams immigration system
Exclusive

‘A state of disrepair’:Home affairs minister slams immigration system

Clare O’Neil says criminals are getting into Australia as corrupt agents,and education institutions help traffic sex slaves and drugs. But legitimate workers can’t find their way through a broken system.

  • byNick McKenzie andAmelia Ballinger
‘Industrial scale’ visa scams creating underclass of workers open to exploitation
Exclusive

‘Industrial scale’ visa scams creating underclass of workers open to exploitation

Up to 100,000 workers have entered Australia using false claims,fuelling fears about illicit labour as the government launches a review of the migration system.

  • byDavid Crowe
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