Japan makes trafficking arrests

By Chris Hogg
BBC correspondent in Tokyo

Human traffickers now face 10 years jail in Japan

Police in Japan have arrested a Thai bar hostess and a Japanese businessman suspected of forcing a teenage Thai girl into prostitution.

It is the first arrest under a new law which Japan introduced in June to combat human trafficking.

The police say they believe the girl was bought in Thailand and taken to Japan when she was just 13.

Human trafficking is a serious problem throughout Asia, but Japan has only belatedly tightened up its laws.

The Thai girl was allegedly brought to Tokyo by the bar hostess and sold on to a prostitution agency for about $20,000.

The hostess has been arrested, along with a Japanese businessman who is said to have introduced the girl to a customer.

The teenager says she has been forced to have sex with about 200 men since she entered Japan.

Her plight was discovered when she was arrested for overstaying her visa, and she has since been deported.

Human trafficking now carries a punishment of up to 10 years in jail in Japan.

Campaigners say thousands of women are smuggled into the country each year to work in the sex industry.

Many come voluntarily, but once they get to Japan they swiftly become saddled with huge debts and trapped in slave-like working conditions.