African Admits Smuggling Girls as Braiding Labor

[Miss*Tress]

African Admits Smuggling Girls as Braiding Labor
Date: Thursday, August 27, 2009, 2:28 pm
By: Associated Press


NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A man from the West African nation Togo has admitted his role in the smuggling of dozens of girls and women who were forced to work at hair braiding salons in New Jersey.

Lassissi Afolabi pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to conspiring with his ex-wife and others to commit forced labor and related crimes in Newark and East Orange, where he lived.

Afolabi has been held without bail since his arrest in September 2007. He could face up to life in prison when he's sentenced Dec. 8.

Prosecutors say between October 2002 and September 2007 at least 20 girls and women were taken from Togo using fraudulent visas. The girls were forced to work six or seven days a week and to turn over all of their earnings to the defendants.

Link

 

[SND411]

LOL at "African." Why not just say Togolese?

 

[girlyprincess23]

Mmmm Mmmm. That is a H.A.M.!!! That is really ridiculous. Your own countrymen (women) in this case. DId you see the son....admitted what they did confessed to beating them, raping them, holding them hostage, and forcing them to work 16 hours a day..........and he faces 5 years and a 250,000 dollar fine!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTH is that!!!!!!!!!! It is an outrage. Is that the price for the human rights and self respect of female african immigrants these days?!?!? I am sure he got such a sweet deal for rolling on his mother. Which a another mess... She still claims she is innocent and is a victim of a simple misunderstanding of cultural differences! I am sorry there is no culture THAT different to where all that is a okay...nope sorry. she should make it easy on herself and confess like her son and ex husband. Don't get me wrong there are major cultural differences and I am probably the staunchest opponent of one culture judging a member of another culture by their cultural standards...but this is just ridiculousness...in any culture......I am on fire!!

 

[GabbanaGirl]

Disgusting. I wish there was more our government could do to stop the human trafficking. I hope he gets life, maybe he can braid hair for free while he serves his sentence.

 

[SND411]

Disgusting. I wish there was more our government could do to stop the human trafficking. I hope he gets life, maybe he can braid hair for free while he serves his sentence.

Agree. Human trafficking needs to stop. The governments around the world have to do more to help make this possible.

 

[crazydaze911]

Disgusting. I wish there was more our government could do to stop the human trafficking. I hope he gets life, maybe he can braid hair for free while he serves his sentence.

yeah, i think bubba in cell D would like that service

 

[discodumpling]

When the brothers in jail find out what he's in for...he WILL be braiding hair with Tyrone sitting between his knees!

Human traficking is disgusting but more common than we know. There seems to be some form of it in EVERY culture and women & children are always the victims.

 

[GabbanaGirl]

yeah, i think bubba in cell D would like that service

 

[LadyPaniolo]

Why not say Togolese? Because less than 1% of American readers would even know what that meant. A good chunk of Americans (blacks included ) think Africa is a COUNTRY. It's sad.

Man, this is such horrible news. I had wondered why those braid shops were such rank places to be... no TP, no soap in the bathroom, chicks mean-mugging the whole friggin day. I'm glad I started braiding my own hair years ago so that I wasn't giving money to some POS smuggler/human trafficker.

 

[SND411]

Why not say Togolese? Because less than 1% of American readers would even know what that meant. A good chunk of Americans (blacks included ) think Africa is a COUNTRY. It's sad.

Man, this is such horrible news. I had wondered why those braid shops were such rank places to be... no TP, no soap in the bathroom, chicks mean-mugging the whole friggin day. I'm glad I started braiding my own hair years ago so that I wasn't giving money to some POS smuggler/human trafficker.

Isn't that sad? Especially considering the fact that many Americans think their country is the richest, best, and most educated...

 

[Nita81]

This makes me angry!!! How can you do that to other people...hell your own people?!!

 

[JustKiya]

LOL at "African." Why not just say Togolese?

Why not say Togolese? Because less than 1% of American readers would even know what that meant. A good chunk of Americans (blacks included ) think Africa is a COUNTRY. It's sad.

Exactly!! If they said Togolese, most people would have been like 'What??'

Heck, I'll admit, I would have guessed that Togo was an African country, but I wouldn't have known it for sure - it could have been one of the island countries, too.

The hair braiding would have been a tip-off, though.

Man, this is such horrible news. I had wondered why those braid shops were such rank places to be... no TP, no soap in the bathroom, chicks mean-mugging the whole friggin day. I'm glad I started braiding my own hair years ago so that I wasn't giving money to some POS smuggler/human trafficker.

Okay? I'm ashamed to say, my first thought was 'I'm SO glad I haven't gotten my hair braided in years!'

And this is just heartbreaking. I can't believe he's getting off so easy for destroying so many women's lives.

 

[MissMeWithThatIsh]

That's horrible.

 

[cutiebe2]

I swear they used to braid my hair...I think I know his wife

 

[mscocoface]

This is tragic on soo many levels. I know human trafficking is on the rise all over globally.

I swear they used to braid my hair...I think I know his wife

To the bolded are you sure it is his wife and not his slave?erplexed

 

[Ivonnovi]

I hope they raid the Nail Salons next!........................................

 

[beebstt]

pimpin braiders.. i never knew that happened. just wow

 

[teysmith]

this is interesting to me because my boyfriend who I have a two year old daughter with is from Togo, West Africa. I have to show this to him and see what he says.. thats just sad...

 

[blac_quarian]

I swear they used to braid my hair...I think I know his wife

I went to this salon two times a couple of years ago, I think it was called "Newark Braiding". The wife was the head/top braider, she was quite nice. I think her name was Gigi if I recall. The other girls couldn't speak english. I remember them being very serious and they really only talked amongst themselves in their native language. When I saw this story on the news I was horrified. Those poor girls.

 

[nitavcc]

LOL at "African." Why not just say Togolese?

Co signing on this!

Many Americans are taught to think of Africa as a country! Togo? If you say Togolese, they would think the country is Togola! Americans are taught to recognize the vastness of Europe, recognizing the cultural differences between France, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Greece.. But Africa!

The subtle message is... All y'all are the same! As a matter of fact, this thing is so engrained in us, that the media here loves to descibe anybody Black in America as African American.. You could be visiting this country and if you are Black you will be labelled "African American" ..My point? You don't assume every caucasian individual is from France. White is the skin color! Lets celebrate the cultural vastness of the pan african experience.. Its like saying every Latina female in New York is Puerto Rican.

Our cultures are as diverse as our hair.. Celebrate them all, recognize them all. It all aint' just "black hair"! Once you generalize, people get offended, and rightfully so!

Togolese it is!

 

[MizzBrown]

I went to this salon two times a couple of years ago, I think it was called "Newark Braiding". The wife was the head/top braider, she was quite nice. I think her name was Gigi if I recall. The other girls couldn't speak english. I remember them being very serious and they really only talked amongst themselves in their native language. When I saw this story on the news I was horrified. Those poor girls.

I never trusted going to an African Braiding shop for that reason. They won't/can't speak English. Can't have someone on my hair not understanding me.

That and the fact that the braiding places just reminded me of a big Hair Braiding Mill.

You just walk in and whoever was next would take you and start braiding your hair. And folks would assume that because they were African, they could braid hair the best. Nah, my stylist used to have to correct a lot of African Braiding shop horrors on folks heads.

It always seemed weird that they would have this HUGE shop with 10-15 braiders in there just waiting for the next head. Dont know them from a can of paint but they are braiding your hair..

 

[cutiebe2]

This is tragic on soo many levels. I know human trafficking is on the rise all over globally.




To the bolded are you sure it is his wife and not his slave?erplexed

I know a woman from Togo who has a braiding shop. She always has several young girls working for her. Thinking closely I don't think its her because she runs it by herself and I have never seen the husband. But we have talked about shops in Newark....they keep undercutting all the other shops because their prices are so cheap

they young girls speak english though (rude though!)

 

[Keen]

As horrible as this may sound, sometimes the girls go willingly because America is the land of opportunity. They dream of getting here, put in their dues to pay off their debt for getting here, marry someone nice to get legal status and live the American dream.

 

[Sugar]

Co signing on this!

Many Americans are taught to think of Africa as a country! Togo? If you say Togolese, they would think the country is Togola! Americans are taught to recognize the vastness of Europe, recognizing the cultural differences between France, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Greece.. But Africa!

The subtle message is... All y'all are the same! As a matter of fact, this thing is so engrained in us, that the media here loves to descibe anybody Black in America as African American.. You could be visiting this country and if you are Black you will be labelled "African American" ..My point? You don't assume every caucasian individual is from France. White is the skin color! Lets celebrate the cultural vastness of the pan african experience.. Its like saying every Latina female in New York is Puerto Rican.

Our cultures are as diverse as our hair.. Celebrate them all, recognize them all. It all aint' just "black hair"! Once you generalize, people get offended, and rightfully so!

Togolese it is!

I'm named after an African country and recognize the names of many places in Africa...but I still wouldn't have known what a Togolese was.

 

[hothair]

Why not say Togolese? Because less than 1% of American readers would even know what that meant. A good chunk of Americans (blacks included ) think Africa is a COUNTRY. It's sad.

Isn't that sad? Especially considering the fact that many Americans think their country is the richest, best, and most educated...

Exactly!! If they said Togolese, most people would have been like 'What??'

Heck, I'll admit, I would have guessed that Togo was an African country, but I wouldn't have known it for sure - it could have been one of the island countries, too.

The hair braiding would have been a tip-off, though.

RARELY when they report on something good about an "African" they remember to mention the country in the headline eg South African wins gold medal or Senagalese Artist makes it big. When its something negative immediately we're all the sameerplexed

Umm maybe if the American media spent time attempting to educate their masses by mentioning the different country names instead of just concentrating on sensationalism it may help them know there are a few more countries out there but Canada and the UK.

Feel sorry for all you "Africans" there, bet someone asks if you've got a braider stashed in your basement

 

[cutiebe2]

I'm named after an African country and recognize the names of many places in Africa...but I still wouldn't have known what a Togolese was.

Togo is small and gets overlooked...thats my thinking. There are many countries in Africa that I know little about...especially because they don't really have an immigrant population around me. I had never heard of Cape Verde until I went to school in Boston. In school we had to learn all the names of the African countries and that one was not on the list

 

[Sugar]

Togo is small and gets overlooked...thats my thinking. There are many countries in Africa that I know little about...especially because they don't really have an immigrant population around me. I had never heard of Cape Verde until I went to school in Boston. In school we had to learn all the names of the African countries and that one was not on the list

Ohhhh...that's a good point. You know if the title had said "Togolese" I might have read the article just to figure out what a Togolese was. But admittedly I would have thought it was a small asian country/city/province or something.

 

[spencd]

human traffikling is a major problem. I love to work with this population for a few years. To force someone against their will most likely women which you know rape comes along with it. God Bless all of the victims and hope they come out it real soon.

 

[SND411]

RARELY when they report on something good about an "African" they remember to mention the country in the headline eg South African wins gold medal or Senagalese Artist makes it big. When its something negative immediately we're all the sameerplexed

Umm maybe if the American media spent time attempting to educate their masses by mentioning the different country names instead of just concentrating on sensationalism it may help them know there are a few more countries out there but Canada and the UK.

Feel sorry for all you "Africans" there, bet someone asks if you've got a braider stashed in your basement

Exactly! So true...

 

[BrooklynSouth]

Yes, the unsanitary, ubiquitous shops should have clicked something in us but it did not{so right, Ivonnovi-NAIL SALONS NEED TO BE CHECKED NEXT!}. I knew Togo as Togoland during my African Studies classes. I'm glad I made the very conscious choice to learn about my ancestral home during college; there are some Americans who do know some things of the continent.