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Sri Lanka shuts down pioneer e-commerce sex service
Sunday, 23 April 2006 - 11:39 PM SL Time
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Sri Lanka`s immigration authorities have closed an internet-based commercial sex service run by foreign nationals, in the first such operation, officials said.
The service run by persons of Ukrainian origin, and solicited clients via the website www.bananaescort.net, ended on April 12, after just two months of operations when sleuths from the Department of Immigration and Emigration busted the operation.
Commercial sex is illegal in Sri Lanka, but there is a well-entrenched industry which operates with little fanfare and the occasional police raid.
The up market niche of the industry, which use foreign sex-workers, has operations run by foreigners as well as locals.
Bananaescort.net had also placed an advertisement in the tourist publication, Explore Sri Lanka, which showed a part of a scantily-clad young Caucasian woman, together with a mobile phone number and web address.
'We had to track them for several days before we found where they were operating from,' says Immigration Officer Upali Kannangara who was part of the investigation team.
The service operated with the girls going out to clients who were booked mainly in city hotels where clients paid around US$100 for two hours of sex.
Under Sri Lanka`s immigration laws, visas can be revoked without assigning a reason.
The foreign nationals who operated the net-based sex service were on tourist visas, and had no work permits in addition to engaging in an illegal activity.
'Foreigners are welcome in this country, but they are not entitled to do illegal activities, illegal jobs or engage in antisocial activities,' says Controller of Immigration P B Abeykoon.
'We acted on a public complaint. When the public comes to know that foreigners are doing illegal activities, they can complain to me and we will take action.' Immigration sleuth eventually tracked the girls to a house in Kynsey Road, Borella, a suburb in Colombo.
'We found six girls and one man,' says Immigration Officer Amitha Perera. 'We arrested them and took them to our detention camp. They were deported on April 18th and their passports blacklisted.'
A 25 year-old Ukrainian born woman who went by the alias `Kelly` appeared to be the `Madam` who masterminded operation, while the man, Armen appeared to be her assistant.
Both had entered the country on Israeli passports, but they also had Ukrainian passports.
`Kelly` whose real name was Anna, had a Ukrainian passport issued as Ganna, while the birth date of the male accomplice`s two passports were different.
Visa racket
Earlier in March, immigration sleuths had arrested and deported another Ukranian national, Svitlana, who went by the alias of `Maggie`.
She had been in Sri Lanka for at least five years.
When immigration officers raided her apartment in Wellawatte they found three girls and one male assistant.
Other persons are known to have been in Sri Lanka for more than ten years, running call-girl services.
A foreigner can come to Sri Lanka on three months visa and extend it by the expedient of going to the Maldives or India and coming back.
Some foreign sex workers also accompany clients to Maldivian resorts and come back to the country.
'Some people have also married Sri Lankan citizens,' says Immigration Officer K Jeyaratnam. 'They are abusing the facility of spouse visas.'
Macro issue
Thousands of young girls from the former Soviet republics started to go abroad to Western European, Middle Eastern and even Asian countries like Sri Lanka after years of economic mis-management resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Russian Ruble crashed shortly after the political collapse due to excessive money printing and high domestic inflation resulting in a massive fall in living standards.
The simultaneous rise of crime and the so-called Russian mafia has spurred the export of commercial sex.
Though most Sri Lankan girls go abroad to work as housemaids for less than US$100 a month, some are engaged as sex-workers in the Middle East and even in Singapore.
Several hundred Chinese and Thai girls are also engaged in commercial sex services in Colombo.
Charges for Chinese girls are less than half the rates of Caucasian girls coming from Eastern European and Central Asian Republics.
Salaries in Asian countries are much lower than even the ex-Soviet republics and China also has an undervalued exchange rate.
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AnuD
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23 Apr 2006 16:44:38 GMT Report for Abuse
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It took months mean too long. Authorities were not vigilent.
They opened such a service in Sri Lanka means, SL culture has gone down the drain.
I don't know all these higher authorities only concerned about money aand nothing else.
They should remember one day their loved ones also may become victims to these criminals. |
tarquin
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23 Apr 2006 16:51:11 GMT Report for Abuse
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Sri Lanka shuts down pioneer e-commerce sex service
But regular sex services in brothels and streets and also child sex services will continue as normal.
Welcome to Sri Lanka, the sex paradise. |
AnuD
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23 Apr 2006 16:53:10 GMT Report for Abuse
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But regular sex services in brothels and streets and also child sex services will continue as normal.
tarquin - look like a frequent client/customer or a pimp.
Edited By - AnuD - 23 Apr 2006 16:53:45 GMT |
kumari
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23 Apr 2006 16:58:26 GMT Report for Abuse
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Hey,
Last time I went there, But nothing was found. Does anybody really know where do they play all these :)? |
Kamani
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23 Apr 2006 17:13:41 GMT Report for Abuse
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Tarquin:
But regular sex services in brothels and streets and also child sex services will continue as normal
In Master Butcher's Wanni area to facilitate the Norwegians |
tarquin
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23 Apr 2006 17:15:00 GMT Report for Abuse
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AnuD,
Are you deaf, dumb and blind? Can't you see why the people have to resort to prostitution and servility in foreign lands to survive?
Your so called democratic buddhist government is conducting a genocidal war against the tamil people and making a large part of its own population dependent on prostitution and slavery to survive.
People like you, who turn a blind eye to this horrible situation are worse than pimps.Shame on you. |
Gunapala
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23 Apr 2006 17:22:29 GMT Report for Abuse
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| I cant understand whats wrong with this as long as only adults using the service.Banning sex industry forces everybody to be married to have sex.Its violating ones basic human rights to decide whether to get married or not.If you haven't a proper job or enough earnings to maintain a family should you live in the whole life without having that wonderful experience of the nature. |
adster
Joined: Apr 2006
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23 Apr 2006 17:24:22 GMT Report for Abuse
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| There's a lot more left from where that came. what the athoeities did isnt goin to help solve the commercial sex problem. not if they keep doin it once in a blue moon. any way normally the ahtorities are the most prestigeous customers in such a place (most of the time). |
kumari
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23 Apr 2006 17:24:36 GMT Report for Abuse
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Gune, Gune!
Hane hane,
Mama yithuwa oya yoda muniha thamai kiyala but....
Edited By - kumari - 23 Apr 2006 17:27:06 GMT |
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