The connections between migration, people smuggling, human trafficking and modern slavery are frequent topics of conversation in the anti-trafficking space and particularly when we focus on Europe’s transit routes.  

In this new report are shocking facts around the numbers of men, women and children who took to the sea in the desperate journey for a better future, and the statistics around the loss of life and trauma experienced is clear for all to read:

“Since 2011, many countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have witnessed rising turmoil and deterioration in economic and living conditions due to armed conflicts, persecution and crackdown on dissent. Whereas safe, sustainable and legal migration pathways to Europe are lacking, hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war or extremely difficult conditions found no choice but to embark on irregular and increasingly deadly sea journeys to Europe. 

Smugglers exploit migrants’ despair, also due to the continued violence and insecurity in Libya where the majority of migrants start their sea journey, and charge them exorbitant amounts of money, then cramp them into unseaworthy boats and dinghies. As the fragile boats far exceed their maximum capacity, they are susceptible to sinking and vulnerable to pushbacks—causing the death and disappearance of hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers annually in Mediterranean waters. Data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) indicate that since 2014, the Mediterranean has witnessed about 176,406 crossing attempts by sea migrants from the coasts of North Africa and Turkey to the European coasts. Among them, as of December 2021, about 23,150 migrants have died or gone missing as a result of these attempts.

While people dying or gone missing in the process of migration through the Mediterranean are on the rise, the EU still doesn’t have a common legal framework covering Search and rescue (SAR) and disembarkation activities of EU Member States. On the contrary, it is constantly working to tighten asylum laws to limit the arrival of migrants to its southern coasts.  Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the with source countries and criminalizing non-governmental organizations saving lives in the Mediterranean. On the one hand, to stop the irregular flow of third country nationals, European states forcibly return migrants through the Mediterranean to unsafe countries such as Libya, without regard to the dire circumstances of forced return operations and to the degrading and inhumane conditions of prisons and detention centers in source countries. 

On the other hand, several EU countries have been imposing for years administrative and judicial restrictions on humanitarian NGOs working to rescue and aid migrants in the Mediterranean. Up to June 2021, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands and Spain initiated 58 administrative or criminal proceedings against humanitarian boats since 2016.   National authorities initiated proceedings against crew members or entire vessels, limited access to national territories, caused disembarkation delays and left rescued people at sea for more than 24 hours waiting for a place of safety, leading to the obstruction of life-saving activities, the increasing of migrants’ vulnerabilities, and eventually to migrants’ death or disappearance at sea.”

Read the full report

Source: https://heuni.fi/-/sarah

As practitioners working with women who may have experienced exploitation and abuse, it is very important that we share and learn from one another, and from organisations that publish resources.  The information below has a focus on gender-based violence which overlaps in so many aspects with human trafficking issues and trauma informed counselling and care.  The toolkit is a wonderful resource in several languages.

The European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations (HEUNI) is the European regional institute in the United Nations Criminal Justice and Crime Prevention programme network. HEUNI functions under the auspices of the Finnish Ministry of Justice as an independent research and policy-making institute.

HEUNI aims at a fair and just world by advancing humane and rational criminal justice policies and systems in the European region, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.  HEUNI is a bold front-runner in creating and sharing uncompromised knowledge on the prevention of crime within the framework of criminal justice. We engage policymakers, practitioners and researchers in frank discussions to tackle current problems. We develop innovative and action-oriented solutions to advance the rights of those affected by crime.

The SARAH (Safe, Aware, Resilient, Able and Heard – protecting and supporting migrant women victims of gender-based violence) project raises awareness on gender-based violence and on victims’ rights among migrant populations, and awareness of the challenges migrant populations face in accessing victim support services among policy-makers in 4 EU Member States, and develop tools to improve access to victim support services for migrant women victims of gender-based violence.

In the SARAH-podcast series migrant women discuss gender-based violence, and encourage others to speak up. In each of the podcasts (one in Arabic, Farsi, Somali and English) different marvellous women share their thoughts. 

SARAH Impact Toolkit:

Toolkit for Enhancing Counselling for Victims of Gender-Based Violence – 

Empowering Counsellors and Beneficiaries to Assess the Needs and the Impact of Counselling with Women in Migration.  The concept of this toolkit emerged from the desire of the partner organisations’ counsellors to incorporate to the counselling different ways to ensure that women in migration who have experienced gender-based violence are heard. The toolkit can be used to improve the quality and impact of counselling by assisting:

• the beneficiaries to understand their own strengths, resources and priorities

• the counsellor to make informed decisions about the possible steps in supporting the beneficiaries

• organisations and professionals in collecting data for impact evaluation as well as for advocacy.

The toolkit is available to download in English, German, Italian , Greek and Finnish

Source: RFA

Fighting a multi-million dollar business

The smuggling of Vietnamese nationals continues to be a lucrative $300 million business, the Council of Europe estimates. The complex network across Europe where each stage, each country, might be run by a different group, can make prosecution that much harder…

Court records show that the gang involved in the Essex 39 tragedy had a long-standing smuggling operation and profited £1 million (U.S. $1.35 million) in that month alone.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, crime operations have even used the tragedy to continue to recruit migrants, and bolster their bottom lines.  “People that are organizing this in Vietnam, they’ve actually used the deaths of the 39 people as a promotion type, by saying, ‘Yes those were the bad smugglers. They were the bad people to get you there. We do it properly. We can charge a little bit more but you’ll get there safely,’” said Kevin Hyland.

In Germany, the Federal Police Office is trying to combat human trafficking by going after other crimes connected to it.  

“For us it is very important that the different manifestations of this type of crime aren’t considered separately, but seen as a whole and connected. That means that we don’t consider smuggling as a separate crime, or human trafficking, or the illegal sale of cigarettes, as separate crimes,” said Chief Detective Nicole Baumann of the German Federal Police Office. Many Vietnamese illegals can be seen peddling cigarettes at busy commercial centers.

“We have to try to look at these forms of crime as under one roof, and every agency has to be practically involved in the prosecution.”

Germany’s federal police agents work closely with state police and customs and border agencies, youth welfare offices, even unions and professional counseling services, expanding control activities that could uncover human trafficking crimes. 

A key element for German law enforcement is to involve and cooperate with NGOs who provide cultural training and other forms of collaboration, and work with the government of the source country, Chief Detective Baumann said…

While tackling the demand for illegal and forced labor in Europe, anti-modern slavery experts agree, any approach to combat trafficking from Vietnam must tackle conditions in the source country, such as few educational or economic opportunities, that are pushing citizens to leave their homes and risk becoming trafficked.

Until governments start to take control of the options provided for their citizens, by providing education, training for work, and properly paying jobs, it will be difficult to stem the flow of migrants seeking better opportunities elsewhere.

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This is a very important article for Renate members as it covers a very serious subject about human trafficking throughout the continent of Europe from Romania, Serbia to the UK and in between.  It is not a new story but perhaps something that should be highlighted once again.

“Over the past five years at least 231 Vietnamese people were interce

pted trying to cross into Europe according to data from the Romanian border police. Hungarian police intercepted another 101 in the same period.

Experts like Vu estimate this is only a very small portion of Vietnamese who leave Romania into western Europe.  As a new modus operandi, Vietnamese citizens enter Romania legally, based on work visas, and are subsequently detected on their way out of the country, trying to illegally cross the border,” a spokesperson from the Romanian border police told the Observer. Social media plays a central role for smuggling gangs. Facebook groups visited by the Observer offer “VIP” routes in private cars out of Romania. Packages

 are advertised with the dialling codes of the destination countries, with buyers able to pick the “44” package for the UK, “49” for Germany and “33 

for France”. Prices fell during the pandemic, but a trip to the UK can still cost over £10,000.”

The trafficking, smuggling and exploitation  of Vietnamese nationals has been a great concern for many years, not least because of the tragedy in the UK when 39 people were found to have died in the back of a container on their journey to find a better life.  

Concerns were raised in 2016 when the former UK Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Kevin Hyland OBE commissioned a comprehensive report entitled “Combating modern slavery experienced by Vietnamese nationals en route to, and within, the UK” which was published in 2017.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/dec/25/revealed-the-secret-forced-labour-migration-route-from-vietnam-to-the-uk

The conversation around the new Nationality and Borders Bill continues to highlight the very serious concerns that the introduction of the bill will “create more people in this country who are vulnerable to exploitation” and “undermine” Britain’s ability to prosecute traffickers, the UK Anti-Slavery Commissioner said in an interview with the Independent 29.12.21.

Dame Sara Thornton said that “ministers are too often viewing modern slavery and human trafficking through an “immigration lens”, which is the “entire opposite approach” to the Modern Slavery Act 2015, a series of laws designed to combat slavery in the UK.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/modern-slavery-immigration-exploitation-priti-patel-dame-sara-thornton-b1982124.html

The Nationality and Borders Bill, which passed through the House of Commons earlier this month and is due to be scrutinised by the Lords in January, will tackle illegal immigration and the “underlying pull factors into the UK’s asylum system”, according to Ms Patel.
It contains a series of changes to modern slavery support – provided under the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) – which the home secretary claims will prevent people from being able to “frustrate immigration action”.
Currently, any individual whom NRM decision-makers assess to have a “reasonable” likelihood of having been a modern slavery victim is entitled to a 45-day “reflection period”, during which they are offered housing, financial support and counselling, and will not be removed from the UK. A “conclusive” decision is later made on their case. But the bill would disqualify victims who have been sentenced to prison for more than 12 months anywhere in the world from accessing NRM support, and limit the timeframe in which non-British survivors can disclose that they have suffered abuse.
It would also see refugees who arrive in Britain via unauthorised routes, such as via small boat in the Channel, denied an automatic right to asylum and instead regularly reassessed for removal to safe countries they passed through, and given reduced rights in the UK in the meantime. Dame Sara said the latter change, which would likely see many people unable to work or claim state benefits, would “create more people in this country who are very vulnerable, and vulnerable to exploitation”

https://newsconcerns.com/immigration-bill-will-lead-to-more-exploitation-in-uk-warns-modern-slavery-tsar/

On December 17th the Committee of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings met and published the reports following recent inspections of Malta and the UK.

Both of these countries have important links with Renate members and the summary reports lay out the highlights of the measures identified, and recommendations published by GRETA. A summary of points from the meeting are laid out below and there is a particular and important connection between the GRETA report and the recent research work that RENATE NETWORK conducted and published in 2021.

MALTA
Welcoming the measures taken and progress achieved by the Maltese authorities in implementing the Convention, and in particular:
the further development of the legislative framework, including increasing the minimum penalty for trafficking in human beings, excluding companies involved in human trafficking from public procurement procedures, and strengthening the protection and assistance of victims of crimes; 2 CP/Rec(2021)06
the adoption of a new National Action Plan on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings, covering the period 2020-2023; – the increase in the funding for victim assistance and the setting up of a safe house for victims of human trafficking.
the awareness-raising and training activities undertaken to prevent and combat child trafficking.
the efforts made to combat trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, through increased capacity and training of labour inspectors.
the decision to waive residence and work permit application fees for victims of trafficking.
the participation in international co-operation in the area of combating human trafficking, including by means of Joint Investigation Teams.

Recommendations

• Ensure the provision of information to presumed victims of human trafficking in asylum reception centres and immigration detention centres, including by developing and disseminating information materials on the rights of victims of trafficking, the services and assistance measures available and how to access them, and ensuring access to interpretation (paragraph 46);
• Make efforts to guarantee effective access to compensation for victims of human trafficking, in line with Article 15 (4) of the Convention.
• Introduce as an aggravating circumstance the offence of trafficking in human beings committed against a child, regardless of the means used (paragraph 88);
• Take measures to strengthen the criminal justice response to human trafficking and ensure that human trafficking cases lead to effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions.
• Take additional steps to ensure that victims and witnesses of human trafficking are provided with effective and appropriate protection from potential retaliation or intimidation.
• Review the Criminal Code with a view to ensuring that all child victims of human trafficking, including children older than 16, are afforded special protection measures (paragraph 140).
• Respect the principle of non-refoulement of victims of trafficking (paragraph 174).
• Take additional steps to proactively identify victims of trafficking, including by screening asylum seekers, in particular all unaccompanied children, for indicators of human trafficking upon or swiftly after their arrival in Malta, and enabling specialised NGOs to have regular access to facilities for asylum seekers and detained migrants in order to proactively identify victims of trafficking. This involves providing information on the rights of victims of trafficking, the services and assistance measures available and how to access them (paragraph 175).
  (https://rm.coe.int/recommendation-on-the-implementation-of-the-council-of-europe-conventi/1680a4e8ce)

  UNITED KINGDOM
  Welcoming the measures taken and progress achieved by the UK authorities in implementing the Convention, and in particular:

• the independent review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the UK Government’s commitment to implementing the majority of the review’s recommendations.
• the efforts to establish specialised anti-trafficking bodies and to provide training and guidance to relevant professionals.
• the reforms of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) intended to improve victim identification and support, including the setting up of a Single Competent Authority and independent multiagency panels of experts to review negative identification decisions.
• the increased support for confirmed victims in England and Wales from 45 days to a minimum of 90 days through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract.
• the steps taken to prevent and eradicate human trafficking from businesses and supply chains, including in the public sector; – the action taken to prevent and combat trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, including through the increased capacity and budget of the Gangmasters Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA).
• the active participation in multilateral and bilateral international co-operation in the fight against trafficking in human beings, including the setting up Joint Investigation Teams with a number of countries.

Recommendations

1. Take further steps to facilitate and guarantee access to justice for victims of human trafficking, in particular by ensuring that:

• victims, and in particular children, receive legal assistance during the identification process and are properly informed of their rights and options before entering the NRM.
  access to free legal aid is ensured across the UK and is granted in a timely manner.
• the assistance of a lawyer is ensured for state compensation proceedings, by making the Exceptional Case Funding scheme accessible in practice to victims seeking compensation before the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

2. Make additional efforts to guarantee effective access to compensation for victims of human trafficking, in particular by:

• enabling all victims of trafficking, including undocumented migrants, to exercise their right to compensation, and carrying out a review of the “illegality defence”, aimed at enabling victims of trafficking who are irregular migrants to seek unpaid salaries before employments tribunal.
• ensuring that the Family Worker Exemption and the “live in domestic workers exemption” do not prevent domestic workers who are victims of trafficking from accessing compensation.
• ensuring that victims of labour exploitation have accessible remedies for obtaining more than two years owed in National Minimum Wage.
• making full use of the legislation on the freezing and forfeiture of assets and international co-operation to secure compensation to victims of human trafficking.

Additional Recommendations can be found on the Council of Europe website:
(https://rm.coe.int/recommendation-on-the-implementation-of-the-council-of-europe-conventi/1680a4e8d0)

It is impossible to know how many people have died and been
discarded along the way, Tran Hoang Viet says.

DECEMBER 18TH 2021

A slew of raids in recent months conducted by German police and partnering authorities appear to be taking aim at Vietnamese smuggling and human trafficking networks operating in Germany and beyond. Meanwhile on France’s northern coast, the French government, with financial assistance from the United Kingdom, has doubled the number of patrols in response to migrants crossing the English Channel.
‘Large unknown dimension’

Police crime statistics show that violations by Vietnamese suspects against foreigner law provisions increased by 40% from 2018-2020, to a total of 2,887 suspects from 1,734, Chief Detective Nicole Baumann with the German Federal Police told RFA. The annual German Federal Situation Snapshot on Organized Crime in 2019 pointed to nine crime organizations led by Vietnamese nationals, linked to crimes like people smuggling, drug trafficking, and property and wage theft.
At a conference this month reviewing modern slavery in Vietnam, the International Organization for Migration’s Vietnam Chief of Mission Parak Mihyung noted that “COVID-19 has worsened poverty and severely impacted vulnerable communities” and migrants are much more likely to become victims of labour and sexual exploitations as economic prospects worsen (VN Express).

Coached to keep quiet
Authorities and anti-slavery advocates have noted the difficulty in getting victims of exploitation, whether it be sexual or labour, to testify against their perpetrators.
Kevin Hyland, a former Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner for the United Kingdom who now serves as a member of the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Actions against Trafficking (GRETA) says that as Vietnamese migrants make their way through Europe, the longer their journey, the more debt they incur and the greater their vulnerability becomes.
“What was very clear was as they got further down the line, their exploitation got worse and worse and worse, so they became very, very emotionally damaged and psychologically damaged. But they still would not want to reach out for help because they still felt the pull or the control that could come from Vietnam, from the original people they had to pay the fee to get the job, was greater than their willingness to engage with the authorities.”

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/vietnam-trafficking-12182021100952.html

On December 15th a news report was published by the Council of Europe about the introduction of a National Referral Mechanism framework in the Middle East and North Africa. It is important that the links between the ongoing work in Europe and other parts of the world are understood, as many individuals who are trafficked and exploited in Europe originate from other continents. As a transit and source country Tunisia was invited by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to adhere to the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in 2018.

Based on a human rights approach to detect and identify human trafficking victims  and to refer them to appropriate services that can ensure support adapted to their  needs, the establishment of NRMs is one of the key recommendations of the Council  of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings [1]. It provides a  platform for multi-sectoral co-operation enabling all competent institutions to better  protect the human rights of victims, taking into consideration the specific needs of  women and children. 

It is aimed at professionals – from public officials and members of civil society, to  representatives of international organisations and the media – who work directly or  indirectly to help victims of human trafficking. The NRM was launched on 15 December  during a hybrid conference held online and at the Municipality of Tunis. Among those  attending are Raoudha Laabidi, President of the National Body for Combating  Trafficking in Persons, Marcus Cornaro, Ambassador of the European Union to Tunisia,  Pilar Morales, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tunisia and representatives of  ministries, independent and governmental bodies, civil society, international  organisations, experts and legal professionals from countries of the Southern  Mediterranean region and sub-Saharan Africa. 

https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/tunisia-launches-new-initiative-to-better-detect-and-help victims-of-human-trafficking