Giving voice to the voiceless in a report launched online 27 June 2019, leading Catholic Theologian, Dr. Anna Rowlands, writing about the experiences – including faith experience- of people living in asylum destitution and the experiences of the refugee support community at the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) UK.

The report analyses barriers to justice and dignity faced in the UK by destitute and detained asylum seekers. The report draws upon interviews with JRS staff and volunteers and especially asylum seekers at the Jesuit Refugee Services UK who have struggled to gain asylum as refugees, many of whom have experienced detention.

The report finds that asylum seekers in destitution and detention feel dehumanised by the asylum system but find strength through community membership, faith and volunteering.

For our Welfare and not for our harm: a faith-based report on the experience of the refugee and refugee support community at JRS UK 2017-2019 is available at: http://www.jrsuk.net/

Prepared by Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications.

While the work to prevent and combat human trafficking is very demanding and has many guises, it is important to take opportunities to acknowledge and celebrate all that has been gained as a result.

RENATE members at Albania Hope share news of such opportunities in Tropoje, where they attended four meetings related to the mission past, present and future.

The following areas were covered:

1. The development of an advisory team in the region;
2. The women’s group developments in many villages;
3. The future summer camp in Bajram Curri;
4. Listening to the issues and successes of the women’s group in Raja;
5. A visit with a local family.
6. A visit to the MWL craft kiosk up in the valley of Valbona, which is now very successful and fast becoming a source of identity, pride and income for the women who share their artistic gifts and talents in providing the variety of crafts for sale there. Through the kiosk, it is hoped that girls will have sustained employment in their own locality, rendering them less vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation

It is hoped that this news item might give new ideas to other RENATE members and to open up the possibilities for sharing best practice, as well as the importance of acknowledgement and celebration!

Prepared by Anne Kelleher

Coinciding with World Refugee Day, the United States State Department launched its Annual Trafficking in Persons Report, for 2019.

While the Report gives an up-to-date profile on 187 countries worldwide with regards to their addressing the crime of Human Trafficking, in launching the report, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo referred to the report as being also invaluable in encouraging every person in the world to actively engage in the work to bring an end to human trafficking and exploitation, saying ‘’Each one of us can be a champion for freedom and use our specific strengths to help eradicate human trafficking. Individuals can learn the common indicators for human trafficking and call in suspicious activities to the local or national hotline. Businesses can take meaningful steps to eliminate forced labour from their supply chains. First responders can enhance training and put in place screening to help identify trafficking victims. Government leaders can prioritize investigating and prosecuting labour and sex trafficking cases wherever they occur.’’

This call to action was echoed in the address by John Cotton Richmond, the US Ambassador at Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, inviting governments around the world to embrace the full meaning of the Palermo Protocol and implement their domestic laws in a manner that protects all victims and punishes all traffickers.

While each of us will be interested in the status of our own respective countries whether we have moved up/down a Tier or remain on the same Tier as previous years, there is a wealth of information in the report itself, which is broken into the following categories;

The National Nature of Human Trafficking: Strengthening Government responses and Dispelling Misperceptions.

The National Nature of Human Trafficking, citing examples from Brazil, Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Yemen, the UK and the US.

The Palermo Protocol and Transnationality.

Fundamentals of Implementing the Palermo Protocol.

Challenges and advances in Data collection.

Exploitative Sham Marriages and Human Trafficking in Europe.

Dedicated Human Trafficking Prosecution Units.

National Human Trafficking Hotlines.

Promoting Human Trafficking Survivor Leadership and Input.

Promising Practices in the eradication of Trafficking in Persons: Increased focus on Labour Recruitment.

Child Soldiers Prevention Action Lists.

Methodology of the Report itself- Tier Placement; a Guide to the Tier System; Funding restrictions for Tier 3 countries.

Data on Global Law enforcement.

List of countries in the 2019 TIP Report that are not States Parties to the Palermo Protocol.

Trafficking Victims Protection Act Minimum Standards.

Victims Stories.

The TIP Heroes of 2019- (Burkino Faso; Hungary; Ecuador; Italy; Tunisia and Zimbabwe).

Tier Placements and Regional Maps.

Watch live: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers remarks at the release of the 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fICIZd0H-1o&fbclid=IwAR2pEXqrJ8FCH9k4W2PQw5CaIXqTN0sLiuG7PyLEH6Nb_UqK45PJrRexZYU

Full report available at: https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-trafficking-in-persons-report/

TIP Report June 29 2018

End.

We rejoice with Gabriella Bottani, smc, coordinator of Talitha Kum on being recognised amongst the TIP Heroes when the TIP Report for 2019 was launched on Thursday, 20 June, 2019.

In her address, Gabriella acknowledged her fellow TIP Heroes, identified the underlying causes contributing to Human Trafficking which include unequal power structures in contemporary societies, with reference specifically to women, children and indigenous peoples; inadequate migration policies in an increasingly interconnected world and an economic model that exploits human beings and environmental resources for the benefit of a few in contrast with the exploitation of many.

Gabriella concluded her speech with an invitation to one and all to’’… courageously   raise the bar, and our dreams, in order to open new pathways toward freedom. This freedom is possible when it is based on a mutually transformative relationship, at the personal level, between survivors and anti-trafficking activists, and the organizations we represent, but also at the geo-political level, between countries of origin, transit, and destination. Let us stand up, together!’’

For Gabriella’s full speech:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m0w6tv_lqYP1uGp-dIyHkgJNJxYDTDMi/view?usp=embed_facebook&fbclid=IwAR2CSKpzIgj871H15BqBP9XA8FhohNGLzO0usq9CJla8nHHGWA9yt1X2HMw

On 18 June 2019, MWL Foundation’s staff members successfully completed the full Character Driven Leadership training, led by Edlira Gjoni, Next Generation Leader, McCain Institute for International Leadership.

The final training day and ceremony concluding the Advanced Level of Character Driven Leadership Training and certificates were awarded to all staff members by Edlira Gjoni and board members of the Centre for Public Impact. Also present for the ceremony, via Skype, were Lieutenant General Benjamin C. Freakley USA Retired, Senior Advisor, and Ambassador Michael C. Polt, Senior Director of the McCain Institute.

Mary Ward Loreto Foundation team members are very thankful to Edlira Gjoni and the McCain Institute for International Leadership, for this outstanding opportunity for professional and personal development.

Through this training, the team is being transformed into advocates for common core values of integrity, responsibility, respect, trust, economic opportunity, freedom, and human dignity.

https://www.albaniahope.com/…/mwl-staff-final-training-day…/

Albanians, especially the youth, are one of the most trafficked populations in Europe. Despite only having a population of 2.8 million, Albanian victims of exploitation are found in almost every country in Europe; the UK alone confirmed 1274 victims in 2017-18. These are the lucky ones who made it through the complicated government system. Countless more in the UK and all over Europe will never be recorded.

Youth unemployment hovers around 23%, meaning around a quarter of people between 16 and 24 are neither in education or work. Traffickers offering high salary ‘jobs’ in Europe easily prey on those who are concerned about their job prospects. But it is not just those out of work who are vulnerable; university students are increasingly being trafficked through the ‘boyfriend’ or ‘partying’ models. In these models, personal relationships, formed when students are first living away from home, are used to manipulate people into exploitation.

Informed by values-laden thinking and ethical leadership, the ARISE Foundation offer possibilities for grant-aided training and support to organisations which work to combat human trafficking and effect change at grassroots level.

More at: https://www.arise.foundation/news/awareness-raising-the-key-to-sustainable-resilience-building?fbclid=IwAR0tGN01vxfqE0HUe_KYxYBOKgv1q4XdQwHVEbHORx_1tDY1kjb2r9GSl-s

Adapted by Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications.