Asian women are being snared in a student visa scam that funnels them into Sydney brothels where they are forced to sell sex and drugs for up to 20 hours a day. A Sun-Herald investigation has found that after arriving in Australia on travel visas, dozens of women from Hong Kong and Thailand are being met by brothel managers who lodge study visa applications on their behalf. While most submissions fail, appeals are routinely lodged in the knowledge the process takes up to two years.
Hell in the suburbs: A suspected brothel. Credit: Wolter Peeters. During that time, the women are at the mercy of traffickers who restrict their freedom and force them to work around the clock as prostitutes.
While some are aware they are arriving to work in the sex industry, many are oblivious to the fact. Sources on the periphery of the sex ring have testified that within months, an increasing number of workers are finding themselves broken, battered and hooked on crystal meth ice , which, in some parlours, they are obliged to offer to clients.
Despite detailed evidence having been lodged with the Department of Immigration more than a year ago, nothing has been done to close the visa loophole on which the scam thrives. While Blacktown police received a detailed tip-off about the drug epidemic inside two local brothels The Sun-Herald has recent audio recordings in which clients are still able to book girls who smoke ice as part of the service.
In some Sydney parlours, women are said to be forced to work up to 20 hours a day. Credit: James Brickwood. Commander of the NSW Police Sex Crimes squad, Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec, said: ''These are serious crimes and we work closely with our federal counterparts to ensure we tackle them not only in Australia, but offshore. The difficulty is in trying to get victimised witnesses to come forward.
