Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe - Iom

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Trafficking in Human Beingsin Southeastern EuropeRomaniaanswer questions. While obtaining information is very important from thepoint of view of law enforcement, the health and well-being of the womenmust also be taken into account. Psychologists from the local NGOs assistingin the return process are concerned about the consequences of interviewingwomen suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. NGOs also question theresults and quality of such interviews as it is becoming clear that a growingnumber of interviewees deliver similar “standardised” information, repeatingstories learned from others rather than sharing their own experiences. Insome cases such stories can make it more difficult to assess if the woman wastrafficked in the first place. The experiences of the NGOs suggest that only apersonalised approach with professional psychological assistance and longercontact with the returned women will enable them tell the truth and testifyagainst traffickers.IOM’s programme of reintegration for trafficked persons offers “assistance tothe victims, including temporary accommodation, health care, psychologicalcounselling, educational and professional/employment orientation and socialreintegration, …carried out with the support of some 35 Romanian NGOsacross the country.” 57Local NGOs, however, have expressed concerns about the quality of helpoffered to women and girls by the organisations providing assistance and reintegrationsupport. At the conference organised by IOM in Bucharest in July2001, there were 24 organisations from all over the country, the majority ofwhich had no previous experience of working with trafficked persons. Thereare no special IOM procedures or services offered for children, but minors arereferred to the Romanian branch of Save the Children or Service Sociale International(Italian branch).Assistance offered by IOM includes transporting the trafficked persons fromthe airport to a shelter, providing them with a small allowance of US$150 intotal (given in three instalments), addresses of NGOs and information aboutthe possibility of having a medical check up and some help from NGOs in casesof emergency. Counselling and reintegration support are not part of a standardizedservice but rather an exception in the routine of a much more modestoffer. From the total of 403 assisted persons, between January 2000 andDecember 2001, 173 cases were referred to local organisations for reintegrationassistance. Services provided through the partner NGO network can, inprinciple, include temporary shelter, medical assistance, psychological counselling,general social assistance, educational assistance, vocational training,career orientation, employment and job seeking, and legal support. However,in most cases, the support is limited to a couple of hours of counselling aweek, as NGOs without experience or financial resources cannot deal with theproblems of trafficked women. There are only few NGOs in the country(Reaching Out in Pitesti, SCOP in Timisoara, Pro Familia in Bistrita, and Artemisin Cluj) with capacity to offer more long-term support in reintegration, andnot all of them are among the organisations with which IOM co-operates.1.4. HIV/AIDS and STIsThere are no programmes in the area of HIV/AIDS/STIs prevention aimed attrafficked people. Women and girls assisted by IOM are offered free medicalservices, including STI and HIV tests. A National HIV/AIDS Strategy until 20034057.“A comprehensive approach to the prevention of trafficking and to the protection of victimsthrough strengthened coordination at the national, regional and international levels”,Keynote Address by Mr. Brunson McKinley, Director General, IOM at the Regional TraffickingConference in Bucharest, 21 May 2001.
Trafficking in Human Beingsin Southeastern Europehas been developed and some pilot projects have been initiated by internationalorganisations, but the government has no capacity to take them over.RomaniaSince 1999, UNDP/UNAIDS has supported a health prevention project forcommercial sex workers in Bucharest implemented by a local NGO, ARAS(Romanian Association against AIDS). Since the pimp negotiates with the clientthe characteristics of sex sessions, the pimp is the real decision-maker.Pimps often force sex workers to have unprotected sex, as this is demandedby the clients. In general, sex workers learn that they have STIs from clientswho inform their pimps. Pimps are not interested at all in the women’s healthstatus and prefer to sell a woman to another pimp or to move her to anotherplace because it is cheaper to buy a new girl than to pay for medical treatment(a female sex worker costs about US$ 50). In the period January 2000 to June2001, only 40 women reached by the ARAS street workers were willing tohave the HIV test and none of them tested positive. 581.5. ProsecutionSince January 2001, there have been 110 cases opened against traffickers inRomania and 148 traffickers have been prosecuted, including pimps, smugglersand recruiters. The police have dismantled 64 criminal groups involvedin trafficking in human beings and illegal migration. As trafficking across theborder is not a crime under the existing law, traffickers are prosecuted forother crimes related to prostitution, smuggling of migrants and violence. Theexisting law enforcement agencies and judicial system lack the expertise todeal with this problem effectively. As prostitution is illegal, the victim is stillmore often targeted in the legal process than the perpetrator.The crime of trafficking is considered to be one of the illegal activities connectedwith illegal migration and is treated as such. As a result, traffickedwomen and female illegal migrants are lumped together in one group and thetrafficked women and girls receive insufficient protection and are further victimised.There have been cases when the victims who testified against traffickerswere prosecuted and sentenced for prostitution and illegal bordercrossing. There has also been a case whereby returned victims were used fora press conference of the Police Trafficking Task Force, their faces shown onTV and names published in the press.In March 2001, the police organised an action called “The Moon”, during whichthey arrested all the sex workers in Bucharest and let them go after a coupleof hours. The action had no follow up and no clear purpose except of provingthe efficiency of the police and creating publicity for the new anti-traffickinginitiatives undertaken by the Ministry of the Interior.2. Current responses2.1 National Plan of Action and co-ordinationIn spring 2001, Romania established the National Task Force on Trafficking, toco-ordinate the efforts made by the Romanian Government to prevent andcombat trafficking. The chief of the General Directorate for combating organisedcrime was appointed as the National Co-ordinator. Additionally, an Inter-Ministerial Committee was established on the initiative of the Ministry of ForeignAffairs in co-operation with the Ministries of the Interior, Justice, Educa-58.Information from the Romanian Association Against AIDS (ARAS), interview with AlinaBocai, 23 July 2001, Bucharest.41
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