Multi country workshop on combating human trafficking, JHA 47779, Sarajevo, April 2012

Transcription

1 Multi country workshop on combating human trafficking, JHA 47779, Sarajevo, April 2012 Intervention by Marius Wanders, member of the 3 rd EU Group of Experts on THB Round Table 5. I. Introduction A few words of introduction: My name is Marius Wanders, I am Dutch and since October 2010 I represent World Vision, its interests, its work and its 45,000 workers around the world in more than 100 countries. I represent them towards the European Union and its institutions in Brussels as well as within European civil society. Before that, during almost nine years, I was Secretary General of Caritas Europa, also based in Brussels, and was responsible for facilitating and coordinating the joint work of Caritas organisations throughout Europe, within the EU and beyond, and linking it up to the work and the organisations of Caritas around the world. Both organisations are well established across the world, working directly with poor and disadvantaged people, in towns and communities at the grass roots or field level, carrying out small and bigger projects and programs. Caritas, World Vision and all those many other motivated and committed organisations out there are not about giving out charity by well-intended but unprofessional volunteers. They are about addressing injustice, assisting as well as empowering those who need assistance and doing so in a professional, effective way and in close partnership with public authorities and with other stakeholders. They are deeply committed to combatting human trafficking by assisting victims, by prevention through raising awareness, by advocating for policies, programs and legislation that will have an impact and by networking with partners. They condemn human trafficking as a gross violation of human rights and of human dignity. Since a few months, I have the privilege of serving as a member of the EU Group of Experts on human trafficking, an advisory body set up by the European Commission to advise the EU in the broadest sense about all aspects of the fight against human trafficking, which is a high priority for the EU, not only within its own borders but across the world. II. Busting some popular myths about human trafficking We are here at a workshop about human trafficking, and most of us in this room have a pretty good idea what human trafficking is, where it appears and how we should act against it. There is neither a shortage of legal definitions, nor of legal instruments, processes and procedures. But there are some popular perceptions about trafficking that are in some cases partially true, in some cases not true at all and that all need to be nuanced a bit. I call it busting the myths. 1. It is a myth that today s trafficking is the slavery of years ago recycled. Today s trafficking is like the old slavery, yes, but it is of a psychological and emotional nature, which breaks the will and crushes the spirit, without chains and bars. Today s trafficking victims eventually start to believe that they are the criminals. They are told that

2 they face arrest, jail and deportation if they don t do exactly what they are told. When you are a trafficking victim and you don t speak the language of the country where you are exploited, and you observe that your captor is apparently on friendly terms with various authorities, you realize that you are actually living in a prison without walls. In a weird way, you often start regarding your trafficker as your protector. 2. It is a myth that trafficking is a just problem of poor nations. Around the world, 2.6 billion people live on less than 2 dollars per day. Yes, these global poor are the most likely to become trafficked: they are after all the most vulnerable and they are desperate. But poor people meaning people with insufficient prospects and protection also live in our more affluent societies and are equally at risk to fall victim to trafficking, within their own country or across borders. Trafficking is driven by a demand for cheap labour, cheap products, cheap produce in our supermarkets, cheap construction of our houses etc. With this demand and with 2.6 billion people around the world living well below the poverty line, the supply is endless. Consumerism of unparalleled dimensions in more affluent societies fuels the demand beyond the demand created by sexual exploitation, child begging etc. Human traffickers move commodities (which happen to be people) to customers who have consciously or unconsciously a demand to fill. In that globalized dynamic of supply and demand, no nation, no culture, no faith system is immune to trafficking. Trafficking is a globalized problem and it rears its ugly head everywhere. 3. It is a myth that trafficking takes place randomly. Yes, random acts of abduction followed by trafficking and exploitation do frequently happen. But usually trafficking is deviously strategic in nature, meticulously planned and ruthlessly executed. It is a process of organized crime on a global scale. Its profits are estimated to be around 30 billion Euros annually. You can t run a 30 billion Euro business without planning, coordination, organization and resources. 4. It is a myth that traffickers are low skilled petty criminals lurking in the shadows. Traffickers are masters of manipulation and keen observers of weakness. They are ruthless, with no sympathy whatsoever for their victims and with not a hint of remorse. But they don t lurk in the shadows, or crawl on their bellies through the mud. They do not fear the light of day. Traffickers are often highly socially intelligent, they operate within strong social networks and they endear themselves to all sorts of people in every level of society. And their success in poor environments often makes them even local heroes. Trafficking is visible everywhere and every day, if only we care to look. 5. It is a myth that trafficking is mainly about sexual exploitation. Traffickers are in essence shrewd business men and women, who carefully monitor the market and assess supply and demand. They see commodities, in this case women, men, children and babies; and they see customers, some of whom may indeed want sex, but much more often the customers which may include many of us without perhaps realizing it have an explicit or implicit need for domestic workers, for nannies, for cheap agricultural labour or for cheap construction workers. And then there are childless couples, who want babies. Let s face it: Whether we like it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not, the often perverse exploitation of other people helps us to sustain our comfortable middle class lifestyles. Whatever the reason for the demand, the trafficker will spot it and capitalise on it. For him, it is always about making profit. 6. It is a myth that trafficking mainly targets women and girls. Trafficking defies gender boundaries. It is the ultimate form of equal opportunities exploitation and it affects men and women equally. It exploits being weak, which is not about lack of physical power. 2 P a g e

3 Being weak is about lack of money, skills, choices, opportunities, prospects and most of all lack of hope. The carrot at the end of the trafficker s stick and the trafficker s main strength is the promise of change, the promise of filling that void. 7. It is a myth that education is THE key to preventing trafficking. Education is an important tool in the fight against trafficking, but it is not enough if you still can t feed yourself or your family. It does not suffice if you see no other way out of a lifetime of abuse or inhumane living conditions. When you have grown up as a child in an institution, with a ratio of one caregiver to twenty children or more, and someone is promising you love, attention and a bright new future, all you may have learned through education is set aside. In order to be effective as a tool against human trafficking, education and public awarenessraising about trafficking must always be accompanied by providing educational, occupational, social and business opportunities. 8. It is a myth that to defeat trafficking, we simply need to work harder and spend more money. Most of all we need to work smarter. We need to recognize that traffickers are entrepreneurs, who adapt rapidly to changing markets and new laws. They operate with unrestricted capital and without rules. Law enforcement agencies and humanitarian or social NGOs will never have as many resources as the criminals. Therefore we need to become even more innovative, more opportunistic and more adaptive or responsive than the traffickers are. We have to become the ultimate social entrepreneurs and by doing so attack the traffickers where it will hurt them the most: by addressing and reducing the vulnerabilities of the victims. The vulnerable live in poverty and conflict zones, they live with exclusion, injustice, violence and corruption. Address these issues, and we attack trafficking at the source. Traffickers are predatory entrepreneurs and we must beat them at their own game, with innovative programming, social entrepreneurship and strategic partnerships. 9. It is a myth that trafficking ends when the victim is removed from the control of the traffickers. Often that is when a new set of problems for the victim starts in earnest. Often the victim is labelled and treated as an illegal immigrant and is criminalised. Assistance and protection by public authorities is still too often conditional upon cooperation with authorities in the prosecution of the perpetrators. Once the trafficking victim has gone through this process and is returned to their original home environment, they may face social isolation, stigmatisation, exclusion and rejection (even by their own family and loved ones). What is more, the same or even worse conditions exist in terms of poverty, misery, lack of opportunities and lack of hope that led the victim to become a victim of trafficking in the first place. The risk of retaliation by or on behalf of the perpetrators and the risk of being re-trafficked are very real, unless the victim is offered adequate protection, accompaniment and social support. III. The natural partnership between civil society and public authorities Organised civil society is a natural and indispensable partner for public authorities in effectively combatting human trafficking. Within the context of our discussions at this workshop about human trafficking, however, I would like to propose that when we use the term civil society, we accept this to mean the collective of community based bottom up organisations or associations of citizens on the one hand and of nationally or internationally organised NGOs on the other hand, which latter group would also 3 P a g e

4 include faith based organisations like Caritas and World Vision and Church based institutions like religious orders. The strengths that these organisations have in common in terms of combatting human trafficking, making them natural partners for public authorities, can be summarised as follows: They are in direct daily contact with trafficking victims as well as with people who are at risk to become victims of trafficking and exploitation. They may also be in contact with perpetrators of the crime of human trafficking or those at risk of becoming involved in it. Through this proximity, they can observe, monitor, consolidate and report on human trafficking and exploitation realities in towns and communities, including assessing the impact or effect (if any) of anti-trafficking legislation, programs and other actions undertaken by public authorities. Especially in countries and areas where there is wide spread corruption or where there is poor implementation of policies and poor enforcement of laws, NGOs are better placed than public authorities to gain the trust and confidence of the victims and those at risk, as well as the trust and confidence of those who are facilitating the perpetration of the crime or at risk to become involved. In short, civil society organisations are generally speaking more rapidly trusted by victims and perpetrators alike. It is the professional expertise of civil society organisations to read the signs of the times at micro and at macro level and to use this analysis to design and to implement effective small scale or larger scale social programs or projects that contribute to the prevention of trafficking and exploitation and that provide protection and assistance to victims, through shelters, social reintegration programs and counselling services, training for new life and vocational skills and accompanying the return of victims to their families and communities. Being the ultimate social entrepreneurs, NGOs have the expertise and experience required to help in building the capacity of public authorities to better understand, recognise and respect the social dimensions of trafficking, the fears, courage and psychological vulnerability of victims and how to be sensitive to all these dimensions when dealing with trafficked persons. Last but not least, because of their deep outreach into communities in rural and urban settings, civil society organisations ensure that victims or those who are at risk of trafficking are contributing to and participating in decision making processes on anti-trafficking measures, especially in the case of women, young people and children. It is this outreach potential and these strengths that make civil society organisations essential and indispensable partners of public authorities and of other stakeholders to effectively contribute to the fight against human trafficking. They can provide what other stakeholders are less able or perhaps even unable to provide, especially when they pool their local expertise and resources in national, inter-regional and international anti-trafficking networks and platforms. Organisations like Caritas and World Vision have learned that it pays off to work in national and international coalitions with our peers in the same or in other countries. This enables us to pool resources and expertise, avoid overlaps and become stronger actors in the fight against human trafficking. Linking these networks with those of public authorities is the only way in which we can begin to match the level of organisation and coordination that the traffickers have at their disposal. 4 P a g e

5 IV. The 3 P s of anti-trafficking strategies It has often been said (and you will have heard it before during this workshop) that successful antitrafficking strategies rest on 3 pillars, often referred to as the 3 P s : (1) Prevention; (2) Protection of victims; and (3) Prosecution. We believe that a more holistic and comprehensive approach to the trafficking problem is needed, given its complexity and persistence. First and foremost there is a need for a rights-based comprehensive approach which does not stop at the borders of any given country. Also a couple of extra P s need to be added to the first three, especially with regard to trafficking of children and young people: The P for Passion required for fighting an international crime and injustice to human dignity and human rights that is so persistent and profitable. The P for Partnership for Comprehensive Prevention that includes Social Protection. The P for Participation in national and international decision making processes, policy and program design. Passion Our most valuable instrument in successfully combatting human trafficking, regardless of whether we do so as representatives of public authorities, prosecutors, law enforcement agencies or of civil society, has to be a heartfelt passion to right the wrong that is trafficking, to address the root causes and to be truly compassionate in our protection of and dealing with people who have fallen victim to this persistent and profitable organised crime. It gives me personally great encouragement that this is a passion we all share in this room and beyond, and it is a vital ingredient in our arsenal to defeat the traffickers, whose passion is purely the passion for the profits that they get to make. Without our passion, we will fight a losing battle. Partnerships for Comprehensive Prevention that includes Social Protection. Effective prevention must go beyond raising awareness. Much more must be done in countries or areas of origin to reduce vulnerabilities of children and to promote the development of protective systems designed to prevent trafficking of children. States and governments should make serious investments in programs that aim to develop local capacities and that promote realistic economic opportunities. The EU is able to help with various incentives and support. Adequate social protection has great potential to prevent trafficking, for example through measures such as birth registration, adapting educational curricula, creation of economic opportunities and adequate processes and information channels related to safe and legal work and study abroad for young people. Effective prevention requires integrated planning and action by local authorities, national institutions, schools and civil society actors like NGOs. This integrated planning and action should unite citizens, service providers, media and politicians. It should include very specific child-focused provisions. There is an urgent need to lobby and hold all stakeholders accountable for the establishment of comprehensive Child Protection Services which integrate all aspects of an effective system, ranging from laws and regulations, to budgets, to ensuring and coordinating service 5 P a g e

6 providers and quality services which include for example alternative care, after-school programs, foster homes, health services, special education, and social protection funding allocations for vulnerable families). Participation of children in policy making and program or project design. Participation of children is critical in the development of effective and relevant trafficking prevention and protection mechanisms. Indeed, it is the right of children to be consulted and heard on decisions related to their well-being. Participation of children is invaluable to better understand how certain issues affect them directly. Children may be young and inexperienced, but they are not ignorant. They are very well able to articulate what they feel and think and to provide valuable suggestions regarding their specific needs. Children can also be very effective agents of change or even program agents. They should be given every opportunity to be active participants in prevention and protection programs and mechanisms. But unfortunately, the involvement of children or young people in advocating for or even making decisions that impact on their rights and on their welfare is still far too limited. We promote participation of children and young people and there are many good practices out there which would take me too long to unfold here. But just as one example of such a good practice, in many countries in South Eastern Europe where World Vision is active, including Bosnia & Herzegovina, we have actively interviewed thousands of children and young people about how they observe and perceive human trafficking and what they think and suggest about it. In Bosnia & Herzegovina we interviewed close to 300 students of the 3th and 4 th grades of secondary school, with an average age of 18 years old. Some of their many observations included that: The main task for the state is to care for its citizens, provide them with decent jobs and salaries and decrease unemployment and poverty. This will help greatly to also stop trafficking. If they would witness trafficking taking place, most interviewed students would feel personally obliged to help the victims. But many would fear to report it to the police, as they do not trust the work of the police and often see them as corrupted. Media should actively inform the public about trafficking and include educational articles Police should be educated on how to deal with trafficking victims The state has legal instruments and laws to combat trafficking but these are not adequately enforced and they are not applied equally to everyone In these interviews we also presented the students with a list of 15 different conditions that could be seen as enablers of trafficking in Bosnia & Herzegovina and we asked them which of these conditions in their opinion enabled most strongly the problem of trafficking in their country. The top 6 answers were: 1. The difficult financial and economic situation (76% of respondents chose this answer) 2. The high percentage and numbers of unemployed people (chosen by 70%) 3. Inefficiency of police forces (chosen by 50%) 4. Involvement of police in chains of trafficking of persons (chosen by 50%) 6 P a g e

7 5. Involvement of state border officials in chains of trafficking of persons (chosen by 42%) 6. Lack of awareness of citizens on trafficking in persons (chosen by 42%) V. Examples of partnership between public authorities and civil society in this region of Europe Before concluding, I would like to share with you just some random some examples of successful partnership and cooperation between public authorities and the two networks that I happen to know best, Caritas and World Vision. Caritas in Bosnia & Herzegovina enjoys excellent relationships with the Department for combating trafficking in human beings and the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees. The Department for combating trafficking in human beings is part of the Sector for international cooperation at the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Department is implementing the national Action Plan for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in Bosnia and Herzegovina Caritas was requested to contribute with its own project activities to the same goal and to closely cooperate with the Ministry. During regular meetings between the Department and Caritas, partners shared information and suggested improvements about their respective projects. In December 2011, Caritas submitted a project proposal for funding to the US Embassy and the Ministry proposed to put into the project proposal the recording of an DVD that will be used for informing foreign victims of human trafficking in Bosnia & Herzegovina about their rights. World Vision has brought together high-level government actors, local law enforcement and local NGOs in collective prevention programs in northwestern Bosnia & Herzegovina. Through participatory theatre and discussion sessions in schools, thousands of children have been educated on the dangers of trafficking with direct participation of police officers and the SIPA. This project also contributes to bridging the gap of faith and trust between young people and government and law enforcement agencies. In Albania, World Vision is president of the national 22-member NGO coalition BKTF ( All Together against Child Trafficking ) We campaign against child labour exploitation and for the improved framework of the government s National Referral Mechanism. In some of its Area Development Programs, World Vision Albania used the community empowerment approach to encourage active participation of youth in in combatting trafficking, using peer education outreach through information corners in schools, drama presentations, discussion sessions and life skill training in rural schools. In Georgia, World Vision is working directly with the national government to strengthen identification and referral services for trafficked persons. We mobilised and trained a nationwide network of social workers for community protection and we created the government s first national trafficking hotline. We also partnered with others to produce cutting-edge research like the first ever national assessment of child trafficking in Georgia, in coordination with the OSCE. And we were invited by the Georgia government to participate on the Interagency Coordination Council with five government ministries and multilateral bodies to help write the National Action Plan. 7 P a g e

8 VI. Conclusion Speaking on behalf of civil society organisations like World Vision, Caritas and many others, I can unequivocally state that we are ready, eager and willing to expand and strengthen our partnership with public authorities and to complement your work against the crime of human trafficking with our own specific strengths. We do have value to add and special competences to bring. We may be called non-governmental, but this does not make us anti-governmental. Yes, we are sometimes constructively critical of public authorities and have a tendency to hold them to account. We can t help it, it is part of our DNA. We also happen to be masters in achieving a lot with very modest resources. We base our work on human values and are motivated by a genuine passion for human dignity and human rights.. We do not wish to compete or overlap with public authorities. We can shelter, assist, accompany and counsel victims, but our competence to protect them and to provide them with security against the criminals who are preying on them is limited. We cannot enforce laws. We cannot prosecute perpetrators. But we can provide many of these additional components of the holistic and comprehensive approaches to effectively combat human trafficking, that are much less the competence of public authorities. On that basis, I believe that we deserve to be recognised as equal, valuable and professional partners. I strongly encourage all of you who are here representing public authorities in your countries, to take that message home with you to your country and follow up on it. And please also take home with you my call for continued passion in our joint struggle to defeat this international crime, for full participation of victims and those at risk in the design and implementation of our anti-trafficking strategies, especially children and youth, and for the establishment of comprehensive Child Protection Services. Children and adults who are being exploited by traffickers and those who are at risk to fall prey to trafficking will be profoundly grateful if you do. And so will we... Thank you very much for your attention. 8 P a g e