this is g.w. news asia coming up the desperation that drives human trafficking 39 people boarded a truck to buchanan hoping for a better life only to get stuck in a death trap it's believed they were from asia to take a closer look at modern slavery in the region. and why blue paint on the mosque led hong kong protesters to rally around the city's south asian community still seen by many as outsiders. plus why one man in japan is embrace the cultural heritage that he once wanted to hi.

i'm melissa chan you're watching d.w. news asia thank you for joining us the investigation continues into the deaths of 39 people found in a truck in the u.k. prosecutors say they were victims of a global ring of human traffickers by now we know they came from asia we don't know much more you may remember that early reports said they might be chinese next they might be vietnamese asia is where much of modern slavery in the world takes place almost $25000000.00 people in asia are victims of slavery that's 6 for every 1066 percent of them go into forced labor and india china and pakistan have the highest absolute numbers of slaves but southeast asia sees a lot of activity poor job. prospects natural disasters and military conflicts

there are all factors behind waves of displaced people and migrants for more we have rachel smith with the human trafficking foundation with us rachel tell us what you know about human trafficking to the u.k. from asia let's start with china that's where investigators were looking at from the beginning. well as you just said melissa most in most cases people are trafficked because they have an existing vulnerability and we find from asia and specifically from china that many people will be suffering poverty in their homes and especially when you see i mean countries like china with such an economic. inequality often find those poorer communities coming to the u.k. on the promise of a bat's a life and that is often on a promise from traffic is who give false promises of better what prospects of

having that immigration and sorted out and then once they arrive in the u.k. and they find a very different circumstance we find people from china often when they come to the u.k. are exploited and flows prostitution or sometimes in restaurants or other kind of forced labor in factories as well and this will look like someone withholding perhaps that idea don't humans or telling them if they go to the authorities and they're only going to get arrested deported and the many the prospect of returning it might be that they've come running from loan sharks for example in the 1st place and so that's a very fearful prospect for them and many i mean in fear of their own lives really if they do return so that the means of control can often be yet that forced the joining of documents and immigration rights or a fear of fear of every 10. and then say that what we see in retail and then for vietnam because that's where a lot of people are looking at right now there's

a lot of news in the u.k. suggesting that these people had come from vietnam do they do different kind of a work once they arrive in the u.k. and why are they leaving vietnam same reasons. often vulnerabilities and similar. we actually find with vietnam most people coming here are exploited in kind of. a obama's of the most common forms of exploitation and in fact in 2018 there were 700 to be timmy's nationals identified as being trafficked into the i referred to supports but unfortunately we find that the expected figures are much higher. i mean we find usually is and criminal exploitation and kind of these farms are no. i don't often. they is again on the promise of well the false promise of a battle life. and you know some people you know they travel from vietnam and how positive experience is coming to the u.k.

and i think people come with those similar expectations and then. they've been used . so this is a big international business isn't it human trafficking. give us today could you tell us a little bit more about numbers do we have a sense or is it all just too dark and underground. it is certainly very difficult to get an exact accurate number. recent figure and by the am i alone partnership with charity could walk free foundation estimated there were 40300000 people in slavery worldwide any given time and that includes human trafficking. and it's also the 2nd most lucrative illegal industry in the world behind drug trafficking alone and often what people like to explain this is that you know. i didn't can be sold once but a human being can be sold multiple times over and over and so it's fortunately very profits and highly lucrative for and for criminals seeking to exploit people.

rachel smith thank you. hong kong's protest movement has been to some extent about us versus them that separate hong konger identity different from mainland chinese so when news that a mosque there had been sprayed by police is blue water cannons during another one of its weekend protests it served as a reminder of the territory's diversity hundreds of thousands of filipinos and indonesians live and work in hong kong along with others from south asia and they've been caught up in the city's political fight correspondent mathias bullinger has more. didn't charge to leave the southern tip of the kowloon peninsula is one of the cause but savory places in the area is one of the hot spots for hong kong its new minorities about 250001 chinese citizens live in the city most of them from britain's former colonies in south asia. at the center of the community the chungking mansions a 5 block concrete jungle from the 1960 s.

although quite far from his home because comes here quite often for basically there are many allow for riches i mean a building here for just like snacks and festive cooked me and lots of 1 things available in here. what available in the our mainstream society but 2 weeks ago we were almost suddenly spread that the protesters were planning to attack the trunking mentions a protest neither had been badly beaten the attackers was said to be south asians most probably high in cars seeing as how to stop work for 25 years that sunday the whole chunk you mentioned the 1st time in my 25 years living in a hong kong i see that you can mention florist nothing of the like happening but when the police water cannon house the media by must update its great blue dye on the entrance of the building although the police later apologized and the protesters saw it as

a deliberate attack on the city's south asian population most families had moved you during british rule as the city moved away from its colonial past they have gotten little attention suddenly that all changed a week after the paint incident the protesters were back to change things mentioned this time folks remained. here everyone if you don't tell me mention the god stuff you vote yes but also it's our. say i'll hold contests. suddenly the south asian community was a focal point of the protests in that a group this is like to give them a favor by eating in a joking mention so like a bun b. they're coming are a lot of chinese people in libya kind of like go double or triple than that i've learned is coming to this building short being like eating food are shoving other things because but holds himself a 3rd generation pakistani of hong kong. has also taken part in some of the

protests why most elderly prefer to stay out of politics he says more and more young south asian hong kong as have joined the movement drawing attention from the protesters and the media to that moment of the media's coverage of. minnesota. begin to realize that they have the big fault if you have the. protests have shaken many certainties in hong kong nation ship with its minorities seems to be one of them. japan is known as one of the most homogenous countries in the world and japanese people have lived there forever right as it turns out not quite the i knew our indigenous people of hokkaido they were conquered by the japanese in the 9th century and just tens of thousands of them remain.

not scenes that come to mind when most people think of modern day japan in the woods of northern hokkaido she moaned betts was on the lookout for deer hunting is an integral part of the indigenous i know culture. but so she quit his job in the construction industry 4 years ago to pursue his dream of becoming a professional hunter it's part of his journey to connect with his eye new identity . there are a member once a stranger said to me you know i knew that's disgusting i was shot i didn't know how he could tell i was signing you i was behaving completely normally being i knew hasn't always been easy. but she. a recent census counted some 13000 i know in hokkaido down by half from 10 years ago but it's believed the real number could be much higher since many people are reluctant to identify as i knew almost one in 4 say they have experienced verbal abuse.

in japan only recently recognised the i knew was indigenous and began encouraging communities to promote i new culture. a new museum is under construction and due to open next april ahead of the tokyo summer olympics. this hill overlooks a battlefield where i knew fighters were defeated by japanese invaders hundreds of years ago. i new artist taking part in a remembrance ceremony he says tokyo still needs to do more. without an apology from the japanese government i don't think efforts to promote the new culture will have much of an impact. building the museum and hosting the olympics won't matter much but a formal apology would mark a real turning point in japan's history. but su also believes the government should return land to the i knew to make hunting easier he's trying to do his part to pass

on our new traditions to the next generation. i know. there are so many great things about the new culture in. i want to preserve this wonderful heritage of them all and. i'm working on it in the hopes that it will lead to a greater understanding. that. these tens he's building are for a summer camp where he plans to invite young students to experience the i know way of life. that's it for now we leave you with a showcase from china fashion week taking office costumes 21st century takes on cheap out coming up thank you for watching c.n.n. it's time i get by.

after the fall of the berlin. overnight g.w. . a recession is on the cards for hong kong the warning comes from leader kerry lam months of pro-democracy protests hurting business. 11 central banks says anti corruption protests could destroy the economy demonstrators say the bank is part of the problem. human rights watch says washington sanctions against iran threat iranians right to buy medicine. and saudi arabia opens its doors to the globe's fast growing tourist trade but is the country ready for it. i bet it will and it's

your business hong kong's worst political crisis in decades is also causing economic up evil leader carolan says the city is on the brink of recession as it enters its 5th month of pro-democracy protests tourist numbers have dropped and retail businesses hurt as they've been forced to shutter their doors during rallies . after 5 months of pro-democracy protests some people in hong kong are tired of the demonstrations and blocked roads the city state's divided community is on edge many were looking to carry lamb speech and shoes there to see whether she would years the protesters demands she issued a warning things you. need all that there is a large likelihood that for the year 2019 we will see a full year recession that means we will reach 0 to one percent growth so this situation is highly serious in addition as i have stayed.