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Saipan (, 2001 . Located at latitude of 15.25° north and longitude of 145.75° east, about 200 km (120 mi) north of Guam , Saipan is about 20 km (12.5 mi) long and 9 km (5.5 mi) wide. It is a popular tourist destination in the Pacific. The western side of the island is lined with sandy beaches and an offshore Water-Resources Investigation Report 03-4178, Honolulu, Hawaii. Besides English, the indigenous Chamorro language is spoken by approximately 19 percent of the inhabitants. The current governor of the CNMI is Benigno Fitial , who is the successor of Juan Babauta . The island also has many other large, strongly defined lingual and ethnic groups because of the large percentage of contract workers (60% of total population, as of 2001http://www.oddcast.com/witness/saipan/saipan_story5.html) from China, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Cambodia. In addition, a large percentage of the island's population includes first-generation immigrants from Japan, China, and Korea, and immigrants from many of the other Micronesian islands. HISTORY Saipan, along with neighboring Guam , Rota/Luta , Tinian , and to a lesser extent smaller islands northward, was first inhabited around 2000 B.C.E. The Spanish were the first Europeans to encounter the Chamorros and eventually annexed Saipan as part of its claim to the Mariana Islands . Around 1815 , many Carolinian s from Satawal (squatters) settled Saipan during a period when the Chamorros were imprisoned on Guam, which resulted in a significant loss of land and rights for the Chamorro natives. Germany ruled Saipan from 1899 until 1914 , when the Empire Of Japan took over the island under a League Of Nations mandate. The Japanese developed both Fishing and Sugar industries, and in the 1930s Garrisoned Saipan heavily, resulting in nearly 30,000 troops on the island by 1941 . On June 15 , 1944 during World War II , U.S. Marines landed on the beaches of the southwestern side of the island, and spent more than three weeks fighting the Battle Of Saipan to secure it from the Japanese, an event which was dramatized in John Woo 's 2002 film '' Windtalkers ''. It should be noted, however, that the movie was not filmed on Saipan and does not accurately reflect the island at that time. For instance Garapan , which was its de facto capital during that period of the Japanese era, is portrayed as a rural farming community when in fact it was a fairly large town. Garapan is currently still the largest village and the center of the tourism industry on the island. The CNMI joined the United States in November 1986. During negotiations, the CNMI and the USA agreed that the CNMI would be exempted from certain Federal Laws , including some concerning Labor and Immigration . One result was an increase in hotels and tourism. However, dozens of garment factories also opened; clothing manufacture became the island's chief economic force, employing thousands of foreign contract laborers while labeling their goods "made in the U.S.A.". They continue to supply the U.S. market with low cost garments exempt from US import tariffs, US minimum wage laws, US immigration laws, and other labor protections. The working conditions and treatment experienced by employees in these factories have been the subject of controversy and criticism (see below). AGRICULTURE AND FLORA or "Tinian peppers" growing wild.]] Undeveloped areas on the island are covered with Sword Grass meadows and dense, dry-forest jungle known as Tangan-Tangan. Coconuts , Papayas , and Thai Hot Peppers – locally called "Donne Sali" or "Boonie Peppers" – are among the fruits that grow wild. Mango , Taro root, and Banana s are a few of the many foods cultivated by local families and farmers. Sportfishing is excellent offshore, with numerous small boats catching Tuna , Wahoo , Billfish and many other species. MUSIC Music on Saipan can generally be broken down into three branches: local, mainland American and Asian. Local consists of Chamorro , Carolinian and Micronesian traditional music and song, often with traditional dance for many occasions. Mainland American is many of the same varieties that can be found on U.S. radio; and Asian consists of Japanese , Korean , Thai and Philippine music among others. TRANSPORTATION Travel to and from the island is available from several airlines via Saipan International Airport . A ferry also operates between Saipan and its smaller neighboring island 5 miles to the south, Tinian . Taxis are available. There is no public transportation system. ECONOMY The main economic driving force in Saipan is garment manufacture, made largely by foreign contract workers (mainly from China). As of March, 2007http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=66972 there are 19 large garment companies manufacturing in Saipan. In addition to many foreign-owned and -run companies, many well-known US brands also operated garment factories in Saipan for much of the last three decades. These world-renowned brands include http://library.thinkquest.org/trio/TTQ02189/wal_mart.htm. Tourism has long been a vital source of the island's revenue, although the industry has suffered badly since the Asian Economic Crisis of the mid-to-late 1990s. Some major airlines have since ceased service to the island. Many internationally-known businesses operate on Saipan e.g. The Hyatt Hotel , shopping boutiques Chanel , Christian Dior , and Gucci , and The Hard Rock Cafe to name a few. However, many more including the La Fiesta shopping mall and Le Bon Marche among others eventually closed. Tourists enjoy Saipan's shopping, Scuba Diving and other water sports, Skydiving , Golf , and athletic competitions such as Xterra and other Triathlons . CONTROVERSY Foreign Contract Labor Abuse caused by Exemptions from US federal regulation Excerpted from "Immigration and the CNMI: A report of the US Commission on Immigration Reform", January 7, 1998: "The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) immigration system is antithetical to the principals that are at the core of the US immigration policy. Over time, the CNMI has developed an immigration system dominated by the entry of foreign temporary contract workers. These now outnumber US citizens but have few rights within the CNMI and are subject to serious labor and human rights abuses. In contrast to US immigration policy, which admits immigrants for permanent residence and eventual citizenship, the CNMI admits aliens largely as temporary contract workers who are ineligible to gain either US citizenship or civil and social rights within the commonwealth. Only a few countries and no democratic society have immigration policies similar to the CNMI. The closest equivalent is Kuwait. On March 31, 1998http://akaka.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=speeches.home&month=3&year=1998&release_id=1298, US Senator Daniel Akaka said: The Commonwealth shares our American flag, but it does not share the American system of immigration. There is something fundamentally wrong with a CNMI immigration system that issues permits to recruiters, who in turn promise well-paying American jobs to foreigners in exchange for a $6,000 recruitment fee. When the workers arrive in Saipan, they find their recruiter has vanished and there are no jobs in sight. Hundreds of these destitute workers roam the streets of Saipan with little or no chance of employment and no hope of returning to their homeland. In 1991http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Holdings_Corporation, Levi Strauss was embarrassed by a scandal involving six subsidiary factories run on Saipan by the Tan Holdings Corporation. It was revealed that Chinese laborers in those factories suffered under what the U.S. Department of Labor called "slavelike" conditions. Cited for sub-minimal wages, seven-day work week schedules with twelve-hour shifts, poor living conditions and other indignities (including the alleged removal of passports and the virtual imprisonment of workers), Tan would eventually pay what was then the largest fines in U.S. labor history, distributing more than $9 million in restitution to some 1200 employees. {Link without Title} {Link without Title} {Link without Title} At the time, Tan factories produced 3% of Levi's jeans with the "Made in the U.S.A." label. Levi Strauss claimed that it had no knowledge of the offenses, severed ties to the Tan family, and instituted labor reforms and inspection practices in its offshore facilities. In 1999, Sweatshop Watch, Global Exchange, Asian Law Caucus, Unite, and the garment workers themselves filed three separate lawsuits in class-action suits on behalf of roughly 30,000 garment workers in Saipan. The defendants included 27 U.S. retailers and 23 Saipan garment factories. By 2004, they had won a 20 million dollar settlement against all but one of the defendants.http://www.cleanclothes.org/legal/04-01-08.htm Levi Strauss was the only successful defendant, winning the case against them in 2004http://www.cleanclothes.org/legal/04-01-08.htm. In 2005–2006, the issue of immigration and labor practices on Saipan was brought up during the American Political Scandals of Congressman Tom DeLay and Lobbyist Jack Abramoff , who visited the island on numerous occasions. ''Ms.'' magazine has followed the issue and published a major expose in their Spring 2006 article "Paradise Lost: Greed, Sex Slavery, Forced Abortion and Right-Wing Moralists" . On February 8, 2007, the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources received testimony about federalizing CNMI labor and immigration. On July 19, 2007http://www.doi.gov/oia/press/2007/07192007.html, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Insular Affairs David B. Cohen testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Regarding S. 1634 (The Northern Mariana Islands Covenant Implementation Act)http://www.doi.gov/oia/press/2007/07192007.html. He said: Congress has the authority to make immigration and naturalization laws applicable to the CNMI. Through the bill that we are discussing today, Congress is proposing to take this legislative step to bring the immigration system of the CNMI under Federal administration. [S erious problems continue to plague the CNMI’s administration of its immigration system, and we remain concerned that the CNMI’s rapidly deteriorating fiscal situation may make it even more difficult for the CNMI government to devote the resources necessary to effectively administer its immigration system and to properly investigate and prosecute labor abuse. While we congratulate the CNMI for its recent successful prosecution of a case in which foreign women were pressured into prostitution, human trafficking remains far more prevalent in the CNMI than it is in the rest of the U.S. During the twelve-month period ending on April 30, 2007, 36 female victims of human trafficking were admitted to or otherwise served by Guma’ Esperansa, a women’s shelter operated by a Catholic nonprofit organization. All of these victims were in the sex trade. Secretary Kempthorne personally visited the shelter and met with a number of women from the Philippines who were underage when they were trafficked into the CNMI for the sex industry. [...H t is clear that local control over CNMI immigration has resulted in a human trafficking problem that is proportionally much greater than the problem in the rest of the U.S. Contract laborers arriving from China are usually required to pay their (Chinese National) recruitment agents fees equal to a year's total salaryhttp://www.oddcast.com/witness/saipan/saipan_story3a.html (roughly $3,500) and occasionally as high as two years' salaryhttp://akaka.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=speeches.home&month=3&year=1998&release_id=1298, though the contracts are only one-year contracts, renewable at the employer's discretion. 60% of the population of the CNMI is contract workers. These workers cannot vote. They are not represented, and can be deported if they lose their jobs. Meanwhile, the minimum wage remains well below that on the U.S. mainland, and abuses of vulnerable workers are commonplace.http://www.oddcast.com/witness/saipan/saipan_story5.html OTHER LOCAL ISSUES Despite an annual rainfall of 80 in to 100 in, the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation (CUC), the local government-run water utility company on Saipan, is unable to deliver 24-hour-a-day potable water to its customers in certain areas. As a result, several large hotels use Reverse Osmosis to produce fresh water for their customers. In addition, most homes and small businesses augment the sporadic and sometimes brackish water provided by CUC with rainwater collected and stored in cisterns. Saipan also has a place in many Irish people's minds, after “ The Saipan Incident ” which took place before the 2002 FIFA World Cup . '' Saipansucks.com '' Saipan Sucks is a website critical of many well-known issues regarding Saipan's government and social system. PEOPLE IN SAIPAN
60% of the population of the CNMI is contract workers.http://www.oddcast.com/witness/saipan/saipan_story5.html NOTABLE RESIDENTS
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