Ricky Martin fights human trafficking

Puerto Rican Pop star Ricky Martin has taken his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia.

Martin, who arrived in the country Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation.

“This is a fact-finding mission for us,” Angel Saltos, executive director of the Ricky Martin Foundation, told The Associated Press on Saturday. “He wanted to see for himself.”

Martin learned of Cambodia’s child trafficking problems in February during a three-day United Nations conference in Vienna. He joined Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak and other dignitaries in calling for action.

Some 2.5 million people are involved in forced labor as a result of trafficking, and 161 countries — on every continent and in every type of economy — are affected by the crime, the U.N. said.

Most victims are between the ages of 18 and 24, and an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year, U.N. figures show.

The Ricky Martin Foundation does most of its work in Latin America.