Calls for amnesty for people trafficked into Australia
Updated
A coalition of Catholic religious orders is calling on the Australian government to provide amnesty for people who've been illegally smuggled into the country.
The group says many people from the Asia-Pacific region are brought to Australia to work in the sex industry or in sweatshops or other forms of slave labour.
Sister Pauline Coll from the Good Samaritans says victims should be treated in a more compassionate manner.
"If its for sexual exploitation many of the women come from the Asian countries, for other labour practices we would have people from the Pacific islands...so it's a broad ranging thing and people are trafficked into Australia or are used here in slave like conditions," she said.
