Trafficking in Persons Report, 2006

Released by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
June 5, 2006

The movement to end trafficking in persons is more than a human rights objective; it is a matter of global security.

President Bush's National Security Strategy reaffirmed our belief that promoting democracy and human rights is the most effective long-term strategy for ensuring stability. Included in the Strategy's goals for ending tyranny, spreading freedom, and championing human dignity is our commitment to ending human trafficking: "Trafficking in persons is a form of modern-day slavery, and we strive for its total abolition. Future generations will not excuse those who turn a blind eye to it."

Human traffickers prey on the most vulnerable and turn a commercial profit at the expense of innocent lives. The State Department's efforts to end this evil trade exemplify transformational diplomacy. We work with international partners to secure the freedom of those who are exploited and call on governments to be effective and accountable in prosecuting those who exploit.

The movement to end trafficking in persons continues to gain momentum, thanks to Presidential leadership, Congressional commitment, and support from innumerable faithbased, community, human rights, and women's groups, as well as from individual citizens. Thank you for joining this abolitionist movement on behalf of the world's most vulnerable citizens.

I. Introduction

Nepal/India: Reena was brought to India from Nepal by her maternal aunt, who forced the 12-year-old girl into a New Delhi brothel shortly after arrival. The brothel owner made her have sex with many clients each day. Reena could not leave because she did not speak Hindi and had no one to whom she could turn. She frequently saw police officers collect money from the brothel owners for every new girl brought in. The brothel owner coached Reena and all the girls to tell anyone who asked that they were 25 years old and had voluntarily joined the brothel. Reena escaped after two years and now devotes her life to helping other trafficking victims escape.

The Department of State is required by law to submit a Report each year to the U.S. Congress on foreign governments’ efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons. This Report is the sixth annual TIP Report. It is intended to raise global awareness, to highlight the growing efforts of the international community to combat human trafficking, and to encourage foreign governments to take effective actions to counter all forms of trafficking in persons. The Report has increasingly focused the efforts of a growing community of nations on sharing information and partnering in new and important ways. A country that fails to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons, per U.S. law, receives a "Tier 3" assessment in this Report. Such an assessment could trigger the withholding of non-humanitarian, non-trade-related assistance from the United States to that country.

In assessing foreign governments’ efforts, the TIP Report highlights the "three P’s"— prosecution, protection, and prevention. But a victim-centered approach to trafficking requires us equally to address the "three R’s"— rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration. The U.S. law that guides these efforts, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, as amended, makes clear from the outset that the purpose of combating human trafficking is to ensure just and effective punishment of traffickers, to protect their victims, and to prevent trafficking from occurring.

More than 150 years ago, the United States fought a devastating war that culminated in the elimination of slavery in this country. Although most nations have eliminated servitude as a state-sanctioned practice, a modern form of human slavery has emerged. It is a growing global threat to the lives and freedom of millions of men, women, and children. Today, only in the most brutal and repressive regimes, such as Burma and North Korea, is slavery still state sponsored. Instead, human trafficking often involves organized crime groups who make huge sums of money at the expense of trafficking victims and our societies.

Saudi Arabia: Serena arrived from the Philippines to work as a housemaid in Saudi Arabia. Upon her arrival, her employer confiscated her passport and, with his wife, began to beat and verbally abuse her. On one occasion, her female employer pushed her down the stairs; another time, her male employer choked her until she passed out. She was not allowed to leave the house. As her passport had been confiscated, she could not flee. Serena was so unhappy, she was driven to attempt suicide. Once at the hospital, she was able to escape from her captors. She has sought redress through the Saudi court system and is waiting for justice in a shelter.

Every year we add to our knowledge of the trafficking phenomenon. In the 2004 Report, we used U.S. Government data that disaggregated transnational trafficking in persons by age and gender for the first time. This data shows that, of the estimated 600,000 to 800,000 men, women, and children trafficked across international borders each year, approximately 80 percent are women and girls, and up to 50 percent are minors. The data also demonstrated that the majority of transnational victims were trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. With a focus on transnational trafficking in persons, however, these numbers do not include millions of victims around the world who are trafficked within their own national borders. The 2006 Report sheds new light on the alarming trafficking of people for purposes of slave labor, often in their own countries. This is a form of human trafficking that can be harder to identify and estimate than sex trafficking, yet it may be much greater in size when we count domestic trafficking. It does not necessarily involve the same criminal networks profiting from transnational trafficking for sexual exploitation. More often, individuals are guilty of, for example, enslaving one domestic servant or hundreds of unpaid, forced workers at a factory.

A wide range of estimates exists on the scope and magnitude of modern-day slavery, both internal and transnational. The International Labor Organization (ILO)—the United Nations (UN) agency charged with addressing labor standards, employment, and social protection issues—estimates there are 12.3 million people in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude at any given time; other estimates range from 4 million to 27 million.

Economic globalization has encouraged an unprecedented mobilization of unskilled and low-skilled labor in response to demand in labor-deficit markets for construction, manufacturing, agriculture, and domestic work. Migrant workers from less developed South and East Asian countries fill relatively short-term labor contracts in more developed Asian, European, and Near Eastern countries at an ever increasing rate. The ILO estimates the population of migrant laborers to be 120 million. Saudi Arabia (7.5 million), the United Arab Emirates (2.3 million), Malaysia (2.3 million) and Kuwait (1.3 million) lead the markets in demand for foreign migrant workers. The Philippines (7 million), Indonesia (3 million), Bangladesh (3 million), and Sri Lanka (1.5 million) are the leading suppliers of these workers. There is nothing wrong per se with migrant labor in this era of globalization but as shown below, abuses can lead to modern-day slavery. Structuring this mass movement of labor from supply to demand countries are contracts offered by recruiters representing labor agencies and employers; contracts between labor agencies and employers sanctioned by the state as "sponsors"; and overarching memoranda of understanding between source and demand governments. Contracts offered to workers by recruiters cover basic conditions of employment—including wages, hours, and duration—and cite the location and identity of the employer. The level of regulation and oversight of these contracts varies widely. Workers are prone to abuse and the risk of involuntary servitude when contracts are not honored or are replaced with new contracts containing less favorable terms after arrival in a destination country. Governments of source countries seek to prevent such exploitation by negotiating agreements with demand country governments. The Philippines government, with its strong Overseas Employment Agency, stands out as a leader in managed labor migration by protecting its overseas workers. Other labor source governments are less vigorous in protecting their workers abroad.

Demand country employers and their labor agents seek maximum efficiency from foreign contract laborers. When protections and regulations are insufficient to deter abuses, unscrupulous employers look for the most vulnerable groups of foreign workers to prey on and exploit. Some governments tacitly condone this predatory behavior. Clearly, a "race to the bottom" is underway in some key labor demand countries, as the least protected populations of workers are sought, including the Vietnamese, Bangladeshis, and Nepalese, while "troublesome" workers who demand rights and have their governments backing them up are increasingly shunned. Such selection is possible as long as universal standards against involuntary servitude are not enforced. In bilateral agreements, source governments should require cases of involuntary servitude to be criminally prosecuted in demand country courts. These agreements should also: require the registration of contracts with all parties; hold labor agencies responsible for the welfare of the workers; and require insurance, funded by labor agencies, to protect workers in the event of unforeseen problems such as an employer's bankruptcy.

A contract labor agency in Bangladesh recently advertised work at a garment factory in Jordan. The ad promises a three-year contract, $125 per month, eight hour workdays, six days of work a week, paid overtime, free accommodation, free medical care, free food, and no advance fees. Instead, upon arrival, workers (who were obliged to pay exorbitant advance fees) had passports confiscated, were confined in miserable conditions, and prevented from leaving the factory. Months passed without pay, food was inadequate, and sick workers were tortured. Because most workers had borrowed money, at inflated interest rates, to get the contracts, they were obliged, through debt, to stay.

The nationalities of trafficking victims are as diverse as the world’s cultures. Some leave developing countries, seeking to improve their lives through low-skilled jobs in more prosperous countries. Others fall victim to forced or bonded labor in their own countries. Some families give children to related or unrelated adults who promise education and opportunity—but deliver the children into slavery for money. Conventional approaches to dealing with forced or bonded labor usually focus on compliance, in line with international conventions (i.e., ILO Conventions 29, 39, 105 and 182). These approaches seek to have exploitative industries comply with the law simply by releasing victims or offering financial compensation.

Approaches to combating forced labor that rely on labor standards can be weak in punishing the employers responsible for this form of trafficking. Forced labor must be punished as a crime, through vigorous prosecutions. While most countries in the world have criminalized forced labor, they do little to prosecute offenders, in part due to the lack of awareness of forced labor issues among law enforcement officials. As well, female victims of forced or bonded labor, especially women and girls in domestic servitude, are often sexually abused.

Over the next year, the Department of State, as directed by Congress, intends to continue focusing more attention on forced labor and bonded labor, while maintaining our campaign against sex trafficking.

Many of the foreign contract workers found in conditions of involuntary servitude in labor "demand" countries are required to pay substantial fees before they are accepted for work. These fees are paid to either the labor recruiter in the source country or the labor company in the demand country or it is shared by both. The payments demanded of foreign workers are often in the range of $4,000-$11,000 and are described as a "job placement fee" or "employment fee." These fees are usually illegal under source country laws and are banned by international covenant. There is no rational basis for requiring low-skilled workers to pay fees; recruitment agencies in source countries and labor agencies in demand countries are paid commissions by employers who have demanded the services of low-skilled foreign workers. By seeking to extract payments from workers themselves, labor companies are "double-dipping"—and imposing a heavy debt burden that contributes to bonded labor or involuntary servitude. Research on involuntary servitude among migrant contract workers finds a strong link between forced labor conditions and the heavy fees or debt imposed on workers by labor recruitment agencies in the source country.

Private employment agencies should not charge, directly or indirectly, any fees or costs to workers. This is a principle that is gaining increased acceptance and attention around the world, as some labor source countries criminalize the imposition of unreasonable costs on workers. It is the responsibility of labor source country governments to adequately regulate labor recruitment agencies to ensure that laborers going abroad for contract work are not saddled with inappropriate costs that too often induce debt bondage later. Labor recruitment firms that engage in this highly exploitative practice should be punished criminally. Administrative sanctions such as fines and business closures are not sufficient to deter this crime. It is the responsibility of the receiving or "demand" country governments to proactively screen workers to ensure they are not victimized by debt bondage or forced labor; when identified, criminal investigations leading to potential prosecutions should be the response.

As with the 2005 Report, this Report places several countries on Tier 3 primarily as a result of their failure to address trafficking for forced labor among foreign migrant workers. A global effort to eliminate human trafficking is building momentum, as a result of the victim-centered TVPA, this annual Report, strong bipartisan U.S. leadership, increased attention from international organizations, devoted NGOs, and creative media focus. Nations are increasingly working together to close trafficking routes, prosecute and convict traffickers, and protect and reintegrate trafficking victims. We hope this year’s Report inspires people to make even greater progress.

Niger/Mali: The parents of 12-yearold Malik were convinced by a Koranic teacher—one of a revered group in Niger—that he would take the young boy to Mali, for further education. But once Malik and other Nigerien boys arrived in Mali from Niger, they were denied schooling and were forced by the teacher to beg in the streets for long hours to earn money for him. Malik eventually escaped. Strangers helped him return to his village in Niger where his family received him joyously after hearing of his ordeal.

This Report sheds greater light on a trafficking phenomenon seen increasingly in Asia and the Near East—servitude imposed on a large number of migrant laborers who accept contracts in other countries for low-skilled work in construction, manufacturing, agriculture and as domestic workers. Unlike undocumented migrants who tend to be smuggled into a country illegally, these migrant workers are recruited legitimately in their home countries, usually in less developed countries, and travel to wealthier countries where low-cost foreign labor is in demand. After arrival, a portion of these migrant workers face unscrupulous labor agencies or employers who place them into a state of involuntary servitude. This can become forced labor or bonded labor, depending on the tools of coercion used to compel workers to enter into or continue in a state of servitude. A number of tactics are used by abusive labor agents or employers, including: changing the conditions of employment from those stipulated in contracts signed before the workers left their home country; confiscating and holding travel documents (passports, airline tickets, and alien resident identification cards); confinement; threatening physical force; and withholding wages.

The causes of this form of labor trafficking fall into two general categories: abuse of contracts and local laws that govern the recruitment and employment of migrant laborers; and the orchestrated placement of heavy costs and debts on these laborers in the source country or state, often with the complicity or even support of labor agencies and employers in the destination country or state. Some abuses of contracts and difficult conditions of employment do not in themselves constitute involuntary servitude, although use or threat of physical force or restraint to compel a worker to enter into or continue labor or service is indicative of forced labor. Costs imposed on laborers for the "privilege" of working abroad are against international standards and place laborers in a situation highly vulnerable to debt bondage. However, these costs alone do not constitute debt bondage or involuntary servitude. When combined with exploitative practices employed by unscrupulous labor agents or employers in the destination country, these costs or debts, when excessive, become a form of debt bondage.

A person may decide to travel to another location for a job, within his or her own country or abroad, and still subsequently fall into involuntary servitude. Some governments and law enforcement agencies mistakenly focus on the voluntary nature of a person's transnational movement, and fail to identify the more important element of compelled service or forced labor that can occur after someone moves for employment. Movement to the new location is incidental. The force, fraud or coercion exercised on that person to perform or remain in service to a "master" is the defining element of trafficking in modern usage. The person who is trapped in compelled service after initially voluntarily migrating, or taking a job willingly, is considered a trafficking victim. The boy forced into a commercial fishing business on Lake Volta in Ghana is as much a victim of trafficking in persons as the Thai worker brought to the U.S. on a legal seasonal farm work visa and forced to work in conditions not described in the original contract, with the threat of being deported without pay if he fails to comply with the "new rules."

The Ukrainian woman who is lured to London through the fraudulent offer of a modeling job and then prostituted is as much a victim of trafficking in persons as the teenage Brazilian girl who is pushed into prostitution in a seaside resort town by her family. The forms of servitude and faces of those it victimizes are myriad.

The U.S. Government continues to learn about the scope and nature of human trafficking. In this Report, we have tried to point out areas where information is sparse and raise issues that merit further investigation. In some cases, lack of information or false information from undemocratic governments may have limited this Report. Given these qualifications, the 2006 TIP Report represents an updated, global look at the nature and scope of modern-day slavery, and the broad range of actions being taken by governments around the world to confront and eliminate it.

Uganda: Michael was 15 when he was kidnapped by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to serve as a combatant in the Ugandan insurgent force. During his forced service in the LRA, he was made to kill a boy who had tried to escape. He also watched another boy being hacked to death because he did not alert the guards when his friend successfully escaped.

Although victims of sex trafficking experience a grotesque range of health problems, the global public health impact of sex trafficking has not been quantified. Reviewing regional studies offers a sense of how physically and psychologically traumatizing sex trafficking is. For example, a study of women and girls trafficked for prostitution in East Africa reported widespread rape, physical abuse, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and HIV/AIDs.[1] An assessment in Nepal of trafficking in girls found that 38% of rescued victims suffered from HIV/AIDs, as well as STIs and tuberculosis (TB).[2] In a study of women trafficked to the European Union, health impacts included extreme violence that resulted in broken bones, loss of consciousness, and gang rape. Complications related to abortions, gastrointestinal problems, unhealthy weight loss, lice, suicidal depression, alcoholism, and drug addiction were also reported.[3] Another study of women trafficked to the European Union found that 95% of victims had been violently assaulted or coerced into a sexual act, and over 60% of victims reported fatigue, neurological symptoms, gastrointestinal problems, back pain, vaginal discharges, and gynecological infections.[4] Less obvious health consequences of sex trafficking can include cervical cancer, caused by the human papillomavirus, which is more common among women who have sexual encounters with many men.

While there are few large health studies on trafficking victims, many well-designed studies on the health consequences of prostitution are useful in understanding the health impact of sex trafficking. For example, two studies from India found HIV rates were higher among prostituted girls than among prostituted women (12.5% vs. 5.4% and 27.7% vs. 8.4%).[5]

To better understand the range and interrelationship of health problems associated with sex trafficking, health problems can be grouped into six categories including:

Collecting data based on these categories of health will permit NGOs and government agencies to develop evidence-based interventions for prevention and care of victims as well as to focus resources according to the identified needs of the victims. On a larger scale, data will facilitate the development of treatment guidelines as well as public health recommendations to address sex trafficking. This approach requires leadership from public health professionals and the application of traditional public health methodologies and strategies.

1 Pearson, E. "Study on Trafficking in Women in East Africa." GTZ. December 2003
2 Bal Kumar KC, Subedi G, Gurung YB, Adhikari KP. "Nepal Trafficking in Girls With Special Reference to Prostitution: A Rapid Assessment." International Labor Organization. November 2001
3 Zimmerman, Cathy. The Health Risks and Consequences of Trafficking in Women and Adolescents: Findings from a European study. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 2003. http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/hpu/docs/trafficking final.pdf
4 Zimmerman, Cathy. Stolen Smiles: A Summery Report on the Physical and Psychological Consequences of Women and Adolescents Trafficked in Europe. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 2006
5 Sarkar K, Bal B, Mukherjee R, Saha MK, Chakraborty S, Niyogi SK, Bhattachary SK. "Young age is a risk factor for HIV among female sex workers-An experience from India." Journal of Infection, 2005, (vol):1-5. and Sarkar K, Bal B, Mukherjee R, Niyogi SK, Saha MK, Bhattacharya SK. "Epidemiology of HIV Infection among Brothel-based Sex Workers in Kolkata, India." Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition. 2005;23(3):231-235.

Azerbaijan/UAE: After her father died when she was 9, Nayla was given to an orphanage. But her mother took her from the orphanage and sold her to traffickers who brought her to Dubai. She was prostituted in clubs in Dubai until she was 13 years old. After the Dubai police discovered her illegal status, Nayla was deported back to Azerbaijan. Once she returned to Azerbaijan, she was prostituted for three more years before becoming pregnant. She contracted AIDS either in Dubai or in Baku and gave birth to an HIV-positive baby last year.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children call on governments to take adequate steps to protect victims of trafficking. Such protection is only possible if there is adequate identification of the victims of trafficking. The 2005 Report emphasized the need to screen vulnerable groups of people in order to identify victims of trafficking. The assessments contained in this year’s Report reveal that much work remains to be done. Self-Identification: A Myth. Some governments continue to rely on a "complaint-based" system of identifying trafficking crimes and trafficking victims. Assuming that an individual victim of trafficking will report the crime to appropriate authorities or will identify his or her status as a trafficking victim at the first opportunity, these governments respond only to reported cases. This reactive approach to trafficking is not adequate and does not fulfill the TVPA’s standard for victim protection.

The Reality. Few victims are willing to identify themselves upon initial contact with law enforcement authorities. They are fearful of real or imagined reprisals and are still undergoing trauma from the servitude experience. They cannot and should not be expected to immediately report objectively on the dimensions of their exploitation.

Proactive Screening: The Standard. Adequate victim protection requires proactive measures by governments to identify trafficking victims through careful and thorough interviews and counseling. Law enforcement authorities should be given training on how to identify indications of trafficking. Granting victims temporary shelter in a comfortable environment allows suspected victims of trafficking to receive counseling and to assess options, including their assistance with the prosecution of traffickers.

The Human and Social Costs of Trafficking

Victims of human trafficking pay a horrible price. Psychological and physical harm, including disease and stunted growth, often have permanent effects. In many cases the exploitation of trafficking victims is progressive: a child trafficked into one form of labor may be further abused in an other. It is a brutal reality of the modern-day slave trade that its victims are frequently bought and sold many times over—often sold initially by family members. Victims forced into sex slavery are often subdued with drugs and subjected to extreme violence. Victims trafficked for sexual exploitation face physical and emotional damage from violent sexual activity, forced substance abuse, exposure to sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, food deprivation, and psychological torture. Some victims suffer permanent damage to their reproductive organs. Many victims die as a result of being trafficked. When the victim is trafficked to a location where he or she cannot speak or understand the language, this compounds the psychological damage caused by isolation and domination by traffickers.

The Human Rights Dimension. Fundamentally, trafficking in persons violates universal human rights to life, liberty, and freedom. Trafficking of children violates the inherent right of a child to grow up in a protective environment and the right to be free from all forms of abuse and exploitation.

Promoting Social Breakdown. The loss of family and community support networks makes trafficking victims vulnerable to traffickers’ demands and threats, and contributes in several ways to the breakdown of social structures. Trafficking tears children from their parents and extended family. The profits from trafficking often allow the practice to take root in a particular community, which is then repeatedly exploited as a ready source of victims. The danger of becoming a trafficking victim can lead vulnerable groups such as children and young women to go into hiding, with adverse effects on their schooling or family structure. The loss of education reduces victims’ future economic opportunities and increases their vulnerability to being re-trafficked in the future. Victims who are able to return to their communities often find themselves stigmatized or ostracized. Recovery from the trauma, if it ever occurs, can take a lifetime.

Fueling Organized Crime. The profits from human trafficking fuel other criminal activities. According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, human trafficking generates an estimated $9.5 billion in annual revenue. It is closely connected with money laundering, drug trafficking, document forgery, and human smuggling. Where organized crime flourishes, governments and the rule of law are undermined and weakened.

Depriving Countries of Human Capital and Inhibiting Development. Trafficking has a disastrous impact on labor markets, contributing to an irretrievable loss of human potential. Some effects of trafficking include depressed wages, diminished workforce productivity, loss of remittances, and an undereducated generation. These effects lead to the loss of future productivity and earning power. Forcing children to work, and denying them access to education, reinforces the cycle of poverty and illiteracy that represses national development. When forced or bonded labor involves a significant part of a country’s population, this form of trafficking retards the country's advancement, because generation after generation of victims remain mired in poverty.

Public Health Costs. Victims of trafficking often endure brutal conditions that result in physical, sexual, and psychological trauma. Sexually transmitted viruses and infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, and HIV/AIDS are often the result of being used in prostitution. Anxiety, insomnia, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder are common psychological manifestations among trafficked victims. Unsanitary and crowded living conditions, coupled with poor nutrition, foster a host of adverse health conditions such as scabies, tuberculosis, and other communicable diseases. The most egregious abuses are often borne by children, who are more easily controlled and forced into domestic service, armed conflict, and other hazardous forms of work.

Erosion of Government Authority. Many governments struggle to exercise full law enforcement authority over their national territory, particularly where corruption is prevalent. Armed conflicts, natural disasters, and political or ethnic struggles can create large populations of internally displaced persons, who are vulnerable to trafficking. Human trafficking operations further undermine government efforts to exert authority, threatening the security of vulnerable populations. Many governments are unable to protect women and children kidnapped from their homes and schools or from refugee camps. Moreover, bribes paid to law enforcement, immigration officials, and members of the judiciary impede a government’s ability to battle corruption.

Romania: Maria, age 16, was tricked into traveling to Bucharest to find a job by a childhood friend. Unbeknownst to Maria, the friend had advertised in a Romanian port city that there was a "girl for sale." Maria was sold to a man who used her as a prostitute, along with an 11-year-old girl. For four months, she was forced to work as a street prostitute under the threat of beatings. She was fined, arrested, and interrogated numerous times by the police; however, her "protector" bribed the police to release her, thus forcing her to prostitute again.

The Methods of Traffickers

Slave traders prey on the vulnerable. Their targets are often children and young women, and their ploys are creative and ruthless, designed to trick, coerce, and win the confidence of potential victims. Very often these ruses involve promises of marriage, employment, educational opportunities, or a better life. The following fictitious scenarios are based on true trafficking cases and represent common circumstances in which trafficking occurs:

In one of Madagascar’s tourist destinations, a 15 year-old girl’s parents push her to engage in prostitution with older male tourists as a source of income for her family, while also hoping that she will find marriage, education, or a job abroad. Local people observe her frequenting tourist "hot spots," wearing tight clothes and eating and drinking with foreign men late into the night. Based on a tip from a hotelier, local officials apprehended one particular tourist on suspicion of victimizing this girl for purposes of child sex tourism. The man, however, pays her family a small sum of money to remain silent and not pursue charges.

In Burma's northern Shan State, a young woman travels to China's Yunnan province in search of work and to escape miserable economic conditions caused by decades of military misrule. Upon arriving in a Chinese border town, she is offered work at a local bar and restaurant. The owner recognizes that she is an undocumented alien in China, however, and confines her to a small hotel where she is prostituted for commercial sex with male Chinese tourists and traders.

In Afghanistan, a girl is promised to a man in a neighboring village to settle an age-old dispute between their families. Although young, she is taken out of school to marry a man she has never met. When she arrives, she is forced to cook, clean, and serve her husband’s entire family for 18-20 hours per day. If she does something wrong, she is beaten and her new "family" threatens to kill her if she ever tries to leave. One day, her husband decides to marry someone new, so he sells his first wife to another man who also forces her to serve him and his family’s needs.

In the Netherlands, an 18-year-old Nigerian girl arrives from her home in Edo State to earn money so that she can send home money to help her family. She is introduced to her "auntie" who assumes tight control over the girl and forces her into street prostitution. Police arrest her since she has no legal residency documents. They hold her in a detention center. She is offered the opportunity to "denounce" her auntie as a trafficker but she declines, fearing possible retribution from the auntie's friends in Nigeria. She is deported back to Edo State where she faces shame for returning penniless.

Raman was born at the same brick kiln site where his father and grandfather had worked their entire lives to pay off a debt incurred by his grandfather. For 15 years, Raman and his family earned three rupees (2 cents) per 80 kilogram bag of bricks to pay off the $450 advanced by the brick kiln manager. They were beaten with sticks and hit by the owner if they were not working hard enough or producing enough bricks. They could not leave, because the brick kiln owner threatened to hunt them down and beat them or bribe the police into arresting them. Sadly, Raman’s story is not unusual for millions of low-caste laborers believed to be trapped in debt bondage in South Asia. Bonded labor is a form of trafficking in which victims take loans from unscrupulous individuals—often as little as $16—and are coerced into repaying these debts by working in the factories, brick kilns, and rice mills owned by their lenders. Many of these men, women, and children never finish paying their loans, however, since bogus interest fees and living costs imposed by the owners keep increasing the debt. Often, entire families work for 14-16 hours per day, and the debt passes to the next generation until paid. Physical abuse is common, and some female bonded laborers are sexually assaulted by their owners. Children are generally not permitted to attend school, and some endure injuries as a result of the work. The caste system is a social hierarchy that has endured in South Asian culture for centuries. Greatly limiting its members’ economic options and opportunities for advancement, the caste system rigidly keeps most of its members confined in menial jobs; it also predisposes millions to slavery through bonded labor.

According to a 2005 ILO report, the overwhelming majority of bonded laborers in India are from the lower castes. They are found in large numbers in labor-intensive industries throughout India— rice mills, brick kilns, stone quarries, and the textile loom industry. Social discrimination contributes to their low wages, and members of these castes must often borrow money to meet their daily needs—feeding a vicious cycle of generational exploitation. Generations of families are consumed in this caste-based slavery, crippling the development of South Asian communities.

Nigeria/Italy: Gloria was promised work in Rome in a fabric factory. Before leaving her native Nigeria, she underwent a voodoo ritual purportedly to oversee her safety in Italy and ensure her loyalty to her sponsor or "Madam." Upon arrival in Rome, Gloria was beaten by her Madam, who told her she would have to repay a huge trafficking debt through an estimated 4,000 acts of prostitution. Gloria received more beatings when she refused Madam's demands. She eventually acquiesced though she was then beaten for not earning enough money. When she became pregnant, Gloria was forced to have an abortion. She eventually found the courage to overcome the threats of voodoo reprisal and to escape to reclaim her life. She is now recovering in a shelter in Rome.

The causes of human trafficking are complex and often reinforce each other. Viewing trafficking in persons as a global market, victims constitute the supply, and abusive employers or sexual exploiters (also known as sex buyers) represent demand. Although customers for the products of forced labor can also be considered a component of demand, these consumers are often completely ignorant of their involvement with slavery. Sex buyers are far more complicit in the victimization of sex trafficking victims, and thus, are logical targets for education on the link between prostitution and human trafficking.

The supply of victims is encouraged by many factors, including poverty, the attraction of perceived higher standards of living elsewhere, lack of employment opportunities, organized crime, violence against women and children, discrimination against women, government corruption, political instability, and armed conflict. In some societies a tradition of fostering allows the third or fourth child to be sent to live and work in an urban center with a member of the extended family (often, an "uncle"), in exchange for a promise of education and instruction in a trade. Taking advantage of this tradition, traffickers often position themselves as employment agents, inducing parents to part with a child, but then traffic the child into prostitution, domestic servitude, or a commercial enterprise. In the end, the family receives few if any wage remittances, the child remains unschooled, untrained, and separated from his or her family, and the hoped-for educational and economic opportunities never materialize.

On the demand side, factors driving trafficking in persons include the sex industry and the growing demand for exploitable labor. Sex tourism and child pornography have become worldwide industries, facilitated by technologies such as the Internet, which vastly expand the choices available to "consumers" and permit instant and nearly undetectable transactions. Trafficking is also driven by the global demand for cheap, vulnerable, and illegal labor. For example, there is great demand in some prosperous countries of Asia and the Gulf for domestic servants who sometimes fall victim to exploitation or involuntary servitude.

In some parts of the world, traffickers are distorting traditional Islamic customs to facilitate human trafficking. In several West African countries, for example, men posing as Muslim scholars recruit young boys from parents, promising to teach the children the Koran. Once they have custody of the boys, however, these men subject them to forced begging and abuse. In parts of West Africa and South Asia, traffickers recruit boys, girls, and women for journeys to Saudi Arabia, where they are forced into commercial sexual exploitation, begging, or work as camel jockeys.

Muslim leaders have responded to this problem by working with governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and international organizations to raise awareness about trafficking in their communities. Some have also used arguments based in Islamic scholarship to defend the rights of women and children against trafficking. In Senegal and Niger, Muslim leaders have collaborated with government ministries and UNICEF to combat trafficking. In Indonesia, an NGO called the Fahmina Institute founded by Kyai Husein Muhammad [see the TIP Heroes section of this Report for more information] distributes 22,000 leaflets against human trafficking every week in mosques after Friday prayers. Kyai Husein has also written extensively on employing Islamic law and teachings to combat trafficking.

In Bangladesh, a local NGO sensitized 2,100 imams in 2005 to the risks, threats, and modalities of trafficking and conducted a training of trainers for 100 imams. As a result, over 2,500 imams delivered specific anti-trafficking messages during Friday prayer services, reaching millions of Bangladeshis. The involvement of the Muslim community in the fight against trafficking raises hope that anti-trafficking messages will be heard worldwide.

UNACCOMPANIED MINORS, TRAFFICKING, AND EXPLOITATION

Since 2004, 120 Chinese children have reportedly disappeared from Swedish immigration centers. In all cases, the children arrived in Sweden on a plane from Beijing or Moscow and immediately asked for political asylum. Within days, they disappeared while cases were pending. Investigative leads indicate onward destinations included Denmark, Germany, Italy, France, and the Netherlands. Swedish law enforcement authorities believe a network of traffickers is behind the disappearance.

Unaccompanied minors (UAMs) can be lured from their countries of origin under false pretenses or might fall victim to exploitation after they arrive in a foreign country; their victimization is an important piece in the global trafficking picture. Although they are a relatively small percentage of the total population of foreign migrants in Europe, UAMs are inherently vulnerable to trafficking for both the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor.

They are typically from countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. They are exploited in many different ways including for prostitution, as drug mules, as domestic servants, in sweatshop or restaurant work, through organized begging and pick-pocketing gangs, and as a result of forced marriage.

Several reliable non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have noticed a mysterious trend of unaccompanied Chinese minors arriving in Europe with cell phones, cash, and no apparent travel plans, who then suddenly disappear from authorities and reception centers. It is possible that these UAMs disappeared when they came into contact with criminal networks. Unaccompanied minors who are exploited by criminals are often not recognized as victims of, or investigated as cases of, trafficking. Trafficked children require fundamental protection and rehabilitation. A child’s first contact with authorities in destination countries could be the best opportunity to stop the trafficking chain.

Afghanistan: Naseema was forced by her mother into marriage at the age of four to a 30-year-old neighbor in an Afghan village. At her husband’s home, her father-in-law and 12 others in the family began torturing her. Her treatment included beatings and starvation, and she was forced to sleep outside in the cold with only a rug to protect her. Her abusers often used her as a human table, forcing her to lie on her stomach so they could cut their food on her bare back. At one point, her father-in-law locked her in a shed for two months and she was only allowed to leave once a day. The night before she escaped at the age of 12 in 2005, her father-in-law tied her hands together and poured scalding water over her head. She escaped the next day, fearing death at the hands of her husband’s family, and was found by a rickshaw driver who took her to the hospital for treatment; it took over one month for her to heal from the various injuries inflicted upon her. She is now in a shelter and attending school.

A recent DOD investigation, prompted by late 2005 media allegations of labor trafficking in Iraq, identified a number of abuses, some of them considered widespread, committed by DOD contractors or subcontractors of third country national (TCN) workers in Iraq. Some of these abuses are indicative of trafficking in persons, and include: illegal confiscation of TCNs' passports; deceptive hiring practices and excessive recruitment fees; substandard living conditions; and circumvention of Iraqi immigration procedures. The TCNs are largely low-skilled workers from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.

The Department of Defense has responded swiftly with a number of measures to closely monitor the hiring and employment of foreign laborers. In April 2006, General George W. Casey, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, issued specific labor guidelines to all Defense contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Chief among those measures was a mandate that all contractors cease the practice of holding or withholding employees' passports. Furthermore, DOD contracts will include the following guidelines to prevent trafficking in persons:

Under the policy, contractors and subcontractors are required to comply with personal living space standards, international and host country laws for work visas, and transit and entry procedures. This response works to ensure the U.S. employs a "zero tolerance" policy against human trafficking domestically and abroad.

Bride Selling

A growing gender imbalance in areas of South and East Asia is increasingly driving the demand for trafficking victims. In China, although son-preference is a major factor behind skewed sex ratios, the country's one-child policy and poverty also exacerbate the supply and demand for bride trafficking. Girls are often aborted and there have been reports that in some cases female infants have been killed at birth, causing men to outnumber women in some parts of the country by 117 boys to 100 girls.

Yet, men still feel social pressure to marry, causing some who cannot find marriageable women to try buying brides from other regions of the country, or from border areas with neighboring countries, such as North Korea. These women, often sold by their parents or kidnapped from their villages, are forced into marriage, prostitution or concubinage. Popular areas from which to traffic brides domestically are poor areas of China's inland provinces, where poverty renders women more vulnerable to trafficking. Traffickers generally sell these girls and women in provinces with large female deficits. In fact, some experts believe that the kidnapping and sale of women has increased as China's economic development has accelerated, and that such trafficking accounts for 30-90 percent of marriages in some villages.

India faces a similar problem of gender imbalance in some regions, although it is sparked primarily by cultural attitudes that see girls as economic liabilities due to dowry demands by potential grooms. State statistics show a notable gender imbalance in some key regions: in Jammu and Kashmir, 111 boys for every 100 girls; Uttar Pradesh, 111; Sikkim, 114; Punjab, 114 (capital city Chandighar, 129); and Harayana, 116 as of the 2001 census. This gender gap has resulted in several million more men than women in the marriage market, creating a "marriage squeeze" and pressure for men to find women to marry. As a consequence, there are some cases in which women from Nepal, Bangladesh, and other areas of India have been bought or kidnapped as brides for "bachelor villages." The lack of women also contributes to greater demand for prostituted women and girls, fueling the demand for victims of trafficking. Trafficked brides are often discouraged from reporting their situations or running away because of social and economic pressure to remain in a marriage, lack of familiarity with the area to which they were trafficked, police or official complicity that compels the return of runaway brides, laws which re-victimize trafficked women by classifying and prosecuting them as illegal aliens, and the social discrimination they would likely face if they return home.

Liberia: A 13-year-old former child soldier from Liberia recounts: "They gave me pills that made me crazy. When the craziness got in my head, I beat people on their heads and hurt them until they bled. When the craziness got out of my head I felt guilty. If I remembered the person I went to them and apologized. If they did not accept my apology, I felt bad."

WORKING TO END DEMAND FOR THE VICTIMS OF SEX TRAFFICKING

The U.S. Government opposes prostitution and related activities, including pimping, pandering, and maintaining brothels, as contributing to the phenomenon of human trafficking. These activities are inherently harmful and dehumanizing. This position is codified in a National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD-22) and was reaffirmed in the Administration’s support for the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2005, which "brings important attention to reducing the demand for the commercial sex acts that fuel sex trafficking."

In January 2006, President George W. Bush signed the TVPRA into law, stating, "We cannot put the criminals out of business until we also confront the problem of demand. Those who pay for the chance to sexually abuse children and teenage girls must be held to account. So we’ll investigate and prosecute the customers, the unscrupulous adults who prey on the young and innocent." The new law contains domestic provisions aimed at decreasing demand for sex trafficking victims. It authorizes block grants of $25 million by the Attorney General to states and local law enforcement to: investigate and prosecute buyers of commercial sex; educate individuals charged with or attempting to purchase commercial sex; and collaborate with local NGOs who are skilled at providing services to victims. The new law also provides $10 million to local governments and NGOs through the Department of Health and Human Services to help survivors of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.

To be effective, anti-trafficking strategies must target both the supply side (the traffickers) and the demand side (owners, consumers or, in the case of trafficking for sexual exploitation, the sex buyers). On the supply side, the conditions that drive trafficking must be dealt with through efforts to: alert communities to the dangers of trafficking, improve and expand educational and economic opportunities for vulnerable groups, promote equal access to education, educate people regarding their legal rights, and create better and broader life opportunities. Regarding traffickers, law enforcement must: vigorously prosecute traffickers and those who aid and abet them, fight public corruption which facilitates and profits from the trade, identify and interdict trafficking routes through better intelligence gathering and coordination, clarify legal definitions of trafficking and coordinate law enforcement responsibilities, and train personnel to identify and direct trafficking victims to appropriate care. On the demand side, persons who exploit trafficked persons must be identified and prosecuted. Employers of forced labor and exploiters of victims trafficked for sexual exploitation must be named and appropriately punished. With regard to sex slavery, public awareness campaigns must be conducted in destination countries to make it harder for trafficking to be concealed or ignored. Victims must be rescued, rehabilitated, reintegrated into their families, or offered alternatives if unable to return to their home communities. Local, state, national, and regional efforts to fight trafficking must be coordinated. By drawing public attention to the problem, governments can enlist the support of the public. Anti-trafficking strategies and programs developed with input from stakeholders (civil society and NGOs) are the most effective and more likely to succeed as they bring a comprehensive view to the problem.

Nations should cooperate more closely to deny traffickers legal sanctuary and to facilitate their extradition for prosecution. Such cooperation should also aim to facilitate the voluntary and humane repatriation of victims. Programs that protect witnesses should be encouraged. Knowledge about trafficking must be continually deepened, and the network of anti-trafficking organizations and efforts strengthened. Religious institutions, NGOs, schools, community associations, and traditional leaders need to be mobilized and drawn into the struggle. Victims and their families are important stakeholders in the fight against trafficking. Governments need to periodically reassess their anti-trafficking strategies and programs to ensure they remain effective in order to counter new methods and approaches by traffickers.

Finally, government officials must be trained in anti-trafficking techniques and methods, and trafficking flows and trends must be closely monitored to better understand the nature and magnitude of the problem so that appropriate policy responses can be crafted and launched.

Singapore: A 20-year-old Indonesian, formerly a maid in Singapore, remembers being abused: "The employer would get angry…. If she was very angry, she would slap me many times. I hadn’t finished my contract yet. She said I couldn’t go home. I couldn’t tolerate it. When I told the agent the employer had slapped me, she just said, 'You must suffer. You should control your feelings.' If a maid hasn’t finished her salary deduction [paying off up-front fees imposed by the agent/employer], and she calls the agent, the agent is angry. The agent also slapped me; they didn’t want me to leave without finishing the contract and the salary deduction."

Victim Protection

The TVPA gives us a victim-centered approach to address trafficking, combining anti-crime and human rights objectives. Without adequate protections for victims, efforts to address trafficking crimes are unlikely to be effective. The TVPA’s criteria for evaluating a government’s efforts to protect victims of trafficking includes an explicit criterion on victim protection: "Whether the government of the country protects victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons and encourages their assistance in the investigation and prosecution of such trafficking, including provisions for legal alternatives to their removal to countries in which they would face retribution or hardship, and ensures that victims are not inappropriately incarcerated, fined, or otherwise penalized solely for unlawful acts as a direct result of being trafficked."

FIRST, a government should proactively identify victims of trafficking. Without victim identification, adequate protection is impossible. Government agencies should establish formal screening and victim identification procedures to screen at-risk populations such as persons apprehended for violations of immigration laws, prostitution laws, and begging or labor laws. Victims of trafficking should not be expected to identify themselves; proactive investigative techniques—through interviews in safe and non-threatening environments with trained counselors and appropriate language services—should be used to identify trafficking indicators.

SECOND, once identified, a suspected victim of trafficking should be afforded temporary care as a victim of a serious crime. This could include shelter and counseling that allow a potential victim to recount his or her experience to trained social counselors and law enforcement personnel at a pace with minimal pressure.

THIRD, confirmed trafficking victims should not be punished for crimes that are a direct result of being trafficked—such as not holding proper immigration documents or violation of prostitution, labor, or begging statutes. Trafficking victims should not be detained criminally, after they are identified as victims, in detention facilities, except in extreme circumstances. They should be treated as victims.

FOURTH, confirmed trafficking victims should be encouraged to cooperate with law enforcement authorities in the investigation of the crime committed against them. Furthermore, they should be encouraged to assist in prosecuting, if possible, the persons that trafficked or exploited them.

FINALLY, a trafficking victim who is unwilling or unable to cooperate in a trafficking prosecution can be returned to her community of origin provided that this return is accomplished in a responsible manner, with preparations made in advance for the victim’s safe return and reintegration. However, a victim should be offered legal alternatives to being removed to countries in which she would face hardship or retribution. Trafficking victims should not be subjected to deportations or forced returns without safeguards or other measures to reduce the risk of hardship, retribution, or re-trafficking.

Each year, more than one million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade. Child sex tourism (CST) involves people who travel from their own country to another and engage in commercial sex acts with children. CST is a shameful assault on the dignity of children and a form of violent child abuse. The sexual exploitation of children has devastating consequences. Tourists engaging in CST often travel to developing countries looking for anonymity and the availability of children in prostitution. The crime is typically fueled by weak law enforcement, corruption, the Internet, ease of travel, and poverty. These sexual offenders come from all socio-economic backgrounds and may hold positions of trust.

Over the last five years, there has been an increase in the prosecution of child sex tourism offenses. At least 32 countries have extraterritorial laws that allow the prosecution of their citizens for CST crimes committed abroad. In response to the grotesque phenomenon, NGOs, the tourism industry, and governments have begun to address the issue. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) established a task force to combat CST. The WTO, the NGO End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT), and Nordic tour operators created a global Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism in 1999. As of March 2005, 100 travel companies from 18 countries had signed the code. [See www.thecode.org]

In 2003, the United States strengthened its ability to fight child sex tourism by passing the Prosecutorial Remedies and other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today (PROTECT) Act and The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. Together these laws increase penalties to a maximum of 30 years in prison for engaging in CST. Since the passage of the PROTECT Act, there have been over 20 indictments and over a dozen convictions of child sex tourists. The Department of Homeland Security developed the Operation Predator initiative to combat child exploitation, child pornography, and child sex tourism. The United States is also funding the NGO World Vision to conduct a major public awareness, deterrence, and crime prevention project overseas.

Governments should prioritize the issue, draft a plan of action based on comprehensive research, and designate a coordinator to engage NGOs, intergovernmental organizations, and the travel industry. Extraterritorial laws must prohibit all forms of child sex tourism and be enforced with sentences reflecting the heinous nature of the crime. Governments should also train law enforcement officers, fund public awareness campaigns, and arrange for shelter and assistance to victims.

The travel and tourism sector is recognizing they have a critical role to play in training their staff to report suspicious behavior and in alerting travelers to relevant laws. The private sector should also establish and enforce sound corporate policies repudiating the sexual exploitation of children, and insist that their contractors and suppliers do the same. Individuals must ensure they are not part of the problem, the demand, but rather part of the
solution by reporting incidents to the local police, U.S. embassy, or the U.S. Immigration and Customs hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act defines "severe form of trafficking in persons" as:

"Sex trafficking" means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.

"Commercial sex act" means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person.

"Coercion" means (a) threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; (b) any scheme, plan or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; or, (c) the abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.

"Involuntary servitude" includes a condition of servitude induced by means of (a) any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that, if the person did not enter into or continue in such condition, that person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint; or (b) the abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.

"Debt bondage" means the status or condition of a debtor arising from a pledge by the debtor of his or her personal services or of those of a person under his or her control as a security for debt, if the value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt, or the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined.

The TIP Report is the most comprehensive worldwide report on the efforts of governments to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons. The TIP Report covers the period April 2005 through March 2006.

The annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report includes those countries determined to be countries of origin, transit, or destination for a significant number of victims of severe forms of trafficking. Since trafficking likely extends to every country in the world, the omission of a country from the Report may only indicate a lack of adequate information. The country narratives describe the scope and nature of the trafficking problem, the reasons for including the country, and the government’s efforts to combat trafficking.

The narrative also contains an assessment of the government’s compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking as laid out in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, as amended, and includes suggestions for actions to combat trafficking. The remainder of the country narrative describes each government’s efforts to enforce laws against trafficking, protect victims, and prevent trafficking. Each narrative explains the basis for rating a country as Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List, or Tier 3. If a country has been placed on Tier 2 Watch List, the narrative will contain a statement explaining why, using terms found in the TVPA as amended.

Per the TVPA's guidance, there are factors to be considered in determining whether a country should be in Tier 2 (or Tier 2 Watch List) or in Tier 3: 1) The extent to which the country is a country of origin, transit, or destination for severe forms of trafficking; 2) The extent to which the government of the country does not comply with the TVPA's minimum standards and, in particular, the extent of the government's trafficking-related corruption; and 3) The resources and capabilities of the government to address and eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons.

Some governments have issued statements, held conferences, and established task forces or national action plans to create goals for anti-trafficking efforts. However, statements, conferences, plans, and task forces alone are not weighed heavily in assessing country efforts. Rather, the Report focuses on concrete actions governments have taken to fight trafficking, especially prosecutions, convictions, and prison sentences for traffickers, victim protection, and prevention efforts. The Report does not give great weight to laws in draft form or laws that have not yet been enacted. Finally, the Report does not focus on government efforts that contribute indirectly to reducing trafficking, such as education programs, support for economic development, or programs aimed at enhancing gender equality, although these are worthwhile endeavors.

The 2006 Report includes an analysis of trafficking and government efforts to combat it in 149 countries, a net increase of seven ranked countries over last year. In previous years, some countries have not been included because it was difficult to gather reliable and sufficient information due to: the illegal and underground nature of trafficking; the absence or nascence of government anti-TIP efforts; the difficulty in distinguishing between trafficking and smuggling; the fear and silence of trafficking victims, who often cross borders illegally or are physically abused or coerced; the general lack of freedom of information in a country; or the lack of independent NGOs who can supply information. For some countries, there was information available, but the data did not support a finding that a significant number of three persons were trafficked to, from, or within a country—the general threshold for inclusion in the TIP Report. Over the past year, we have witnessed a stronger response from many governments, more public awareness campaigns alerting victims to protection services and greater transparency in anti-trafficking efforts. As a result of these positive actions, and the dedication of more Department of State resources, information was gathered on additional countries this year. The Department intends to include all countries with a significant number of trafficking victims in future reports, as more and better information becomes available.

Gruesome information about trafficked children forced to serve as child soldiers has most often centered on African countries such as Uganda and Sierra Leone. However, Burma’s prolonged conflict with ethnic forces and worsening political and economic conditions have left its population vulnerable to exploitation, creating an environment where children as young as 11 are forced into the military. Both the military and armed ethnic groups recruit child soldiers.

Both the U.S. Government and the United Nations have called on the Government of Burma to cease all recruitment and exploitation of children in the military. Despite these pressures, the Burmese Government refuses to address the practice of kidnapping children for the purpose of military exploitation.

This Report is a diplomatic tool for the U.S. Government to use as an instrument for continued dialogue and encouragement, and as a guide to help focus resources on prosecution, protection, and prevention programs and policies. The State Department will continue to engage governments about the content of the Report in order to strengthen cooperative efforts to eradicate trafficking. In the coming year, and particularly in the months before a determination is made regarding sanctions for Tier 3 countries, the Department will use the information gathered here to more effectively target assistance programs and to work with countries that need help in combatingtrafficking. The Department hopes the Report will be a catalyst for government and non-government efforts to combat trafficking in persons around the world.

TIER 1: Countries whose governments fully comply with the Act’s minimum standards. [detailed on p. 288]

TIER 2 : Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the Act’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.

TIER 2 SPECIAL WATCH LIST: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the Act’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards, and:

TIER 3: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.

The Department of State prepared this Report using information from U.S. embassies, foreign government officials, NGOs and international organizations, published reports, research trips to every region, and information submitted to tipreport@state.gov, which was established for NGOs and individuals to share information on government progress in addressing trafficking. U.S. diplomatic posts reported on the trafficking situation and governmental action based on thorough research, including meetings with a wide variety of government officials, local and international NGO representatives, international organizations, officials, journalists, academics, and survivors. To compile this year’s Report, the Department took a fresh look at information sources for every country to make its assessments. Assessing each government’s anti-trafficking efforts involves a two-step process:

First, the Department determines whether a country is "a country of origin, transit, or destination for a significant number of victims of severe forms of trafficking," generally on the order of 100 or more victims, the same threshold applied in previous reports. Some countries, for which such information was not available, are not given tier ratings, but are included in the Special Case section, as they exhibited indications of trafficking.

The Department places each country included on the 2006 TIP Report into one of the four lists, described here as tiers, mandated by the TVPA. This placement is based more on the extent of government action to combat trafficking, rather than the size of the problem, important though that is. The Department first evaluates whether the government fully complies with the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking [detailed on p. 288]. Governments that do, are placed in Tier 1. For other governments, the Department considers whether they made significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance. Governments that are making significant efforts to meet the minimum standards are placed in Tier 2. Governments that do not fully comply with the minimum standards, and are not making significant efforts to do so, are placed in Tier 3. Finally, the Special Watch List criteria are considered and, if applicable, Tier 2 countries are placed on the Tier 2 Watch List.

The 2003 reauthorization of the TVPA created a "Special Watch List" of countries on the TIP Report that should receive special scrutiny. The list is composed of: 1) Countries listed as Tier 1 in the current Report that were listed as Tier 2 in the 2005 Report; 2) Countries listed as Tier 2 in the current Report that were listed as Tier 3 in the 2005 Report; and 3) countries listed as Tier 2 in the current Report, where:

This category (including a, b, and c) has been termed by the Department of State "Tier 2 Watch List." There were 27 countries placed on Tier 2 Watch List in the June 2005 Report. Along with six countries that were reassessed as Tier 2 Watch List countries in September 2005 and three countries that met the first two categories above (moving up a tier from the 2005 TIP Report), these 27 countries were included in an "Interim Assessment" released by the Department of State on February 1, 2006.

Of the 33 countries on Tier 2 Watch List at the time of the Interim Assessment, 16 moved up to Tier 2 on this Report, while 4 fell to Tier 3 and 12 remain on Tier 2 Watch List for a third consecutive year. Haiti has been placed in the "Special Cases" category this year. Countries placed on the Special Watch List in this Report will be reexamined in an interim assessment to be submitted to the U.S. Congress by February 1, 2007.

Governments of countries in Tier 3 may be subject to certain sanctions. The U.S. Government may withhold non-humanitarian, non-trade-related assistance. Countries that receive no such assistance would be subject to withholding of funding for participation in educational and cultural exchange programs.

Consistent with the TVPA, such governments would also face U.S. opposition to assistance (except for humanitarian, trade-related, and certain development-related assistance) from international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. These potential consequences will take effect at the beginning of the next fiscal year, October 1, 2006. All or part of the TVPA’s sanctions can be waived upon a determination by the President that the provision of such assistance to the government would promote the purposes of the statute or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States. The TVPA also provides that sanctions can be waived if necessary to avoid significant adverse effects on vulnerable populations, including women and children. Sanctions would not apply if the President finds that, after this Report is issued but before the imposition of sanctions, a government has come into compliance with the minimum standards or is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance.

Regardless of tier placement, every country can do more, including the United States. No country placement is permanent. All countries must maintain and increase efforts to combat trafficking.

Australia: Combating Child Sex Tourism.
The NGO, Child Wise , along with the Government of Australia, has sponsored a regional education campaign to combat child sex tourism that was adopted by the ten ASEAN Tourism Ministers on January 16, 2006. The program aims to heighten the awareness of child sex trafficking/tourism, among airline personnel, travel agents, and immigration and visa officials, as well as the general public. It urges target audiences to call a local hotline to report suspicious activities. The program is especially valuable for local law enforcement agencies' efforts to detect and prosecute pedophiles and child sex offenders. The 18th Global Task Force to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation in Tourism invited Child Wise to present its campaign model at its March 10, 2006, conference in Berlin. Last year, Australia began 24 child sex tourism investigations, charged seven people, and secured one conviction. Thus far, Australia has prosecuted 17 people under its extraterritorial legislation.

Bangladesh: Disseminating Anti-Trafficking Information to At-Risk Women.
The Government of Bangladesh has instituted a program in which anti-trafficking information is distributed to members of micro-credit lending programs. Underprivileged women, particularly those in rural areas of Bangladesh, are the primary beneficiaries of microcredit; they are also among the most at-risk populations for trafficking. By distributing anti-trafficking brochures during microcredit lending sessions, the government reached 400,000 atrisk women in 39,061 sessions, warning these women of the dangers of trafficking. This example shows the beneficial relationship between anti-trafficking campaigns and broader economic and social development initiatives.

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Tajikistan: Effective Police Strategies.
The Anti-Trafficking Strike Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina conducted four major raids in 2005 and 2006 that resulted in the rescue of 26 victims and the apprehension of at least 14 traffickers. This unit exemplifies the importance of close cooperation between prosecutors and police in effectively executing successful raids to rescue victims and arrest traffickers. It also highlights the practical results of bringing different police agencies together to cooperate on trafficking investigations. As a result of one raid, one of the most notorious night bars in central Bosnia was shut down.

Tajikistan set up elite anti-trafficking units consisting of two to four specially trained police investigators in regions throughout the country. An increased number of these units led to 81 trafficking investigations in 2005, a significant increase from 2004.

Brazil: Targeting Major Re-entry Points for Victims Assistance Centers. Many victims trafficked abroad are eventually deported or repatriated back to their home countries and need a helping hand upon their return. In Brazil, most victims returning from foreign countries re-enter the country through Sao Paulo’s international airport. The State of Sao Paulo has worked in partnership with an NGO to establish a victim support center near the airport so that returning victims have prompt access to help. The NGO Association for the Defense of Women and Youth assisted more than 150 women and girls during the past two years by arranging transportation to get victims back to their final home communities and providing information about government protection services and legal procedures.

Colombia and Ecuador: Using Popular Culture to Spread Public Awareness.
Public and private partnerships are using mainstream entertainment to help spread antitrafficking messages. In Colombia, The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), worked with the producer of the popular soap opera "Everybody Loves Marilyn" to incorporate a storyline for the role of "Catalina" that dramatized the plight of a trafficking victim. Use of the widelyviewed television Spanish language series, broadcast throughout Colombia and exported to Venezuela, Ecuador, and the United States, educated the public, reaching large sections of the population. It also helped potential victims identify with the character, and understand some of the methods used to deceive victims and witness the abuse they could face in a trafficker’s hands.

In Ecuador, volunteers from the National Institute for Children and Family (INNFA) worked with visiting international musician Ricky Martin, his charitable foundation, and Colombian entertainer Carlos Vives to disseminate anti-trafficking messages and information that reached approximately 24,000 people attending their concerts in Quito and Guayaquil. Some 50,000 soccer spectators in Ecuador watched a game played on a field bedecked with a huge INNFA "No to Trafficking in Persons" graphic.

Ecuador: Using Public Transportation to Spread Anti-Trafficking Messages.
The municipality of Guayaquil and the Confederation of Taxicab Drivers for the greater Guayaquil area worked together with an NGO to raise public awareness by placing stickers with an anti-trafficking message inside local taxis. The stickers explain the nature of trafficking, warn about heavy penalties for traffickers, and encourage the reporting of trafficking crimes.

Ethiopia and Kuwait: Efforts to Protect Migrant Workers in Source and Destination Countries.
The Ethiopian Immigration Office provides printed information on trafficking in persons, including organizations to contact for help in foreign countries, to thousands of Ethiopians applying for passports to work outside the country. It also requires applicants to view an IOM-produced video, "Make the Right Choice," on the risks of human trafficking inherent in overseas employment and what to do in case of victimization.

The Kuwait Union of Domestic Labor Offices (KUDLO), an association of labor recruitment agencies, under the leadership of General Manager Hashim Majid Mohammed, paved the way for protection of expatriate workers in Kuwait. KUDLO partnered with the Al-Haqooq law firm and several source country embassies to provide free legal services to domestic workers who faced problems with their employers. KUDLO has been working hard to create the first Kuwaiti-run shelter for domestic workers, who will be able to get speedy legal and administrative assistance to resolve workplace problems such as the lack of pay or harassment. In response to the widespread problem of substituting contracts signed by workers in their home country, in their native language, with new, less favorable contracts in Arabic, KUDLO facilitated an agreement whereby the Indian Embassy and KUDLO review, sign, and file a copy of the contract of every Indian domestic worker before he or she comes to Kuwait. The agreement also provides insurance to the worker in case of health or legal problems. It is working to sign similar agreements with other embassies. KUDLO also brought together arriving migrants with their prospective employers to educate both in their rights and responsibilities.

Indonesia and Lithuania: Mobilizing Scouts and Students.
In 2004, the Scout Movement, which incorporates nearly all public school students across the country, began an antitrafficking campaign in Indramayu, West Java, where too many young women and girls fall victim to trafficking. In its current phase, the Scout Movement will provide anti-trafficking education to 25,000 students in 116 schools in the Indramayu area by August 2006. The Scout Movement has trained 285 school-level facilitators who utilize innovative training and a campaign kit containing a four-part video documentary, comic books, and other antitrafficking materials. The national Scout movement is considering expanding the program to other districts and instituting an anti-trafficking merit badge to encourage more Scouts to learn about and promote anti-trafficking efforts. The Scout’s involvement in anti-trafficking is part of a larger strategy initiated by the Indonesian Government, the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (the Solidarity Center), and the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) to mobilize existing mass-membership institutions and their significant networks to combat trafficking.

Similarly, Lithuania has also been raising awareness in the classroom. The Missing Person Families Support Center designed an educational program for schools to ensure students have adequate information on the risks of trafficking. Center employees give students one-hour lessons including viewing a documentary in which young victims tell their stories. Students also engage in a roundtable discussion and receive antitrafficking brochures. The Center conducts 20 of these sessions annually.

Malawi: Local Awareness Enables Identification of Traffickers.
To enhance its ability to combat child trafficking, the Government of Malawi hired district-level child protection officers to conduct country-wide sensitization meetings that educated rural communities about human trafficking. Informative posters and brochures were also used to raise awareness among local populations. Villagers in the Malawian town of Mchinji learned to recognize trafficking activities through this educational campaign and, soon after, quickly notified local police of a suspicious man attempting to cross the border with a group of children. An investigation ensued, and the man was convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment with hard labor for trafficking children. After receiving similar types of education in human trafficking, local communities in Burkina Faso and Guyana have also been able to successfully identify instances of trafficking in their communities.

The Philippines: Emphasizing Need for Task Forces at Local Level.
The city of Zamboanga formed a local version of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) that mirrors the national council. The body brings together local government units involved with trafficking to foster close coordination in pursuing TIP cases. During 2005, local police, prosecutors, and social workers effectively cooperated in order to achieve the first conviction in the country under the 2003 anti-trafficking law. After the victim in the case came forward, the city’s Social Welfare and Development Office worked with police to help investigate the case. Police also worked closely with the prosecutor’s office. Finally, the court made this trafficking case a priority, which allowed the case to be concluded in a record five months. The mayor’s office set an outstanding example by making known to local government agencies its commitment to fighting human trafficking.

Romania: Candid and Cooperative with Private Researchers.
The Government of Romania commissioned the most comprehensive report on human trafficking in Romania to date. The report was supported and partially financed by UNICEF, and researched by a nongovernmental entity. Researchers had complete access to government officials and official information enabling the report to be extremely candid and critical of current gaps in anti-trafficking policy. The report has already begun to serve as a roadmap for how to improve government efforts.

Global Law Enforment Data
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2003 added to the original law a new requirement: that foreign governments provide the Department of State with data on trafficking investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences in order to be considered in full compliance with the TVPA's minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking (Tier 1). The 2004 TIP Report collected this data for the first time. The requirement is fully effective starting with this Report. The chart below compares data collected for this and the two preceding Reports:

Starting with this Report, governments must collect and provide full law enforcement data in order to qualify for Tier 1.

Year	Prosecutions	Convictions	New or Amended Legislation
2003	7,992	2,815	24
2004	6,885	3,025	39
2005	6,618	4,766	41

Child Domestic Servitude
The largest employment category in the world, for children under age 16, is domestic work in homes other than their own, according to the International Labor Organization. The overwhelming majority of these children are girls. Although the majority of children in forced domestic labor are between 12 and 17, in many countries, children are made to work at much younger ages.

Victims of child domestic servitude are routinely subjected to physical, mental, and verbal abuse, and suffer from a loss of freedom and denial of schooling. They are underfed and overworked. In some countries, such as Egypt, Indonesia, Brazil, and Nigeria, it is normal to have child domestics in one’s home. The children are either sent by their parents or lured from rural areas to the city with promises of making enough money to send back to their families. Removed from their own families, they are often forced to work long days, providing services around the clock for the employer’s family, such as house cleaning, cooking, laundry, and child care.

Although they typically live with the employer’s family, young victims are usually not provided with a room of their own and given no privacy. Routinely, they are forced to sleep on the floor in the corner of a room or under the kitchen table, and are made to eat leftovers. They are often subject to verbal, mental, and physical abuse from an early age by all family members, including other children. In many cases with child victims, they may not leave the home unsupervised and may be locked up when the family goes out.

The isolation of child domestic workers renders them highly vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Child domestics often face sexual abuse from the males in the household, including male children and relatives. Confined to the home, they are not able to flee, seek help, or return to their own homes. The stigma attached to child domestic workers coupled with their lack of education often leaves them with few employment options. What's more, the large populations of child domestics are often invisible to societies that are otherwise increasingly aware and active on other human rights problems. Some commendable efforts are underway to increase public awareness of their plight using innovative techniques. One such effort has been launched by the Indian NGO National Domestic Worker's Movement, aiming advertisements at India's middle and upper classes through fashion magazines.

The Policy of Victim Rescue
Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, involving victims who are forced, defrauded, or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. While some victims of this crime are able to escape from involuntary servitude, many more are not able to break free on their own. They need help. Help usually comes in the form of a raid on the place where victims are held against their will. Victims of involuntary servitude in a labor situation are rescued through raids on sweatshops, or searches of homes exploiting domestic servants, for example. Victims of sex trafficking are rescued through raids on brothels and other places where commercial sexual exploitation occurs, such as massage parlors, karaoke bars, and strip clubs. Regardless of the type of rescue, the law enforcement operation—typically termed a "raid"—should be executed through legal means, under the proper authority, using warrants or other necessary court or police orders.

Smart Raids vs. Blind Raids
Law enforcement raids in search of trafficking victims are most effective when they involve good planning and information gathering. While it is unrealistic to get complete information on victims in servitude, learning enough to know, with a high degree of certainty, that trafficking victims are present in the commercial sex and labor sites is important. Victim information is usually obtained through law enforcement people working undercover or through strategicallyrecruited informants. Carefully planned to ensure the safety of all involved and with post-rescue care arranged for trafficking victims, these smart raids can free trafficking victims while minimizing harm to others.

Some law enforcement raids are blind: They are executed against a target without prior attempts to verify the existence of victims of trafficking in those locations. Blind raids can lead to poor results while inconveniencing or harming people not involved in trafficking. Law enforcement agents often become disheartened after such unsuccessful raids, especially if they assumed enslaved people would be found enthusiastically awaiting liberation. Bad experiences with blind raids can lead to less effort against sites where labor or sex trafficking is ongoing—or lead to cynicism regarding the human trafficking phenomenon.

Identifying Victims of Trafficking
The violence (physical and psychological) and intimidation that marks involuntary servitude means that victims are often reluctant to identify themselves as victims. This is true around the world and occurs for various reasons. First, victims are usually taught to fear law enforcement authorities and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). If victims are underage, they are typically coerced by traffickers and brothel keepers to claim they are adults consensually involved in prostitution. Adult trafficking victims may be coerced to hide indicators of trafficking— such as confinement, debt bondage, or threats of violence against them and their families. Labor managers and brothel keepers often threaten victims or their relatives with future harm if their situation is revealed.

Suspected victims must be removed from the site of exploitation, away from the threatening environment, and taken to a safe place. The state often needs to have temporary custody of these suspected victims, as victims or witnesses of serious crimes. In such an environment—usually in the form of a shelter—victims of human trafficking are more likely to reveal their true situations. The true ages of victims can be learned through self-reporting or medical examinations. Police and social counselors need time to interview and counsel suspected victims. This counseling period, ranging from several days to several weeks, should become a standard practice in countries with significant trafficking problems. Once a person’s status as a victim of trafficking has been determined, long-term care should be available to facilitate rehabilitation.

Children Used for Commercial Sex
U.S. Government policy on children (under the age of 18) used for commercial sex is unambiguous: They must be removed from exploitation as soon as they are found. The use of children in the commercial sex trade is prohibited under both U.S. and international law. There can be no exceptions, no cultural or socio-economic rationalizations that prevent the rescue of children from sexual servitude.

NGO Involvement
NGOs often help law enforcement officers carry out raids and rescues. They can offer psycho-social counseling skills that help identify trafficking victims, usually after they are removed from trafficking situations. NGOs and media representatives can also play a valuable role in holding law enforcement authorities to legal standards of crime prevention and victim care by bearing witness to, and demanding, accountability. NGOs, however, should not play a lead role in a raid or rescue, as they lack authority to perform law enforcement actions. NGOs and the media should avoid any practices that harm the rights of children or others.

Rights of Trafficking Victims
The U.S. Constitution (13th Amendment) prohibits slavery or involuntary servitude in the United States. We seek to ensure this basic standard in our efforts to combat trafficking in persons internationally. In approaching the prospective rescue of trafficking victims through law enforcement operations ("raids"), the rights of victims are paramount. Efforts should be made to minimize the number of non-trafficking victims affected by raids and rescues, but this must not preclude efforts to free every victim, who by definition, is in clear and present danger of physical harm. There should be no safety zone in which traffickers can abuse their victims without fear of law enforcement action.

The union of Serbia and Montenegro (SaM) is a source, transit, and destination country for women and girls trafficked within the country and transnationally for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Victims identified in Serbia and Montenegro in 2005 came from SaM, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia. Victims trafficked from or through the union were often trafficked through Croatia, then on to Western Europe. Roma children were trafficked internally for forced begging. IOM reported a growing trend in internal trafficking involving both Serbian and Montenegrin victims; a number of these cases involved repeated exploitation of the victims. An estimated 30-50 percent of females in prostitution in Montenegro are victims of trafficking; of that number, one-half are children.

The Governments of constituent republics Serbia and Montenegro, to which most authority has devolved, do not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, they are making significant efforts to do so. The two republics do not share counter-trafficking institutions, but conduct joint counter-trafficking activities on an ad hoc basis; this Report provides a separate analysis for each. Montenegro made tangible strides in prosecution and protection; Serbia increased efforts to protect victim witnesses, but law enforcement efforts remained weak. Both republics failed to take action against public officials complicit in trafficking. The Tier 2 designation is based on the weighted aggregate for both republics which, due to the significant efforts made by Montenegro, showed evidence of increasing efforts in 2005.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia made some modest, but unbalanced progress in its law enforcement response and victim protection in 2005. During the reporting period, a few major trafficking cases proceeded quickly; however, others languished in Serbian courts. The government issued a higher number of humanitarian visas for trafficking victims and began implementing a new witness protection law. Traffickers continue to receive relatively light punishment, but maximum sentencing improved to six-to-eight years in some cases. The government should institutionalize a referral mechanism to continue the increase in identification and protection for trafficking victims in Serbia. It should ensure its witness protection law is fully applied, to prevent re-traumatizing trafficking victims who are willing to assist law enforcement and testify against their traffickers. The government should continue to investigate and prosecute allegations of trafficking-related corruption and continue to take steps to improve the adjudication of trafficking cases.

The Republic of Montenegro made concrete progress in its overall anti-trafficking efforts in 2005. It increased its trafficking convictions, referred more victims for assistance and protection, and increased resources to assist and protect victims. Traffickers in Montenegro also continue to receive relatively light punishment. The government should institutionalize a referral mechanism to increase identification and protection for trafficking victims in Montenegro and ensure consistent funding for trafficking shelters. It should ensure its witness protection law is fully applied to prevent further harm to trafficking victims who are willing to assist law enforcement and testify against their traffickers. Some traffickers continued to escape official attention due to trafficking-related corruption. The government must vigorously address and prosecute trafficking-related complicity.

Prosecution
A new criminal code for Serbia was adopted in July 2005 and became effective on January 1, 2006. It differentiates between trafficking and smuggling and covers all forms of trafficking. In 2005, the Serbian Government investigated 15 cases of trafficking, indicted 34 individuals for trafficking, and convicted 15 traffickers, a decrease from 25 convictions during the previous year. Sentences ranged from two to eight years' imprisonment. Most traffickers, however, are released after serving half of their sentences, following standard practice for all convicted criminals. In March 2006, the Serbian Supreme Court upheld an appeal of a 2004 Belgrade District Court conviction of the "Zarubica" case involving trafficking of women and girls from Moldova. The Supreme Court also increased the prison sentence from 3.5 to 4.5 years. These defendants, however, following standard judicial practice, remain on release, with no date yet set for serving actual imprisonment. Extensive police and border guard training yielded some significant results in 2005; police successfully interdicted two groups of traffickers at a border crossing in February 2006, one involving an international group of Serbians, Ukrainians, and Moldovans attempting to traffic Ukrainian girls into Serbia. There were no reports of trafficking-related corruption; however, there were allegations from one NGO of police complicity in a prostitution ring in Novi Pazar. Local officials from Novi Pazar have not responded to information requests from the NGO about these allegations.

Protection
The police and Agency for the Coordination of Protection to Victims of Trafficking worked together with NGOs to identify and refer 44 victims in 2005. All victims are provided shelter, medical and psychological services, and reintegration assistance; while NGOs provided most of these services, the government funded the salaries for workers in one shelter. The government increased the number of residence permits for victims of trafficking, approving 13 in 2005. The government amended a law to provide free medical services to trafficking victims in 2005; education of service providers is ongoing, as some NGOs reported cases of local hospitals refusing to provide services to victims. In January 2006, Serbia adopted a witness protection law applicable to victims of trafficking and implemented a victim witness protection unit. There were some reports of victims being poorly treated in courts outside Belgrade. Courts often require victims to testify against their traffickers repeatedly for criminal and civil proceedings, creating unnecessary trauma and travel costs. The government mandated that all municipalities establish a response team consisting of one police officer and one social welfare worker to provide assistance to victims; only a few local teams were active and functional in 2005, others failed to be responsive or have yet to be designated. Although Serbian police are responsible for the initial identification of trafficking victims, five victims were inappropriately detained, one of whom was deported in 2005. The police subsequently identified them as victims and transferred the four remaining victims to a shelter.

Prevention
The government’s anti-trafficking prevention activities remained nascent in 2005; NGOs continued to organize and fund the majority of Serbia’s public information campaigns. NGOs participate in the government’s anti-trafficking team and subgroups; however, the national team met only periodically throughout the reporting period and one subgroup did not meet at all. In 2005, the National Council developed and implemented a National Action Plan in consultation with NGOs. The National Council drafted an anti-trafficking strategy for 2006-2009 and submitted it to the Serbian Government for approval; the Prime Minister’s office has yet to approve the strategy, but elements of the Action Plan, consistent with the proposed strategy, continue to be implemented. NGOs distributed anti-trafficking awareness pamphlets and posters to Serbian youth to warn them about becoming victims of trafficking. Consular officers sought to prevent trafficking into Serbia by refusing over 4,000 visa applications from known countries of origin.

Prosecution
The Government of the Republic of Montenegro improved its law enforcement response to trafficking and increased its investigations and convictions of traffickers during the reporting period. In 2005, the government issued five indictments against seven individuals, initiated 14 investigations of trafficking, and convicted six traffickers in three cases. Sentences ranged from six months to five years, and all convicted traffickers are currently serving their sentences. The government continued to provide training to police, prosecutors, judges, and other officials on how to recognize, investigate, and prosecute trafficking. In 2005, in cooperation with Ukrainian officials, the government convicted and sentenced four traffickers to a total of 14 years for trafficking Ukrainian victims to Montenegro for labor exploitation. There were reports that some police and customs officials facilitated trafficking and corrupt officers provided security to commercial sex establishments in 2005.

Protection
The Government of Montenegro demonstrated increased efforts to protect and assist trafficking victims in 2005. It signed a memorandum of cooperation with NGOs to reinforce cooperation to protect and assist trafficking victims; police referred 25 victims to NGOs under the memorandum. In 2005, the government issued formal guidance on the issuance of temporary residence permits to victims of trafficking. Occasionally, police pressured victims to file formal police reports in order to qualify for shelter residency. In January 2006, the Montenegrin government took over funding for a trafficking shelter in Podgoricia, which reported housing 28 victims in 2005 and five potential victims as of February 2006. The Republic of Montenegro passed a witness protection law applicable to trafficking victims in 2004, but it has yet to apply it to protect a trafficking victim. Reportedly, border police screen for trafficking victims and informally monitor the border for evidence of trafficking; however, the government has yet to establish a formal referral mechanism to ensure victims are consistently and accurately identified and referred to NGO shelters. IOM reported that on rare occasions some potential trafficking victims were prematurely deported.

Prevention
In 2005, the Montenegrin Government, in cooperation with one NGO, organized workshops in many high schools and elementary schools to raise awareness and ways to recognize the potential risks of trafficking. The office of the national coordinator required monthly anti-trafficking progress reports from all relevant state agencies and the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare organized a seminar on trafficking in children. In 2005, the government updated its 2003 National Anti-Trafficking Strategy and various ministries adopted tailored action plans as required by the strategy.

KOSOVO

Kosovo, while technically a part of Serbia and Montenegro, continued to be administered under the authority of the United Nations Interim Administrative Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999). Since June 1999, UNMIK has provided transitional administration for Kosovo, and retains ultimate authority over anti-trafficking roles such as police and justice, but is slowly transferring capacity to local institutions. UNMIK is aware of the trafficking problem in Kosovo and continued to conduct anti-trafficking efforts with the OSCE, the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG), and local and international NGOs. Responsibility for social support to victims of trafficking is shared by UNMIK, PISG, and international organizations.

Kosovo is a source, transit, and destination point for women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation. Some involuntary domestic servitude and forced labor occurs. Internal trafficking continued to grow into a more serious problem. Over 80 percent of identified victims assisted were minors. IOM reported 64 percent of victims from Kosovo assisted in 2005 were internally trafficked, 15 percent were trafficked into Macedonia, with 13 percent trafficked into Albania and Italy. UNMIK’s Trafficking in Human Beings Unit (THBS) reported the foreign victims it assisted were trafficked mainly from Moldova, Albania, and Bulgaria. A growing number of Albanian and Kosovar victims were re-trafficked in Kosovo in 2005. The commercial sex trade continued to shift more underground and become increasingly clandestine in Kosovo, and traffickers increasingly use financial incentives to encourage victims to refuse assistance.

Prosecution
There continued to be a significant gap between the number of police raids and arrests in 2005; the THBS reported that traffickers are often tipped off to its operations. The THBS carried out 2,000 raids during the reporting period, but arrested only 33 suspects. In 2005, the THBS conducted 45 searches of private residences for trafficking victims. The THBS identified 49 victims, assisted 38, and repatriated 14. In July, three Albanian citizens were convicted of trafficking and sentenced to 10 and 12 years. In November a UNHCR official was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for exploitation of a minor. The majority of sentences for traffickers ranged from one to three years. Weak sentencing for convicted traffickers continued to be a significant obstacle, due to corruption and a cultural misperception of the key differences between trafficking and smuggling and force and consent. Prosecutors reportedly do not seek the strongest charges for traffickers due to misperception, lack of training and collusion with traffickers.

Protection
Investigation and prosecution continued to be hampered by a lack of adequate witness protection in 2005. Prosecutors continued to request the victim testify in the presence of their traffickers, although the law stipulated otherwise. In 2005, a consortium of local and international actors involved in anti-trafficking (the international and local police services, victim advocates, the OSCE, and local NGOs) introduced a standard operating procedure (SOP) to improve the previous duplicative and inefficient process of victim assistance and referral. Under the SOP, identified victims are referred by the THBS to one of 23 victim advocates across Kosovo who provide direct assistance to victims.

Prevention
In May 2005, the PISG published an action plan to consolidate all relevant anti-trafficking actors and actions under one framework. IOM and UNMIK led several anti-trafficking awareness campaigns in 2005, one of which targeted potential clients in the sex industry and one to increase victim assistance, including opening an anonymous hotline for victims and vulnerable groups. The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with an NGO, continued to be involved in awareness campaigns in schools.

Pokret za ukidanje trgovine ljudima predstavlja više od zaštite ljudskih prava – to je pitanje globalne bezbednosti.

Strategija za nacionalnu bezbednost predsednika Buša reafirmisala je naš stav o promociji demokratije i ljudskih prava kao najdelotvornijoj dugoročnoj strategiji za ostvarivanje stabilnosti. Ciljevi ove strategije za okončanje ugnjetavanja, širenje slobode i promociju ljudskog dostojanstva, podrazumevaju i našu obavezu da se zaustavi trgovina ljudima: „Trgovina ljudima je vid modernog ropstva, a mi nastojimo da ga potpuno ukinemo. Budući naraštaji neće oprostiti onima koji ovo budu ignorisali.”

Trgovci ljudima napadaju najugroženije i ostvaruju ekonomski profit na nevinim žrtvama. Napori Stejt departmenta da se ovo zlo okonča primer su transformacione diplomatije. U saradnji sa međunarodnim partnerima, obezbeđujemo slobodu eksploatisanima i pozivamo vlade da budu efikasne i odgovorne u krivičnom gonjenju eksploatatora.

Pokret za ukidanje trgovine ljudima nastavlja da jača zahvaljujući vođstvu američkog predsednika, posvećenosti Kongresa i podršci mnogobrojnih verskih, lokalnih, ženskih organizacija i grupa za ljudska prava, kao i pojedinaca. Hvala vam što učestvujete u ovom pokretu u ime najugroženijih građana sveta.

Nepal/Indija: Rinu je iz Nepala u Indiju dovela tetka po majci koja je dvanaestogodišnju devojčicu, ubrzo po dolasku, oterala u bordel u Nju Delhiju. Vlasnik bordela ju je svakodnevno prisiljavao na seksualne odnose sa mnogim klijentima. Rina nije mogla da pobegne pošto ne govori Hindu i nije imala kome da se obrati. Često je viđala da policajci uzimaju novac od vlasnikâ bordela za svaku novodovedenu devojčicu. Vlasnik bordela je Rinu i druge devojčice podučio da svakome ko ih pita kažu da imaju dvadeset pet godina i da su dobrovoljno u bordelu. Rina je pobegla nakon dve godine i sada rešila da život posveti drugim žrtvama trgovine ljudima kojima je neophodna pomoć pri bekstvu.

Stejt department je po zakonu obavezan da svake godine Kongresu Sjedinjenih Država podnese izveštaj o naporima stranih vlada usmerenim na ukidanje teških oblika trgovine ljudima. Ovaj izveštaj je šesti godišnji izveštaj o trgovini ljudima. Namenjen je podizanju globalne svesti, isticanju sve većih napora međunarodne zajednice u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima i ohrabrenju stranih vlada da preduzimaju efikasne korake u borbi protiv svih oblika trgovine ljudima. Izveštaj se sve više usredsređuje na napore rastuće zajednice država u pogledu razmene informacija i nove i značajne načine ostvarivanja saradnje. Po zakonima Sjedinjenih Država, zemlja koja ne uspe da napravi značajne napore u poštovanju minimuma standarda za ukidanje trgovine ljudima, u ovom izveštaju se klasifikuje u „Nivo 3”. Takva ocena može uticati na uskraćivanje pomoći koju toj zemlji Sjedinjene Države pružaju u oblastima koje se ne odnose na humanitarne potrebe i trgovinu.

U proceni naporâ stranih vlada, Izveštaj o trgovini ljudima ističe krivično gonjenje, zaštitu i prevenciju. Ali i pristup trgovini ljudima iz vizure žrtve jednako zahteva od nas da se pozabavimo i spasavanjem, rehabilitacijom i reintegracijom. Američki zakon koji reguliše ovakve napore, Zakon o zaštiti žrtava trgovine ljudima (TVPA) iz 2000. godine, kako je izmenjen, od samog početka jasno ističe da je cilj borbe protiv trgovine ljudima pravedno i delotvorno kažnjavanje trgovaca ljudima, zaštita njihovih žrtava i sprečavanje trgovine ljudima.

Pre više od 150 godina, Sjedinjene Države su vodile razoran rat čiji je vrhunac bio ukidanje ropstva u ovoj zemlji. Mada je većina država ukinula ropstvo kao praksu koju država sankcioniše, pojavio se moderni oblik ljudskog ropstva. To je rastuća globalna pretnja životu i slobodi miliona muškaraca, žena i dece. Danas, samo u najbrutalnijim i najrepresivnijim režimima, kao što je Burma i Severna Koreja, ropstvo je i dalje pod pokroviteljstvom države. Umesto toga, u trgovinu ljudima su često uključene organizovane kriminalne grupe koje zarađuju ogromne svote novca na račun žrtava trgovine ljudima i naših društava.

Saudijska Arabija: Serena je sa Filipina stigla u Saudijsku Arabiju kao kućna pomoćnica. Po dolasku joj je poslodavac oduzeo pasoš i, zajedno sa svojom ženom, tukao je i verbalno zlostavljao. Jednom prilikom, poslodavka ju je gurnula niz stepenice, a u drugoj ju je poslodavac davio dok se nije onesvestila. Nije joj bilo dopušteno da izlazi iz kuće. Kako joj je pasoš oduzet, nije mogla da pobegne. Serena je bila toliko nesrećna da je pokušala samoubistvo. Kad je stigla u bolnicu, uspela je da pobegne svojim tamničarima. Podnela je zahtev za odštetu pred saudijskim pravosudnim organima i u jednom prihvatilištu čeka pravdu.

Svake godine saznamo nešto novo o fenomenu trgovine ljudima. U Izveštaju za 2004. godinu koristili smo podatke Vlade Sjedinjenih Država koji su prvi put prikazali transnacionalnu trgovinu ljudima po uzrastu i polu. Ovi podaci pokazuju da su od 600.000 do 800.000 muškaraca, žena i dece, koliko se procenjuje da ima žrtava trgovine ljudi koje svake godine prelaze međunarodne granice, oko 80% žene i deca, a čak i do 50% su maloletnici. Podaci su takođe pokazali da se većinom transnacionalnih žrtava trgovalo zarad seksualne eksploatacije. Ako se, međutim, bolje pogleda transnacionalna trgovina ljudima, ovi brojevi ne uključuju milione žrtava širom sveta koji su žrtve trgovine ljudima u okviru njihovih nacionalnih granica. Izveštaj za 2006. godinu baca novo svetlo na alarmantnu trgovinu ljudima zarad ropskog rada i to često baš u državama iz kojih žrtve i potiču. Ovo je oblik trgovine ljudima koji je teže identifikovati i proceniti od seks trafikinga, pa ipak, ovaj vid može biti mnogo veći po obimu ako računamo lokalnu trgovinu ljudima. On ne mora nužno podrazumevati iste kriminalne mreže koje profitiraju od transnacionalne trgovine ljudima zarad seksualne eksploatacije. Mnogo češće pojedinci snose odgovornost za, na primer, potčinjavanje jednog sluge u domaćinstvu ili stotina neplaćenih radnika koji su na prinudnom radu u nekoj fabrici.

Postoji širok spektar procena u oblasti i veličini modernog ropstva i na lokalnom i na transnacionalnom nivou. Međunarodna organizacija za rad (ILO) – organ Ujedinjenih nacija zadužen za pitanja radnog standarda, zapošljavanja i socijalne zaštite – procenjuje da je 12,3 miliona ljudi na prinudnom radu, ropskom radu, prinudnom dečjem radu i seksualnom ropstvu u svakom trenutku; druge procene se kreću između 4 miliona i 27 miliona.

Ekonomska globalizacija je podstakla nezapamćenu mobilizaciju nekvalifikovane i niskokvalifikovane radne snage što je odgovor na potražnju tržišta na kojima vlada deficit radne snage, a za rad u oblasti građevinarstva, u fabrikama, poljoprivredi i kućnim poslovima. Radnici migranti iz nerazvijenih država Južne i Istočne Azije sve više rade na relativno kratkoročne ugovore u razvijenijim zemljama Azije, Evrope i Bliskog Istoka. ILO procenjuje ovu populaciju na 120 miliona radnika. Saudijska Arabija (7,5 miliona), Ujedinjeni Arapski Emirati (2,3 miliona), Malezija (2,3 miliona) i Kuvajt (1,3 miliona) vodeće su zemlje u pogledu potražnje za stranom radnom snagom. Filipini (7 miliona), Indonezija (3 miliona), Bangladeš (3 miliona) i Sri Lanka (1.5 miliona) vodeće su zemlje iz kojih ovakvi radnici potiču. Sama po sebi, migracija radne snage u eri globalizacije ne predstavlja ništa loše, ali, kako će se videti u daljem tekstu, zloupotrebe mogu dovesti do modernog ropstva. Ovo masovno pomeranje radne snage iz zemalja snabdevača u zemlje potražioce reguliše se ugovorima koje nude predstavnici poslodavaca i agencija za zapošljavanje, ugovorima između agencija za zapošljavanje i poslodavaca koje odobravaju države kao „pokrovitelji” i sveobuhvatnim sporazumima između vlada zemalja snabdevača i zemalja potražilaca. Ugovori koji se nude radnicima pokrivaju osnovne uslove zapošljavanja – nadnice, radno vreme i trajanje radnog odnosa – i navode lokaciju i naziv poslodavca. Nivo propisa i nadzor ovih ugovora veoma se razlikuju. Radnici su izloženi zloupotrebama i riziku od prisilnog ropstva kada se ugovori ne poštuju ili se, po dolasku na odredište, zamenjuju novim ugovorima koji sadrže nepovoljnije uslove. Vlade zemalja izvora nastoje da spreče takvu eksploataciju kroz sporazume sa vladama zemalja potražilaca. Po zaštiti svojih radnika u inostranstvu, Filipinska vlada se, uz svoju jaku Agenciju za rad u inostranstvu, izdvaja kao lider u oblasti organizovane migracije radne snage. Druge vlade zemalja izvora radne snage nisu tako energične kad je u pitanju zaštita njihovih radnika u inostranstvu.

Poslodavci i njihovi agenti za zapošljavanje u zemljama potražiocima zahtevaju maksimalnu efikasnost od stranih radnika na ugovor. Kada zaštita i propisi nisu dovoljni da se spreče zloupotrebe, nesavesni poslodavci traže najugroženije grupe stranih radnika zarad eksploatacije. Očito je u toku „trka do kraja” u nekim ključnim zemljama potražiocima, pošto se traže najnezaštićenije populacije radnika uključujući državljane Vijetnama, Bangladeša i Nepala, a sve više se izbegavaju „problematični” radnici koji zahtevaju prava i koji imaju podršku svoje vlade. Takva selekcija je moguća sve dok se ne primenjuju univerzalni standardi u sprečavanju prisilnog ropstva. U bilateralnim sporazumima, vlade zemalja izvora treba da traže da se slučajevi prisilnog ropstva krivično gone pred sudovima zemlje potražioca. Ovi sporazumi takođe treba da zahtevaju registraciju ugovora sa svim stranama, odgovornost agencija za zapošljavanje za dobrobit radnika, i osiguranje, koje finansiraju agencije za zapošljavanje, da bi se radnici zaštitili u slučaju nepredviđenih problema kao što je bankrot poslodavca.

Po nacionalnoj pripadnosti, žrtve trgovine ljudima razlikuju se koliko i kulture širom sveta. Neki dolaze iz razvijenih zemalja želeći da unaprede svoj život radeći niskokvalifikovane poslove u prosperitetnijim zemljama. Neki, opet, postaju žrtve prinudnog ili ropskog rada u svojim zemljama. Pojedine porodice daju decu odraslim osobama, kako rođacima tako i nesrodnicima, koji obećavaju obrazovanje i mogućnosti – ali decu prodaju u roblje. Konvencionalni pristupi problemima prinudnog ili ropskog rada obično su usmereni na poštovanje međunarodnih konvencija (odnosno, Konvencija ILO-a 29, 39, 105 i 182). Ovakvi pristupi zahtevaju da se eksploatatorske industrije pridržavaju zakona jednostavnim oslobađanjem žrtava ili finansijskom kompenzacijom.

Pristupi borbi protiv prinudnog rada koji se oslanjaju na radne standarde mogu se pokazati kao slabi u kažnjavanju poslodavaca za ovaj oblik trgovine ljudima. Prinudni rad se mora kažnjavati kao krivično delo, odlučnim krivičnim gonjenjem. Mada većina zemalja u svetu prinudni rad smatra krivičnim delom, malo se uradi na krivičnom gonjenju prestupnika, delimično i zbog neupućenosti policije u probleme prinudnog rada. Takođe, žene žrtve prinudnog ili ropskog rada, pogotovo žene i devojke koje rade kao ispomoć u kući i imaju tretman roblja, često su seksualno zloupotrebljene.

Za sledeću godinu, Stejt department, po nalogu Kongresa, namerava da se više usredsredi na prinudni rad i ropski rad s tim što će nastaviti kampanju protiv trgovine ljudima u svrhu seksualne eksploatacije.

Od mnogih radnika zaposlenih na ugovor u inostranstvu, koji se nađu u uslovima prisilnog ropstva u zemljama potražiocima radne snage, zahteva se da plate pozamašne provizije pre nego što dobiju posao. Ove provizije se plaćaju ili agenciji koja regrutuje radnu snagu u zemlji izvoru ili kompaniji za zapošljavanje u zemlji potražiocu, ili ih i jedni i drugi dele. Uplate koje se zahtevaju od stranih radnika kreću se od 4,000 do 11,000 dolara i opisani su kao „troškovi nalaženja posla” ili „troškovi zapošljavanja”. Ovi troškovi su obično nezakoniti po zakonima zemlje izvora, a međunarodni ugovor ih zabranjuje. Ne postoje osnovani razlozi da niskokvalifikovani radnici plaćaju ovakve troškove; regrutacione agencije u zemljama izvorima i agencije za zapošljavanje u zemljama potražiocima dobijaju proviziju od poslodavaca koji potražuju usluge niskokvalifikovanih stranih radnika. Zahtevajući naplatu od samih radnika, kompanije za zapošljavanje dvostruko naplaćuju – i nameću težak dužnički teret koji doprinosi ropskom radu ili prisilnom ropstvu. Istraživanje o prisilnom ropstvu radnika migranata, zaposlenih na ugovor, pokazuje tesnu povezanost između uslova prinudnog rada i visokih provizija ili dugova koje regrutacione agencije u zemlji izvoru nameću radnicima.

Privatne agencije za zapošljavanje ne treba da naplaćuju ni posredno ni neposredno nikakve troškove od radnika. Ovo je princip koji se sve više prihvata i privlači pažnju u svetu, jer neke zemlje izvori nametanje nerazumnih troškova radnicima smatraju krivičnim delom. Odgovornost je vlada zemalja izvora radne snage da adekvatno regulišu agencije za regrutaciju radnika kako radnici koji odlaze u inostranstvo na rad po ugovoru ne bi bili opterećeni nepotrebnim troškovima koji često docnije dovode do dužničkog ropstva. Preduzeća za regrutaciju radne snage koje se bave ovom krajnje eksploatatorskom praksom treba da odgovaraju krivično. Administrativne sankcije kao što su novčane kazne i zatvaranje firme nisu dovoljne za sprečavanje ovog krivičnog dela. Odgovornost je na vladi zemlje potražioca da aktivno kontroliše radnike da ne bi postali žrtve dužničkog ropstva ili prinudnog rada; kada se takav slučaj ustanovi, treba organizovati krivičnu istragu koja će dovesti do mogućeg krivičnog gonjenja.

Kao i Izveštaj za 2005. godinu, i ovaj izveštaj je nekoliko zemalja uvrstio u Nivo 3 pre svega zato što se nisu bavili pitanjima trgovine ljudima u svrhu prinudnog rada među radnicima migrantima. Globalni napori za ukidanje trgovine ljudima sve više rastu zahvaljujući TVPA i pristupu trgovini ljudima iz vizure žrtve, ovom godišnjem izveštaju, snažnom dvostranačkom vođstvu Sjedinjenih Država, povećanoj pažnji međunarodnih organizacija, posvećenim nevladinim organizacijama i kreativnom pristupu medija. Države sve češće sarađuju na zatvaranju puteva trgovaca ljudima, krivičnom gonjenju i suđenjima trgovcima ljudima, te zaštiti i reintegraciji žrtava trgovine ljudima. Nadamo se da će ovogodišnji izveštaj nadahnuti ljude za još veći napredak.

Niger/Mali: Roditelje dvanaestogodišnjeg Malika ubedio je koreanski učitelj – pripadnik veoma cenjene grupe u Nigeru – da će dečaka odvesti u Mali zarad nastavka školovanja. Ali kad su Malik i ostali nigerski dečaci stigli u Mali iz Nigera, školovanje im je uskraćeno a učitelj ih je prinudio da za njega zarađuju novac dugotrajnim prosjačenjem na ulicama. Malik je na kraju pobegao. Neki nepoznati ljudi su mu pomogli da se vrati u svoje selo u Nigeru gde ga je s radošću dočekala porodica nakon što je čula za njegove patnje.

Ovaj izveštaj baca mnogo više svetla na fenomen trgovine ljudima koji se sve više javlja u Aziji i na Bliskom Istoku – ropstvo nametnuto velikom broju radnika migranata koji prihvataju ugovore u drugim zemljama za niskokvalifikovane poslove u građevinarstvu, fabrikama, poljoprivredi kao i poslove kućne posluge. Za razliku od neregistrovanih migranata, nezakonito prokrijumčarenih u zemlju, ovi radnici migranti se legitimno regrutuju u svojim rodnim zemljama i putuju u bogatije zemlje gde se traži jeftina radna snaga. Po dolasku, deo ovih radnika migranata suočava se sa nesavesnim agencijama za zapošljavanje ili poslodavcima koji ih drže u prisilnom ropstvu. Ovo može prerasti u prinudan ili ropski rad zavisno od sredstava prisile upotrebljenih da se radnici nateraju da prihvate ili nastave ropstvo. Nesavesne agencije za zapošljavanje i poslodavci koriste razne taktike kao što su: izmenjeni uslovi zapošljavanja od onih određenih ugovorom potpisanim pre nego što radnici napuste matičnu zemlju, konfiskacija i zadržavanje putnih isprava (pasoša, avionskih karata, i boravišnih dozvola za strance), zatvaranje, pretnje fizičkim nasiljem i uskraćivanje nadnica.

Razlozi za ovaj oblik trgovine radnom snagom dele se na dve kategorije: zloupotreba ugovora i lokalni zakoni koji regulišu regrutovanje i zapošljavanje radnika migranata; i orkestrirano nametanje velikih troškova i dugova radnicima u zemlji ili državi izvoru, često u saučesništvu ili čak uz pomoć agencija za zapošljavanje ili poslodavaca u odredišnoj zemlji ili državi. Neke zloupotrebe ugovora i teški uslovi zapošljavanja sami po sebi ne predstavljaju prisilno ropstvo mada su upotreba ili pretnja fizičkom silom ili prisiljavanje radnika da zasnuje ili nastavi radni odnos ili usluge indikacije za prinudni rad. Troškovi nametnuti radnicima za „privilegiju” rada u inostranstvu protivni su međunarodnim standardima i dovode radnike u situaciju krajnje izloženosti dužničkom ropstvu. Međutim, troškovi sami po sebi ne predstavljaju dužničko ropstvo niti prisilno ropstvo. U kombinaciji sa eksploatacijom koju primenjuju nesavesni poslodavci ili agencije za zapošljavanje u odredišnoj zemlji, kada su ovakvi troškovi ili dugovi prekomerni, onda predstavljaju vid dužničkog ropstva.

Pojedinac može odlučiti da putuje na drugu lokaciju radi posla unutar svoje zemlje ili u inostranstvo, a ipak pasti u prisilno ropstvo. Neke vlade i policije pogrešno se usredsređuju na dobrovoljni momenat transnacionalne selidbe pojedinaca, pa ne uspevaju da identifikuju važniji element prinudne službe ili prinudnog rada koji se može dogoditi nakon što se neko preseli radi zaposlenja. Selidba u novu lokaciju je slučajna. Sila, obmana ili prinuda izvršena nad tom osobom da bi vršila ili nastavila da vrši rad za „gospodara” jeste elemenat koji definiše trgovinu ljudima u modernoj upotrebi. Osoba koja je u zamci prinudne službe nakon što se dobrovoljno preselila ili se voljno zaposlila smatra se žrtvom trgovine ljudima. Dečak prinuđen na pecanje na jezeru Volti u Gani jednako je žrtva trgovine ljudima kao i tajlandski radnik doveden u Sjedinjene Države sa legalnom vizom za sezonski rad na farmi i prinuđen da radi u uslovima koji nisu opisani u originalnom ugovoru, pod pretnjom da će biti deportovan bez plate ako se ne bude pridržavao „novih pravila”.

Ukrajinka namamljena u London na prevaru da bi radila kao manekenka, a zatim prostituisana jednako je žrtva trgovine ljudima kao i brazilska tinejdžerka koju je rođena porodica naterala na prostituciju u primorskom letovalištu. Ima mnogo oblika ropstva i lica njegovih žrtava.

Vlada Sjedinjenih Država nastavlja da uči o delokrugu i prirodi trgovine ljudima. U ovom izveštaju, pokušali smo da istaknemo oblasti gde su informacije retke i da postavimo pitanja koja zaslužuju dalje istraživanje. U nekim slučajevima, odsustvo informacija ili lažne informacije od nedemokratskih vlada možda ograničavaju ovaj izveštaj. S obzirom na ovakve kvalifikacije, Izveštaj o trgovini ljudima za 2006. predstavlja ažuriran, globalni pogled na prirodu i delokrug današnjeg ropstva i široki opseg aktivnosti koje vlade širom sveta preduzimaju da bi ovaj problem rešavale i ukinule.

Uganda: Majkl je imao petnaest godina kada ga je kidnapovala LRA da bi služio kao borac u pobunjeničkim snagama Ugande. Tokom prinudne službe u LRA, nateran je da ubije dečaka koji je pokušao da pobegne. Takođe je video kako je neki drugi dečak na smrt iskasapljen jer nije upozorio stražare da je njegov drug uspeo da pobegne.

Uticaj trgovine ljudima u svrhu seksualne eksploatacije na zdravlje stanovništva

Mada žrtve trgovine ljudima u svrhu seksualne eksploatacije imaju celu lepezu zdravstvenih problema, uticaj seks trafikinga na zdravlje globalnog stanovništva nije kvantitativno određen. Pregled regionalnih studija pruža sliku o tome kolika je trauma i u psihičkom i u fizičkom pogledu, trgovina ljudima zarad seksualne eksploatacije. Na primer, studija o ženama i devojkama, žrtvama trgovine ljudima radi prostitucije u Istočnoj Africi, navodi široko rasprostranjena silovanja, fizičko maltretiranje, zarazne bolesti koje se prenose seksualnim kontaktom i HIV/sidu.[1] Po proceni trgovine devojkama u Nepalu, 38 procenata izbavljenih žrtava ima HIV/sidu, kao i seksualno prenosive bolesti i tuberkulozu.[2] U studiji o ženama žrtvama trgovine ljudima u Evropskoj uniji, uticaji na zdravlje uključuju žestoko nasilje koje za posledicu ima slomljene kosti, gubitak svesti i grupna silovanja. Komplikacije prilikom abortusa, gastrointestinalni problemi, nezdrav gubitak težine, vaške, suicidalna depresija, alkoholizam i narkomanija takođe su navedeni.[3] Jedna druga studija o ženama žrtvama trgovine ljudima u Evropskoj uniji navodi da je 95 % žrtava pretrpelo žestoko nasilje ili primorano na seksualni odnos, dok je 60 % prijavilo umor, neurološke simptome, gastrointestinalne probleme, bolove u leđima, vaginalni sekret i ginekološke infekcije.[4] Manje očite zdravstvene posledice seks trafikinga uklučuju cervikalni kancer, uzrokovan papilomima, što je češće kod žena koje imaju seksualne odnose sa mnogim muškarcima.

Mada postoji mali broj opsežnih studija o zdravlju žrtava trgovine ljudima, mnoge dobro napravljene studije o posledicama koje prostitucija ostavlja na zdravlje korisne su za razumevanje uticaja koji seks trafiking ostavlja na zdravlje. Na primer, dve studije iz Indije ustanovile su da je zastupljenost HIV-a mnogo veća kod prostituisanih devojaka neko kod prostituisanih žena (12,5% naspram 5,4% i 27,7% naspram 8,4%).[5]

Za bolje razumevanje opsega i međuodnosa zdravstvenih problema povezanih sa seks trafikingom, zdravstveni problemi se mogu svrstati u šest kategorija, i to:

Prikupljanje podataka prema ovim kategorijama zdravlja omogućiće nevladinim organizacijama i vladinim organima razvoj intervencija na osnovu prikupljenih dokaza u cilju prevencije i nege žrtava kao i usmeravanje sredstava prema utvrđenim potrebama žrtava. Šire gledano, podaci će omogućiti razvoj smernica za lečenje kao i preporuke u smislu zdravlja stanovništva i seks trafikinga. Ovakav pristup zahteva vođstvo javnih zdravstvenih radnika i primenu tradicionalnih metodologija i strategija za zdravlje stanovništva.

Zakon o zaštiti žrtava trgovine ljudima (TVPA) i Protokol za prevenciju, suzbijanje i kažnjavanje trgovine ljudima Ujedinjenih nacija poziva vlade da preduzmu odgovarajuće korake za zaštitu žrtava trgovine. Takva je zaštita moguća jedino ako postoji adekvatna identifikacija žrtava trgovine ljudima. Izveštaj za 2005. godinu naglašava neophodnost pregleda ugroženih grupa ljudi da bi se identifikovale žrtve trgovine ljudima. Procene u ovogodišnjem izveštaju otkrivaju koliko još mora da se uradi.

Samoidentifikacija: mit. Neke vlade se i dalje oslanjaju na sistem identifikacije krivičnih dela trgovine ljudima i žrtava trgovine ljudima „na osnovu prijave”. Pod pretpostavkom da pojedinačna žrtva trgovine ljudima podnese krivičnu prijavu nadležnim službama ili se prvom prilikom identifikuje kao žrtva trgovine ljudima, ove vlade reaguju na prijavljene slučajeve. Ovakav pristup reakcije na trgovinu ljudima nije adekvatan i ne ispunjava standarde TVPA za zaštitu žrtava.

Stvarnost. Mali broj žrtava je spreman da se identifikuje u prvom kontaktu sa policijom. Plaše se stvarne ili umišljene osvete i još su pod traumom ropskog odnosa. Ne mogu i od njih ne treba očekivati da odmah objektivno prijave razmere eksploatacije koju su doživeli.

Proaktivna kontrola: standard. Adekvatna zaštita žrtava zahteva proaktivne mere vlade pri identifikaciji žrtava trgovine ljudima putem pažljivih i detaljnih razgovora i savetovanja. Policija mora biti obučena da bi mogla da utvrdi indikacije za trgovinu ljudima. Pružanje privremenog skloništa u udobnom okruženju omogućava potencijalnoj žrtvi trgovine ljudima da dobije savetovanje i pristup mogućnostima kao što je njihova pomoć pri krivičnom gonjenju trgovaca ljudima.

Žrtve trgovine ljudima plaćaju užasnu cenu. Psihičke i fizičke povrede, uključujući bolest i usporen razvoj, često ostavljaju trajne posledice. U mnogim slučajevima je eksploatacija žrtava trgovine ljudima progresivna: dete žrtva jednog vida trgovine ljudima može biti maltretirano i kroz neki drugi vid trgovine ljudima. Brutalna stvarnost savremenog ropstva jeste česta preprodaja žrtava – koje su često prvi put prodali članovi porodice. Žrtve prinuđene na seksualno ropstvo često su podvrgnute narkoticima i izložene žestokom nasilju. Žrtve trgovine ljudima u cilju seksualne eksploatacije suočavaju se sa fizičkim i emocionalnim oštećenjima usled nasilne seksualne aktivnosti, prinudne upotrebe opojnih sredstava, izloženosti seksualno prenosivim bolestima, uključujući HIV/sidu, uskraćivanje hrane i psihičku torturu. Neke žrtve dožive trajna oštećenja reproduktivnih organa. Mnogi umiru kao žrtve trgovine ljudima. Kada se žrtve trgovine ljudima odvode u govorno područje čiji jezik žrtva ne govori ili ne razume, time se nanosi psihološka trauma izazvana izolacijom i dominacijom trgovaca ljudima.

Aspekt ljudskih prava. U osnovi, trgovina ljudima predstavlja kršenje ljudskih prava na život, slobodu i nezavisnost. Trgovina decom jeste kršenje bitnog prava deteta na odrastanje u zaštićenoj sredini i prava na slobodu od svih oblika zlostavljanja i iskorištavanja.

Promocija socijalnog raspada. Gubitak porodice i podrške zajednice čini žrtve trgovine ljudima ranjivim na zahteve i pretnje trgovaca ljudima, i na nekoliko načina doprinosi raspadu socijalnih struktura. Trgovina ljudima decu odvaja od roditelja i šire porodice. Zarada od trgovine ljudima često omogućava da se trgovina ljudima ukoreni u određenim zajednicama, koje se onda iznova koriste kao spreman izvor žrtava. Opasnost od postajanja žrtvom trgovine ljudima može navesti ugrožene grupe kao što su deca i mlade žene na sakrivanje što ima negativan uticaj na njihovo školovanje i na strukturu porodice. Gubitak školovanja smanjuje buduće ekonomske mogućnosti žrtava i povećava njihovu izloženost da u budućnosti opet postanu žrtve trgovine ljudima. Žrtve koje su u stanju da se vrate u svoje zajednice često su izložene sramoti i izopštavanju. Oporavak od ovakve traume, ako do njega i dođe, može trajati čitav život.

Podsticanje organizovanog kriminala. Zarada od trgovine ljudima podstiče druge kriminalne radnje. Prema Federalnom istražnom birou Sjedinjenih Država, trgovina ljudima donosi godišnji prihod od 9,5 milijardi dolara. Tesno je povezana sa pranjem novca, trgovinom narkoticima, falsifikovanjem dokumenata i krijumčarenjem ljudi. Tamo gde organizovani kriminal cveta, vlasti i vladavina prava su podriveni i oslabljeni.

Lišavanje zemalja ljudskog potencijala i ometanje razvoja. Trgovina ljudima ima katastrofalan uticaj na tržište rada, doprinosi nenadoknadivom gubitku ljudskog potencijala. Neke posledice trgovine ljudima su minimalne nadnice, smanjena produktivnost radne snage, gubitak plaćanja i neškolovani naraštaji. Ove posledice dovode do gubitka buduće produktivnosti i sticanja moći. Terati decu na rad i uskratiti im školovanje učvršćuje ciklus siromaštva i nepismenosti što suzbija nacionalni razvoj. Kada je u prinudni ili ropski rad uključen značajan deo populacije jedne zemlje, ovaj oblik trgovine ljudima koči napredak zemlje pošto generacije i generacije žrtava ne mogu da se izvuku iz siromaštva.

Cena zdravlja stanovništva. Žrtve trgovine ljudima često su izložene brutalnim stanjima koja se završavaju fizičkim, seksualnim i psihičkim traumama. Seksualno prenosivi virusi i infekcije, inflamatorne bolesti pelvisa i HIV/sida obično su posledica prostitucije. Anksioznost, nesanica, depresija i posttraumatski stres česte su psihičke manifestacije poremećaja kod žrtava trgovine ljudima. Život u pretrpanim prostorijama i nehigijenskim uslovima, udružen sa slabom ishranom, predstavlja pogodno tle za bolesti kao što su šuga, tuberkuloza i druge zarazne bolesti. Najnečuvenije maltretiranje često podnose deca koju je lakše kontrolisati i prinuditi na rad u kući, oružani sukob i druge opasne oblike rada.

Erozija autoriteta vlasti. Mnoge vlade se bore da se zakoni sprovode u potpunosti na čitavoj teritoriji zemlje a posebno tamo gde dominira korupcija. Oružani sukobi, prirodne katastrofe i politički ili etnički sukobi stvaraju ogromnu populaciju interno raseljenih lica koja su izložena trgovini ljudima. Trgovina ljudima dalje podriva napore vlade u vršenju vlasti što predstavlja pretnju bezbednosti ugrožene populacije. Mnoge vlade ne mogu da zaštite žene i decu koje kidnapuju iz njihovih domova i škola ili iz izbegličkih logora. Štaviše, mito koje dobijaju policija, imigracione vlasti i sudstvo sprečava vladu da se bori protiv korupcije.

Rumunija: Šesnaestogodišnja Marija je na prevaru prijatelja iz detinjstva otputovala u Bukurešt da nađe posao. Marija nije znala da je prijatelj dao oglas u rumunskom lučkom gradu da postoji „devojka na prodaju”. Marija je prodata čoveku koji ju je koristio kao prostitutku sa još jednom jedanaestogodišnjom devojčicom. Četiri meseca je bila prinuđena da radi kao ulična prostituka pod pretnjom batina. Policija ju je često novčano kažnjavala, hapsila i ispitivala; međutim, njen „zaštitnik” je potkupljivao policiju da bi je pustili i zatim ponovo primoravao na prostituciju.

Trgovci robljem vrebaju ugrožene osobe. Njihov cilj su često deca i mlade žene, a njihove prevare – dovitljive i nemilosrdne, stvorene da obmanu, prinude i pridobiju poverenje potencijalnih žrtava. Veoma često ova lukavstva uključuju obećani brak ili bolji život. Sledeći fiktivni primeri zasnovani su na istinitim slučajevima trgovine ljudima i predstavljaju uobičajene okolnosti u kojima se događa trgovina ljudima.

U jednoj od turističkih destinacija Madagaskara, roditelji su naterali svoju petnaestogodišnju ćerku da se prostituiše sa starijim turistima kako bi zaradila novac za porodicu u isto vreme se nadajući da će se udati, školovati ili pronaći posao u inostranstvu. Meštani su je viđali kako često odlazi na „opasna” turistička mesta, u tesnoj odeći i jede i pije sa strancima do kasno u noć. Na osnovu dojave jednog hotelijera, lokalna policija je privela izvesnog turistu pod sumnjom da ovu devojčicu koristi u svrhu dečjeg seks turizma. Muškarac, međutim, plaća njenoj porodici malu svotu novca da ćute i ne podnesu krivičnu prijavu.

U Šanu, severnoj provinciji Burme, mlada žena putuje u kinesku provinciju Junan u potrazi za poslom želeći da izbegne bedno ekonomsko stanje uzrokovano decenijama loše vojne uprave. Po dolasku u jedan kineski pogranični grad, nude joj posao u lokalnom baru i restoranu. Vlasnik, međutim, shvata da ona ne poseduje legalne papire za boravak u Kini i zatvara je u mali hotel gde je za novac podvodi kineskim turistima i trgovcima.

U Avganistanu je devojčica obećana muškarcu u susednom selu da bi se razrešila prastara svađa među porodicama. Iako je mlada, odvode je iz škole da se uda za čoveka koga nikada nije videla. Kad stigne, prisiljavaju je da kuva, čisti i služi čitavu muževljevu porodicu po 18-20 sati dnevno. Ako negde pogreši, tuku je, a nova „porodica” joj preti da će je ubiti ako pokuša da pobegne. Jednog dana, muž se odlučuje na brak sa nekom novom ženom, pa prvu prodaje drugom čoveku koji je takođe prisiljava da služi njega i njegovu porodicu.

U Holandiji, osamnaestogodišnjakinja iz Nigerije dolazi iz rodne pokrajine Edo da bi zaradila novac koji će slati kući da pomogne svojoj porodici. Predstavljena je svojoj „tetki” koja preuzima strogu kontrolu nad devojkom i prisiljava je na uličnu prostituciju. Policija je hapsi pošto devojka nema legalnu boravišnu dozvolu. Drže je u pritvoru. Nudi joj se prilika da prijavi „tetku” kao trgovca ljudima ali odbija plašeći se moguće odmazde od tetkinih prijatelja u Nigeriji. Deportovana je u Edo gde je osramoćena pošto se vraća bez prebijene pare.

Raman je rođen u ciglani gde su njegov otac i deda radili čitav život da otplate dug koji je deda napravio. Petnaest godina Raman i njegova porodica zarađuju tri rupije (2 centa) po vreći cigala teškoj 80 kilograma da otplate dug od 450 dolara koji im je dao upravnik ciglane. Vlasnik ih je tukao motkom i batinao ako ne bi radili dovoljno vredno ili proizveli dovoljno cigala. Nisu mogle da odu jer je vlasnik ciglane pretio da će ih pronaći i pretući ili podmititi policiju da ih uhapsi. Nažalost, Ramanova priča nije neuobičajena za milione radnika iz niske kaste za koje se veruje da su uvučeni u zamku dužničkog ropstva u Južnoj Aziji. Ropski rad je oblik trgovine ljudima gde žrtve uzimaju pozajmice od beskrupuloznih pojedinaca – koje često iznosi jedva 16 dolara – a zatim ih poverioci prisiljavaju da otplaćuju ove dugove radeći u fabrikama, ciglanama i vodenicama za pirinač. Mnogi ovakvi muškarci, žene i deca nikada ne vrate pozajmice pošto lažne kamate i troškovi života, koje im nameću vlasnici, dug stalno uvećavaju. Često čitave porodice rade po 14-16 sati dnevno, a dug se prenosi na sledeću generaciju dok ne bude otplaćen. Fizičko maltretiranje je uobičajeno, a vlasnici seksualno zloupotrebljavaju neke žene koje rade u ovakvom ropstvu. Deci uglavnom nije dozvoljeno školovanje, a i ponekad se povrede na radu. Kastinski sistem je društvena hijerarhija koja se vekovima održala u Južnoj Aziji. Ekonomske mogućnosti i prilike za napredovanje veoma su ograničene za pripadnike kasti, a sistem ih strogo ograničava na ropske poslove; takođe, milione ljudi predodređuje za ropstvo putem ropskog rada.

Prema izveštaju ILO-a za 2005. godinu, većina radnika koji su prisiljeni na ovakav ropski rad u Indiji potiče iz niskih kasti. Mogu se naći širom Indije u velikom broju u industrijama gde se teško radi – vodenice za pirinač, ciglane, kamenolomi i tkačka industrija. Društvena diskriminacija doprinosi da nadnice budu niske te pripadnici ovih kasti često moraju da pozajmljuju novac za svakodnevne potrebe – te se generacije eksploatišu neprestano. Naraštaji porodica nestaju u ovakvom kastinskom ropstvu onemogućavajući razvoj zajednica Južne Azije.

Nigerija/Italija: Gloriji je obećan posao u tekstilnoj fabrici u Rimu. Pre nego što je napustila rodnu Nigeriju, podvrgnuta je vudu ritualu da bi se tobože nadzirala njena bezbednost u Italiji i osigurala njena lojalnost pokrovitelju ili „madam”. Po dolasku u Rim, madam je tuče i kaže joj da mora da vrati ogroman dug za trgovinu ljudima tako što će se oko 4,000 puta prostituisati. Gloriju ponovo tuku kad odbije ovakav zahtev. Na kraju je pristala mada su je tukli što ne zarađuje dovoljno novca. Kad je ostala u drugom stanju, Glorija je prinuđena na abortus. Na kraju je skupila hrabrost da prevaziđe pretnje vudu osvete i pobegne kako bi se izborila za svoj život. Sada se oporavlja u jednom prihvatilištu u Rimu.

Uzroci trgovine ljudima su složeni i često se jedni na druge nadovezuju. Gledajući na trgovinu ljudima kao na globalno tržište, žrtve čine ponudu, a potražnju – poslodavci koji ih zloupotrebljavaju ili seksualno koriste (ovi su takođe poznati kao kupci seksa). Mada se klijenti za proizvode prinudnog rada takođe mogu smatrati komponentom potražnje, ovi potrošači često uopšte nisu svesni da sudeluju u ropstvu. Kupci seksa daleko više saučestvuju u viktimizaciji žrtava seks trafikinga i stoga su logična ciljna grupa za edukaciju o povezanosti prostitucije i trgovine ljudima.

Snabdevanje žrtvama se ohrabruje mnogim faktorima kao što su siromaštvo, privlačnost boljeg života na nekom drugom mestu, odsustvo mogućnosti zapošljavanja, organizovani kriminal, nasilje nad ženama i decom, korupcija vlasti, politička nestabilnost i oružani sukobi. U nekim društvima tradicionalno vaspitanje dozvoljava da se treće ili četvrto dete šalje da živi i radi u urbanim centrima sa članom šire porodice (često „teča”) u zamenu za obećano školovanje i upućivanje u posao. Koristeći prednosti ovakve tradicije, trgovci se često ljudima postavljaju kao agenti za zapošljavanje i nagovaraju roditelje da se rastanu od dece da bi ih potom prodali zarad prostituisanja, rada po kućama ili u nekom komercijalnom preduzeću. Na kraju, porodica dobija nekoliko uplata, ukoliko ih uopšte dobije, dete ostaje neškolovano, neobučeno i odvojeno od porodice, a ekonomske mogućnosti kojima su se nadali zapravo se nikada ne ostvare.

Što se tiče potražnje, faktori koji rukovode trgovinom ljudima uključuju seks industriju i sve veću potražnju rada koji se može eksploatisati. Seks turizam i dečja pornografija postali su industrije svetskih razmera što omogućavaju tehnologije poput interneta, koji veoma proširuje izbor za „potrošače” i dozvoljava trenutne transakcije kojima je gotovo nemoguće ući u trag. Trgovinu ljudima takođe podstiče globalna potražnja jeftine, ugrožene i ilegalne radne snage. Na primer, postoji velika potražnja u nekim bogatim zemljama u Aziji i Persijskom zalivu za kućnom poslugom koja ponekad postaje žrtva eksploatacije ili prisilnog ropstva.

U nekim delovima sveta, trgovci ljudima zloupotrebljavaju tradicionalne islamske običaje da bi omogućili trgovinu ljudima. U nekoliko zapadnoafričkih zemalja, na primer, muškarci koji se predstavljaju kao muslimanski učitelji regrutuju mlade dečake obećavajući roditeljima da će decu podučavati Kuranu. Kad dobiju starateljstvo nad decom, međutim, ovi muškarci ih teraju na prosjačenje i zloupotrebu. U delovima Zapadne Afrike i Južne Azije, trgovci ljudima regrutuju dečake, devojčice i žene za putovanja u Saudijsku Arabiju gde ih primoravaju na komercijalnu seksualnu eksploataciju, prosjačenje ili da rade kao jahači kamila.

Muslimanske vođe na ovaj problem reaguju radeći sa vladama, nevladinim organizacijama i međunarodnim organizacijama da bi u svojim zajednicama povećali svest o trgovini ljudima. Neki takođe koriste argumente zasnovane na islamskom učenju da bi zaštitili prava žena i dece od trgovine ljudima. U Senegalu i Nigeru, muslimanske vođe sarađuju sa državnim ministarstvima i UNICEF-om u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima. U Indoneziji je jedna nevladina organizacija po imenu Institut Fahmina, koji je osnovao Kjai Husein Muhamed (za više informacija, pogledaj odeljak ovog izveštaja Heroji trgovine ljudima), podeli u džamijama svakog petka posle molitve 22.000 prospekata protiv trgovine ljudima. Kjai Husein Muhamed takođe mnogo piše o tome kako se islamski zakon i učenja mogu iskoristiti u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima.

Tokom 2005. u Bangladešu je lokalna nevladina organizacija 2.100 imama je upoznala sa rizicima, pretnjama i modalitetima trgovine ljudima i obavila obuku za 100 imama. Rezultat toga jeste da je preko 2.500 imama prenelo posebne poruke o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima za vreme verske službe petkom što je doprlo do miliona građana Bangladeša. Angažman muslimanske zajednice u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima povećava nadu da će se poruka o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima čuti širom sveta.

„Koalicija anđela”, koja dobija pomoć američke vlade, vodi devet „sigurnih kuća” za žrtve trgovine ljudima u Rusiji. „Koalicija anđela” održava međunarodne linije podrške i službe za spasavanje i rehabilitaciju žrtava. (levo)

Od 2004. godine, 120 kineske dece prijavljeno je da je nestalo iz švedskih imigracionih centara. U svim slučajevima, deca su u Švedsku stigla avionom iz Pekinga ili Moskve i odmah zatražila politički azil. Nestali su u roku od nekoliko dana dok su predmeti još bili nerešeni. Istraga je ukazala da su otpremljeni na destinacije kao što su Danska, Nemačka, Italija, Francuska i Holandija. Švedska policija smatra da iza ovog nestanka stoji mreža trgovaca ljudima.

Maloletnici bez pratnje mogu biti namamljeni iz rodnih zemalja pod lažnim izgovorima ili mogu postati žrtve eksploatacije kad stignu u stranu zemlju; viktimizacija ove dece je važan deo globalne slike o trgovini ljudima. Mada predstavljaju mali procenat ukupne populacije stranih migranata u Evropi, maloletnici bez pratnje su veoma ugroženi trgovinom ljudima u cilju seksualne eksploatacije i prinudnog rada.

Oni uglavnom potiču iz zemalja Centralne i Istočne Evrope, Afrike i Azije. Eksploatišu ih na razne načine – prostitucija, ilegalan prenos narkotika, kućna posluga, bedno plaćeni poslovi u proizvodnji ili u restoranima, organizovano prosjačenje i bande džeparoša, prisilni brakovi.

Nekoliko pouzdanih nevladinih organizacija primetilo je misteriozan trend – maloletnici bez pratnje iz Kine dolaze u Evropu sa mobilnim telefonima, gotovinom i bez jasnih planova za putovanje, a zatim iznenada nestaju iz nadležnih ustanova i prihvatnih centara. Moguće je da su ovakvi maloletnici nestali kada su stupili u kontakt sa kriminalnim mrežama. Maloletnici bez pratnje koje iskorištavaju kriminalci često nisu tretirani kao žrtve trgovine ljudima niti su obuhvaćeni istragama slučajeva trgovine ljudima. Detetov prvi kontakt sa vlastima u odredišnim zemljama mogla je biti najbolja prilika da se prekine lanac trgovine ljudima.

Avganistan: Četvorogodišnju Nazimu je majka prinudila na brak sa tridesetogodišnjim susedom u jednom avganistanskom selu. U muževljevoj kući su počeli da je maltretiraju svekar i još dvanaest članova porodice. Tukli su je i izgladnjivali, bila je primorana da spava napolju na hladnoći, a dobila je samo jednu krparu da se zaštiti. Njeni mučitelji su je često koristili kao sto, terajući je da legne na stomak dok su oni sekli hranu na njenim golim leđima. U jednoj prilici ju je svekar držao zaključanu u staji odakle je mogla da izađe jednom dnevno. Noć pre nego što je pobegla, kad je napunila dvanaest godina 2005. godine, svekar joj je vezao ruke i sipao vrelu vodu na glavu. Sledećeg dana je pobegla u strahu da će je muževljeva porodica ubiti. Našao ju je vozač rikše koji ju odvezao u bolnicu na lečenje; trebalo joj je više od mesec dana da se izleči od raznih povreda koje su joj nanete. Sada je u prihvatilištu i ide u školu.

Ministarstvo odbrane reaguje na trgovinu ljudima u svrhu prinudnog rada u Iraku

Nedavna istraga Ministarstva odbrane, koja je podstaknuta krajem 2005. navodima medija da se u Iraku obavlja trgovina ljudima u svrhu prinudnog rada, utvrdila je brojne zloupotrebe, od kojih se za neke veruje da su široko rasprostranjene, koje su počinili ugovarači i podugovarači Ministarstva odbrane iz trećih zemalja na radu u Iraku. Neke ovakve zloupotrebe indikativne su za trgovinu ljudima i uključuju: ilegalnu konfiskaciju pasoša radnika iz trećih zemalja, obmane prilikom zapošljavanja i prekomerne provizije na ime regrutovanja, loše uslove života i izbegavanje iračkih imigracionih procedura. Radnici iz trećih zemalja su uglavnom niskokvalifikovani radnici iz Nepala, Indije, Pakistana, Bangladeša, Sri Lanke i sa Filipina.

Ministarstvo odbrane je brzo reagovalo brojnim merama da bi se pomno nadziralo zapošljavanje stranih radnika. Aprila 2006. general Džordž Kejsi, zapovednik multinacionalnih snaga Iraka, objavio je detaljna upustva za rad za sve ugovarače Ministarstva u Iraku i Avganistanu. Među ovim merama je najvažniji nalog da svi ugovarači prekinu sa praksom čuvanja ili oduzimanja pasoša zaposlenih. Štaviše, ugovori Ministarstva odbrane će uključivati sledeće smernice da bi se sprečila trgovina ljudima:

Svi radnici ugovarača ili podugovarača Ministarstva odbrane dostaviće potpisani primerak ugovora o zaposlenju koji određuje uslove zaposlenja i nadoknadu.
Ugovarači i podugovarači moraju biti firme za regrutaciju koje imaju dozvole za rad.
Firme za regrutaciju ne smeju naplaćivati od radnika nezakonite provizije za regrutovanje.

Prema ovoj politici, ugovarači i podugovarači se moraju pridržavati standarda o ličnom životnom prostoru, međunarodnih zakona i zakona zemlje domaćina za radne vize, tranzitne i imigracione procedure. Ovakvim merama će se obezbediti američka politika netolerisanja trgovine ljudima u zemlji i inostranstvu.

Prodaja neveste

Rastuća neravnoteža polova u oblastima Južne i Istočne Azije sve više podstiče potražnju za žrtvama trgovine ljudima. U Kini, mada je ono što dovodi do poremećenog odnosa među polovima prvenstvo muškog deteta, politika jednog deteta i siromaštvo pogoršavaju ponudu i potražnju trgovine nevestama. Ženska deca se često abortiraju, a ima izveštaja da se ženske bebe ubijaju na porođaju usled čega u nekim delovima zemlje ima više muškaraca nego žena, tako da na 100 devojčica dolazi 117 dečaka.

Ipak, muškarci su izloženi društvenom pritisku da se ožene zbog čega pojedinci koji ne mogu da pronađu odgovarajuće žene za brak pokušavaju da kupe nevestu iz drugih delova zemlje ili iz graničnih područja sa susednim zemljama kao što je Severna Koreja. Ove žene, koje često prodaju roditelji ili ih kidnapuju iz njihovih sela, prinuđene su na brak, prostituciju i konkubinat. Popularne oblasti iz kojih se trguje nevestama unutar Kine siromašna su područja u unutrašnjosti zemlje gde siromaštvo najviše ugrožava žene u smislu trgovine ljudima. Trgovci ljudima generalno prodaju ove devojke i žene u provincijama gde vlada oskudica žena. U stvari, neki eksperti smatraju da su kidnapovanja i prodaja žena u porastu kako se ubrzava ekonomski razvoj Kine i da se kroz takvu trgovinu ljudima sklapa 30-90 % brakova u nekim selima.

Indija ima sličan problem neravnoteže polova u nekim regijama mada je to uglavnom izazvano kulturnim stavovima prema kojima su devojke ekonomska obaveza zbog miraza koji zahtevaju potencijalne mladoženje. Državna statistika pokazuje primetnu neravnotežu polova u nekim ključnim oblastima: Jamu i Kašmir – na svakih 100 devojčica ima 111 dečaka, Utar Pradeš – 111, Sikim – 114, Pendžab – 114 (glavni grad Čandigar – 129), Harajana – 116 prema poslednjem popisu iz 2001. Ova razlika u polovima za posledicu ima nekoliko miliona više muškaraca nego žena na bračnom tržištu što stvara „bračni škripac” i pritisak na muškarce da nađu žene kojima će se oženiti. Rezultat toga su ponekad slučajevi da se žene iz Nepala, Bangladeša i drugih oblasti Indije kupuju ili kidnapuju kao neveste za „sela mladoženja”. Nedostatak žena takođe doprinosi većoj potražnji žena i devojaka prostitutki što podstiče potražnju za žrtvama trgovine ljudima. Neveste žrtve trgovine ljudima često nemaju hrabrosti da prijave svoju situaciju ili pobegnu zbog društvenog i ekonomskog pritiska da ostanu u braku, nepoznavanja oblasti u koju su dovedene, saučesništva policije ili zvaničnika koji primoravaju odbegle neveste da se vrate, zakona koji ponovno viktimizuju žene žrtve trgovine ljudima svrstavajući ih i krivično ih goneći kao strance bez boravišne dozvole, i socijalne diskriminacije s kojom bi se verovatno suočile da se vrate kući.

Liberija: Trinaestogodišnje dete bivie vojnik iz Liberije se priseća: „Dali su mi neke pilule od kojih sam ludeo. U takvom ludilu sam tukao ljude po glavi i povređivao ih dok ih krv ne oblije. Kad bi me ludilo prošlo, osećao sam krivicu. Da pamtim te osobe, otišao bih kod njih i izvinio se. Ako ne bi primili moje izvinjenje, osećao bih se loše.”

Rad na okončavanju potražnje za žrtvama seks trafikinga

Američka vlada se protivi prostituciji i sličnim aktivnostima uključujući svodništvo, podvođenje i držanje bordela što doprinosi fenomenu trgovine ljudima. Ovakve aktivnosti su veoma štetne i nehumane. Ovaj stav je unešen u Predsedničku direktivu o nacionalnoj bezbednosti (NSPD-22) i reafirmisan podrškom administracije u Zakonu o reautorizaciji zaštite žrtava trgovine ljudima iz 2005. godine „što skreće značajnu pažnju na smanjenje potražnje za komercijalnim seksualnim odnosima koji podstiču trgovinu ljudima”.

Januara 2006, predsednik Džordž Buš je potpisao Zakon o reautorizaciji zaštite žrtava trgovine ljudima i rekao: „Kriminalce ne možemo sasvim uništiti dok se ne suočimo s problemom potražnje. Oni koji plaćaju da bi decu i tinejdžerke seksualno zloupotrebljavali moraju odgovarati. Dakle, vodićemo istrage i krivično goniti klijente, beskrupulozne odrasle ljude koji koriste mlade i nedužne žrtve.” Novi zakon sadrži lokalne odredbe usmerene na smanjenje potražnje za žrtvama seks trafikinga. Zakon dozvoljava pomoć u iznosu od 25 miliona dolara za javne tužioce u saveznim državama i lokalnu policiju da bi se vodile istrage i krivično gonili korisnici komercijalnog seksa, obrazovali pojedinci koji su okrivljeni za plaćanje usluge komercijalnog seksa ili pokušaj da to učine i sarađivali sa lokalnim nevladinim organizacijama koje su u stanju da pruže pomoć žrtvama. Novi zakon takođe obezbeđuje 10 miliona dolara lokalnim vlastima i nevladinim organizacijama preko Ministarstva zdravlja i socijalnih službi za pomoć osobama koje su preživele trgovinu ljudima i komercijalnu seksualnu eksploataciju.

Delotvorne strategije u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima

Da bi bile delotvorne, strategije za borbu protiv trgovine ljudima moraju biti usmerene i na snabdevače (trgovce ljudima) i na klijente (vlasnike, potrošače ili, u slučaju seksualne eksploatacije, kupce seksa). Kod snabdevača, na uslovima koji podstiču trgovinu ljudima mora se raditi da bi se obaveštavale zajednice o opasnostima trgovine ljudima, poboljšale i povećale obrazovne i ekonomske mogućnosti za ugrožene grupe, promovisao jednak pristup školstvu, edukovali ljudi o svojim zakonskim pravima i stvorile bolje i veće životne mogućnosti. Što se tiče trgovaca ljudima, policija mora žestoko goniti trgovce i one koji im pomažu i podstiču ih, boriti se protiv javne korupcije koja omogućava i profitira od ovog posla, odrediti i preseći puteve trgovine ljudima pomoću boljeg prikupljanja informacija i koordinacije, razjasniti zakonsku definiciju trgovine ljudima i koordinisati odgovornosti policije, i obučiti zaposlene da identifikuju i upute žrtve trgovine ljudima kako bi dobili neophodnu negu. Što se tiče potražnje, osobe koje iskorištavaju žrtve trgovine ljudima moraju se identifikovati i krivično goniti. Poslodavci koji koriste prinudni rad i eksploatišu žrtve trgovine ljudima u svrhu seksualne eksploatacije moraju se imenovati i na odgovarajući način kazniti. Što se tiče seksualnog ropstva, moraju se voditi kampanje za podizanje opšte svesti u odredišnim zemljama da bi se trgovina ljudima teže prikrivala ili ignorisala. Žrtve se moraju spasiti, rehabilitovati, reintegrisati u svoje porodice ili im treba ponuditi druga rešenja ako ne mogu da se vrate u zajednicu iz koje potiču. Lokalni, državni, nacionalni i regionalni napori za borbu protiv trgovine ljudima moraju se koordinisati. Skrećući pažnju javnosti na ovaj problem, vlada može dobiti podršku javnosti. Strategije i programi borbe protiv trgovine ljudima koji su napravljeni uz doprinos nosilaca (građansko društvo i nevladine organizacije) najefikasnije su i najverovatnije će biti uspešne jer imaju sveobuhvatan odnos prema problemu.

Države treba da tesno sarađuju da bi se trgovcima ljudima uskratilo legalno utočište i omogućila ekstradicija radi krivičnog gonjenja. Takva saradnja takođe treba da ima za cilj dobrovoljnu i humanu repatrijaciju žrtava. Treba ohrabriti programe zaštićenih svedoka. Saznanja o trgovini ljudima treba stalno produbljivati, a mrežu organizacija i napora u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima ojačati. Verske institucije, nevladine organizacije, škole, udruženja u okviru zajednice i tradicionalni lideri moraju su mobilisati i učestvovati u borbi. Žrtve i njihove porodice su važni faktori u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima. Vlasti moraju periodično procenjivati svoje strategije i programe borbe protiv trgovine ljudima da bi bile efikasne i adekvatno se borile protiv novih metoda i pristupa koji stvaraju trgovci ljudima. Na kraju, državni zvaničnici moraju biti obučeni za tehnike i metode borbe protiv trgovine ljudima, a protok i trendovi trgovine ljudima moraju se pomno pratiti da bi se bolje razumela priroda i veličina problema tako da se odgovarajuće mere mogu stvoriti i inicirati.

Singapur: Dvadesetogodišnja indonežanka, bivša kućna pomoćnica u Singapuru seća se zlostavljanja kojem je bila izložena: „Poslodavka bi se naljutila... Ako je bila veoma ljuta, šamarala bi me. Nije mi još ugovor istekao. Rekla je da ne mogu da idem kući. Nisam to mogla podneti. Kad sam rekla agentu da me poslodavka ošamarila, ona je samo odgovorila: ’Moraš da trpiš. Moraš da kontrolišeš svoja osećanja.’ Ako kućna pomoćnica nije završila sa odbicima od plate (plaćanje provizija koje nameće agent/poslodavac), i pozove agenta, agent se ljuti. Agent me takođe ošamario. Nisu hteli da odem dok mi ne istekne ugovor i ne odbijem provizije od plate.”

Zaštita žrtava

TVPA daje nam pristup iz vizure žrtve u radu na trgovini ljudima, kombinujući borbu protiv kriminala i ostvarivanje ljudskih prava. Bez adekvatne zaštite žrtava, napori na rešavanju zločina trgovine ljudima verovatno neće biti delotvorni. Kriterijumi TVPA za evaluaciju vladinih napora na zaštiti žrtava trgovine ljudima uključuju eksplicitan kriterijum o zaštiti žrtava:

„Bilo da vlada zemlje štiti žrtve od teških oblika trgovine ljudima i ohrabruje njihovu pomoć u istrazi i krivičnom gonjenju takve trgovine ljudima, uključujući odredbe o legalnim alternativama za njihovo premeštanje u zemlje gde bi se suočili sa odmazdom ili nevoljama, i obezbeđuje da žrtve ne budu neprimereno uhapšene, novčano kaženjene ili kažnjavane na neki drugi način zbog nezakonitih radnji koje neposredno proističu iz činjenice da je ta osoba žrtva trgovine ljudima.”

Najbolji primeri primene ovog kriterijuma TVPA uključuju:

PRVO, vlada proaktivno treba da identifikuje žrtve trgovine ljudima. Bez identifikacije žrtava, adekvatna zaštita nije moguća. Vladini organi treba da uspostave formalnu kontrolu i procedure za identifikaciju žrtava da bi se nadzirala ugrožena populacija kao što su osobe privedene zbog kršenja imigracionih zakona, zakona o prostituciji, zakona o prosjačenju ili zakona o radu. Od žrtava trgovine ljudima ne treba očekivati da se same identifikuju; treba koristiti proaktivne istražne tehnike – razgovori u bezbednom i prijatnom okruženju sa obučenim savetnicima i odgovarajućim jezičkim službama – da bi se identifikovali indikatori trgovine ljudima.

DRUGO, po obavljenoj identifikaciji, osumnjičena žrtva trgovine ljudima treba da dobije privremenu negu kao žrtva teškog zločina. Ovo može da bude smeštaj u prihvatilište i savetovanje da bi se potencijalnoj žrtvi omogućilo da svoje iskustvo opiše obučenim socijalnim radnicima i policiji uz minimalan podstrek.

TREĆE, osoba za koju je pouzdano utvrđeno da je žrtva trgovine ljudima ne treba da bude kažnjena za nezakonite radnje koje neposredno proističu iz činjenice da je ta osoba žrtva trgovine ljudima – kao što je neposedovanje urednih imigracionih dokumenata ili prostitucija, prosjačenje ili obavljanje rada. Žrtve trgovine ljudima ne treba da budu pritvarane kao kriminalci, nakon što je ustanovljeno da su žrtve, u pritvornim jedinicama izuzev u izuzetnim slučajevima. Treba da budu tretirane kao žrtve.

ČETVRTO, osobu za koju je pouzdano utvrđeno da je žrtva trgovine ljudima treba ohrabriti da sarađuje sa policijom u istrazi zločina počinjenih protiv njih samih. Štaviše, treba ih ohrabriti da, ukoliko je moguće, pomažu u krivičnom gonjenju trgovaca ljudima ili osoba koje su ih eksploatisale.

KONAČNO, žrtva trgovine ljudima koja ne može ili neće da sarađuje u krivičnom gonjenju u predmetima trgovine ljudima može biti vraćena u svoju prvobitnu sredinu na odgovoran način, uz pripreme koje se obavljaju unapred da bi se žrtva bezbedno vratila i reintegrisala. Međutim, žrtvi treba ponuditi legalne alternative kako ne bi dospela u zemlju gde joj prete nevolje ili odmazda. Žrtve trgovine ljudima ne treba izlagati deportaciji ili prinudnom povratku bez zaštite ili drugih mera kako bi se smanjila opasnost od nevolja, odmazde ili ponovne trgovine ljudima.

Šta je dečji seks turizam?

Svake godine više od milion dece se eksploatiše u globalnoj komercijalnoj seks trgovini. Dečji seks turizam (CST) obuhvata ljude koji putuju iz svoje u druge zemlje i upuštaju se u komercijalne seksualne odnose sa decom. CST je sraman napad na dostojanstvo dece i oblik nasilne zloupotrebe dece. Seksualna eksploatacija dece ima razorne posledice. Turisti koji učestvuju u dečjem seks turizmu obično putuju u zemlje u razvoju tražeći anonimnost i raspoloživu decu u prostituciji. Ovaj zločin obično podstiče slaba primena zakona, korupcija, internet, lakoća putovanja i siromaštvo. Ovi seksualni prestupnici potiču iz svih društveno-ekonomskih sredina i mogu obavljati važne poslove.

Globalna reakcija

U poslednjih pet godina je primetan porast u krivičnom gonjenju prestupa koji se tiču dečjeg seks turizma. Najmanje 32 zemlje imaju ekstrateritorijalne zakone koji dozvoljavaju krivično gonjenje svojih državljana kad su u pitanju krivična dela u vezi dečjeg seks turizma počinjena u inostranstvu. U odgovor na ovu izopačenu pojavu, nevladine organizacije, turistička industrija i vlade počeli su da se bave ovim pitanjem. Svetska turistička organizacija (WTO) napravila je tim za borbu protiv dečjeg seks turizma. WTO, nevladine organizacije End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT), kao i nordijski turistički operateri napravili su globalna Pravila ponašanja u zaštiti dece od seksualne eksploatacije na putovanjima i u turizmu 1999. godine. Od marta 2005. sto putnih agencija iz osamnaest zemalja potpisnice su ovih pravila. (Vidi www.thecode.org)

Šta preduzimaju Sjedinjene Države

Sjedinjenje Države su 2003. godine ojačale svoju sposobnost za borbu protiv dečjeg seks turizma donevši Zakon o pravnim lekovima krivičnog gonjenja i drugim sredstvima za okončanje današnje eksploatacije dece (PROTECT) i Zakon o reautorizaciji zaštite žrtava trgovine ljudima. Zajedno, ova dva zakona povećavaju kazne do maksimalnih 30 godina zatvora za učestvovanje u dečjem seks turizmu. Otkako je Zakon PROTECT donet, podignuto je preko dvadeset optužnica, a više od deset presuda je izrečeno osobama koje su učestvovale u dečjem seks turizmu. Ministarstvo unutrašnje bezbednosti je pripremilo inicijativu Operacija predator za borbu protiv eksploatacije dece, dečje pornografije i dečjeg seks turizma. Sjedinjene Države takođe finansiraju nevladinu organizaciju World Vision koja u inostranstvu organizuje velike projekte za podizanje svesti javnosti, sprečavanje kriminala i zastrašivanja.

Vlade treba ovom pitanju da daju prioritet, naprave akcione planove zasnovane na detaljnom istraživanju, i odrede koordinatora koji će povezati nevladine orgnizacije, međuvladine organizacije i turističku industriju. Ekstrateritorijalni zakoni moraju zabranjivati sve vidove dečjeg seks turizma i biti primenjivani, a kroz izrečene kazne treba da se vidi gnusna priroda ovakvog krivičnog dela. Vlade takođe treba da obuče policiju, finansiraju kampanje za podizanje svesti i organizuju prihvatilišta i pomoć žrtvama.

Putni i turistički sektor shvata da ima presudnu ulogu koju će odigrati kroz obučavanje svog osoblja da bi prijavili sumnjivo ponašanje i upozorili putnike na relevantne zakone. Privatan sektor takođe treba da uspostavi i primenjuje čvrstu poslovnu politiku kojom će osuditi seksualnu eksploataciju dece i insistirati da to urade i njihovi ugovarači i snabdevači. Građani moraju paziti da ne postanu deo problema, potražnje, već deo rešenja tako što će prijaviti incidente lokalnoj policiji, američkim ambasadama ili na telefon Američke imigracione i carinske službe 1-866-DHS-2ICE.

DEFINICIJA „TRGOVINE LJUDIMA”

Zakon o zaštiti žrtava trgovine ljudima definiše „težak vid trgovine ljudima” kao:

(a) seks trafiking gde je komercijalni seksualni odnos iznuđen silom, prevarom ili prisilom, ili gde osoba primorana da učestvuje u takvom odnosu nije napunila osamnaest godina; ili
(b) regrutovanje, sakrivanje, prevoz, obezbeđivanje ili nabavljanje osobe za rad ili usluge upotrebom sile, prevare ili prisile u svrhu podvrgavanja prisilnom ropstvu, ropskom radu, dužničkom ropstvu ili ropstvu.

Definicija termina

„Seks trafiking” podrazumeva regrutovanje, sakrivanje, prevoz, obezbeđivanje ili nabavljanje osobe u svrhu komercijalnog seksualnog odnosa.

„Komercijalni seksualni odnos” podrazumeva bilo koji seksualni odnos za koji osoba daje ili prima bilo šta što ima vrednost.

„Prisila” podrazumeva a) pretnje teškom povredom ili fizičko zadržavanje osobe; b) svaku prevaru, plan ili metoda kojim se osoba navodi da poveruje da će posledica odbijanja odnosa biti teška povreda ili fizičko zadržavanje osobe; ili c) zloupotreba ili zaprećena zloupotreba zakonskog postupka.

„Prisilno ropstvo” podrazumeva stanje ropstva iznuđeno pomoću a) svake prevare, plana ili metode kojim se osoba navodi da poveruje da će posledica odbijanja takvog stanja ili nastavka takvog stanja biti teška povreda ili fizičko zadržavanje te ili neke druge osobe; ili b) zloupotreba ili zaprećena zloupotreba zakonskog postupka.

„Dužničko ropstvo” podrazumeva status ili stanje dužnika koje proističe iz obećanja dužnika svojih ličnih usluga ili usluga osobe koja je pod kontrolom dužnika kao jemstva duga ako se razumno procenjena vrednost tih usluga ne primenjuje na otplatu duga ili ako trajanje i priroda tih usluga nisu ograničene i utvrđene.

VIŠE O IZVEŠTAJU O TRGOVINI LJUDIMA ZA 2006. GODINU

Izveštaj o trgovini ljudima je najdetaljniji svetski izveštaj o naporima vlada u borbi protiv teških oblika trgovine ljudima. Izveštaj o trgovini ljudima se odnosi na period od aprila 2005. do marta 2006.

Šta ovaj izveštaj jeste, a šta nije

Godišnji izveštaj o trgovini ljudima obuhvata one zemlje za koje je utvrđeno da su zemlje izvori, tranzitno područje ili odredište za zamašan broj žrtava teških oblika trgovine ljudima. Pošto se trgovina ljudima verovatno događa u svim zemljama sveta, ako je neka zemlja izostavljena iz izveštaja, to samo znači da nema adekvatnih informacija.

Tekst o svakoj zemlji opisuje opseg i prirodu trgovine ljudima, razloge za uvrštavanje te zemlje u izveštaj i napore vlade u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima. Tekst takođe sadrži procenu vladinog poštovanja minimuma standarda za ukidanje trgovine ljudima kako je izloženo u izmenjenom TVPA iz 2000. godine, kao i preporuke za akcije u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima. Svaki tekst objašnjava osnovu za ocenu zemlje – Nivo 1, Nivo 2 Nadzorne liste, ili Nivo 3. Ako je zemlja u Nivou 2 Nadzorne liste, u tekstu je za to dato objašnjenje u skladu sa izmenjenim TVPA.

U skladu sa TVPA, postoje tri faktora koji se uzimaju u obzir kad se određuje da li će se zemlja stvrstati u Nivo 2 (ili Nivo 2 Nadzorne liste) ili Nivo 3: 1) stepen u kojem je zemlja izvor, tranzitno područje ili odredište za teške oblike trgovine ljudima; 2) stepen u kojem vlada zemlje ne poštuje minimum standarda prema TVPA i, naročito, stepen korupcije vlade u vezi sa trgovinom ljudima; i 3) resursi i mogućnosti vlade da rade na ovim pitanjim i eliminišu teške oblike trgovine ljudima.

Neke vlade su izdale saopštenja, držale konferencije i napravile timove ili nacionalne akcione planove da bi stvorili ciljeve u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima. Međutim, sama saopštenja, konferencije, planovi i timovi nemaju veliku težinu pri proceni napora jedne zemlje. Umesto toga, ovaj izveštaj se bavi konkretnim akcijama koje vlade preduzimaju u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima, naročito krivično gonjenje, osude i zatvorske kazne za trgovce ljudima, zaštita žrtava i napori u pogledu prevencije. Izveštaj ne polaže mnogo na nacrte zakona ili zakone koji još nisu doneseni. Na kraju, ovaj izveštaj se ne usredsređuje na napore vlade koji indirektno doprinose smanjenju trgovine ljudima, kao što su edukativni programi, pomoć ekonomskom razvoju ili programi u cilju povećanja polne jednakosti mada su sve to napori vredni pažnje.

Zašto Izveštaj o trgovini ljudima za 2006. godinu sadrži više procena zemalja

Izveštaj o trgovini ljudima za 2006. godinu sadrži analizu trgovine ljudima i napore vlada u borbi protiv nje u 149 zemalja, dakle u sedam zemalja više nego u izveštaju za prethodnu godinu. Ranijih godina, neke zemlje nisu bile obuhvaćene jer je bilo teško prikupiti pouzdane i dovoljne informacije zbog: ilegalne i pritajene prirode trgovine ljudima, odsustva ili porekla napora vlade u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima, teškoća u razlikovanju između trgovine ljudima i krijumčarenja, straha i ćutanja žrtava trgovine ljudima koji granice često prelaze ilegalno ili su fizički zlostavljani i prisiljavani, opšteg pomanjkanja slobode informacija u zemlji, te pomanjkanja nezavisnih nevladinih organizacija koje mogu dostavljati informacije. Za neke zemlje informacije su postojale ali podaci nisu argumentovali nalaz da je znatan broj osoba žrtava trgovine ljudima doveden u zemlju, izvan ili unutar nje – što je opšti prag da bi zemlja bila uvrštena u izveštaj o trgovini ljudima. Tokom prošle godine, bili smo svedoci većih napora mnogih vlada, mnogih kampanja za podizanje svesti javnosti koje upozoravaju žrtve o službama zaštite i veće transparentnosti napora u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima. Kao rezultat ovih pozitivnih akcija i većeg angažmana resursa Stejt departmenta, ove godine su informacije sakupljene za još neke zemlje. Stejt department namerava da budućim izveštajima obuhvati sve zemlje sa velikim brojem žrtava trgovine ljudima kada bude raspolagao kvalitetnijim informacijama u većem broju.

TRGOVINA LJUDIMA I RATOVI: DECA VOJNICI U BURMI

Jezive informacije o deci žrtvama trgovine ljudima koja su naterana da služe kao deca vojnici najčešće se odnose na afričke zemlje kao što su Uganda i Sijera Leone. Međutim, burmanski dugotrajni konflikt sa etničkim snagama i pogoršana politička i ekonomska situacija dovela je do ugroženosti burmanskog stanovništva i eksploatacije stvarajući sredinu gde se čak i jedanaestogodišnja deca primoravaju da idu u vojsku. I vojne i naoružane etničke grupe regrutuju decu vojnike.

I Vlada Sjedinjenih Država i Ujedinjene nacije pozvale su Vladu Burme da prekine svako regrutovanje i eksploataciju dece u vojsci. I pored ovakvih pritisaka, burmanska Vlada odbija da rešava pitanje kidnapovanja dece u svrhu vojne eksploatacije.

Kako se Izveštaj koristi

Ovaj izveštaj je diplomatsko sredstvo koje američka vlada koristi kao instrument za trajni dijalog i podsticaj i kao pomagalo u pogledu usmeravanja krivičnog gonjenja, zaštite i programa i politike prevencije. Stejt department će nastaviti da sa vladama radi na sadržaju izveštaja da bi povećao saradnju u cilju iskorenjivanja trgovine ljudima. U narednoj godini, a posebno u mesecima pre određivanja sankcija za zemlje Nivoa 3, Stejt department će koristiti informacije ovde prikupljene da bi efikasnije odredio programe pomoći i radio sa zemljama kojima je potrebna pomoć u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima. Stejt department se nada da će izveštaj biti katalizator za vladine i nevladine napore u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima širom sveta.

NIVOI

NIVO 1: zemlje čije vlade u potpunosti poštuju minimum standarda po Zakonu (detaljno na strani 288).

NIVO 2: zemlje čije vlade u potpunosti ne poštuju minimum standarda po Zakonu ali čine značajne napore u cilju ispunjavanja tih standarda.

NIVO 2 POSEBNA NADZORNA LISTA: zemlje čije vlade u potpunosti ne poštuju minimumu standarda po Zakonu ali čine značajne napore u cilju ispunjavanja tih standarda i:

a) apsolutan broj žrtava teških oblika trgovine ljudima veoma je veliki ili je u značajnom porastu, ili
b) nema dokaza o povećanim naporima u borbi protiv teških oblika trgovine ljudima od prethodne godine, ili
c) utvrđeno je da zemlja čini značajne napore u cilju ispunjavanja minimuma standarda na osnovu obavezivanja zemlje da preduzme dodatne korake u narednoj godini.

NIVO 3: zemlje čije vlade u potpunosti ne poštuju minimum standarda niti čine značajne napore da to postignu.

Metodologija

Stejt department je ovaj izveštaj pripremio koristeći informacije američkih ambasada, zvaničnika stranih vlada, nevladinih organizacija i međunarodnih organizacija, objavljenih izveštaja, istraživačkih putovanja u sve regione i informacija dostavljenih na elektronsku adresu tipreport@state.gov, koja je ustanovljena za nevladine organizacije i pojedince da bi se dostavile informacije o napretku vlasti u rešavanju problema trgovine ljudima. Američke diplomatske službe izveštavale su o stanju trgovine ljudima i akcijama vlasti na osnovu podrobnog istraživanja uključujući sastanke sa širokom lepezom državnih službenika, predstavnika lokalnih i međunarodnih nevladinih organizacija, međunarodnih organizacija, zvaničnika, novinara, akademika i preživelih žrtava. Da bi sastavio ovogodišnji izveštaj, Stejt department se odlučio za novi pristup izvorima informacija za svaku zemlju da bi napravio sopstvene procene. Procena napora u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima svake vlade odvija se u procesu koji podrazumeva dva koraka:

Prvi korak: veliki broj žrtava

Stejt department prvo određuje da li je zemlja „zemlja izvor, tranzitno područje ili odredište za veliki broj žrtava teških oblika trgovine ljudima”, što je generalno sto i više žrtava, što je isti prag koji je korišten u prethodnim izveštajima. Neke zemlje, za koje takvi podaci ne postoje, nisu rangirane po nivoima ali su obuhvaćene Odeljkom o posebnim slučajevima pošto postoje indikacije za trgovinu ljudima.

Drugi korak: rangiranje po nivoima

Stejt department svaku zemlju obuhvaćenu Izveštajem o trgovini ljudima za 2006. godinu rangira na jednu od četiri liste, koje su ovde opisane kao nivoi, u skladu sa TVPA. Ovo rangiranje je zasnovano više na obimu vladinih akcija u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima nego na obimu problema mada je i to važno. Stejt department najpre procenjuje da li vlada u potpunosti poštuje minimum standarda po TVPA za iskorenjivanje trgovine ljudima (detaljno na strani 288). Vlade koje to čine rangirane su u Nivo 1. Za ostale vlade Stejt department razmatra da li čine značajne napore da bi ispunile te standarde. Vlade koje čine značajne napore da bi ispunile minimum standarda rangirane su u Nivo 2. Vlade koje u potpunosti ne poštuju minimum standarda i ne čine značajne napore da to postignu rangirane su u Nivo 3. Na kraju se razmatraju kriterijumi Posebne nadzorne liste i, ukoliko je primenjivo, zemlje Nivoa 2 se rangiraju na Nivo 2 Nadzorne liste.

Posebna Nadzorna lista – Nivo 2 Nadzorne liste

Reautorizacijom TVPA 2003. godine stvorena je „Posebna nadzorna lista” u Izveštaju o trgovini ljudima za zemlje koje treba posebno nadgledati. Listu sačinjavaju: 1) zemlje Nivoa 1 iz sadašnjeg izveštaja koje su 2005. bile rangirane u Nivo 2, 2) zemlje Nivoa 2 iz sadašnjeg izveštaja koje su 2005. bile rangirane u Nivo 3, i 3) zemlje rangirane u Nivo 2 u sadašnjem izveštaju gde:

a) apsolutni broj žrtava teških oblika trgovine ljudima je veoma veliki ili u značajnom porastu;
b) nema dokaza o povećanim naporima u borbi protiv teških oblika trgovine ljudima u odnosu na prethodnu godinu, uključujući veći broj istraga, krivičnog gonjenja i presuda za krivična dela trgovine ljudima, veću pomoć žrtvama i manje dokaza o saučešću državnih zvaničnika u teškim oblicima trgovine ljudima; ili
c) utvrđeno je da zemlja čini značajne napore u cilju ispunjavanja minimuma standarda na osnovu obavezivanja zemlje da preduzme dodatne korake u narednoj godini.

Ovu kategoriju (uključujući a, b i c) Stejt department naziva „Nivo 2 Nadzorne liste”. U Izveštaju iz juna 2005. Nivo 2 Nadzorne liste obuhvatio je 27 zemalja. Sa šest zemalja koje su reevaluirane kao zemlje Nivoa 2 Nadzorne liste u septembru 2005. i tri zemlje koje spadaju u prve dve kategorije gore navedene (prešle iz nivoa na kojem su bile u Izveštaju o trgovini ljudima za 2005.), ovih 27 zemalja je obuhvaćeno „Privremenom procenom” koju je Stejt department objavio 1. februara 2006.

Od 33 zemlje Nivoa 2 Nadzorne liste u vreme Privremene procene, njih 16 je prešlo u Nivo 2 u ovom izveštaju, dok su 4 pale na Nivo 3, a 12 je i dalje na Nivou 2 Nadzorne liste već treću godinu zaredom. Haiti je rangiran ove godine u kategoriju „Specijalni slučajevi”. Zemlje obuhvaćene Posebnom nadzornom listom u ovom izveštaju biće preispitane u okviru privremene procene koja će Američkom kongresu biti dostavljena 1. februara 2007.

Potencijalne kazne za zemlje Nivoa 3

Vlade zemalja rangiranih u Nivo 3 mogu postati predmet izvesnih sankcija. Američka vlada može uskratiti pomoć u oblastima koje se ne odnose na humanitarne potrebe i trgovinu. Zemljama koje takvu pomoć ne primaju uskratiće se sredstva za učešće u programima obrazovne i kulturne razmene. U skladu sa TVPA, Sjedinjene Države će se protiviti da takve vlade dobiju pomoć (izuzev humanitarne, privredne i izvesne pomoći koja se tiče razvoja) od međunarodnih finansijskih institucija kao što su Međunarodni monetarni fond i Svetska banka. Ovakve potencijalne posledice stupiće na snagu početkom naredne fiskalne godine, 1. oktobra 2006.

Sve ili deo sankcija iz TVPA mogu biti odbačene nakon što američki predsednik odredi da li bi pružanje takve pomoći vladi promovisalo ciljeve Zakona ili je drugačija odluka u nacionalnom interesu Sjedinjenih Država. TVPA takođe predviđa da se sankcije mogu odbaciti ako je to neophodno da bi se izbegli značajni negativni uticaji na ugrožene populacije, uključujući žene i decu. Sankcije se neće primenjivati ako predsednik utvrdi da je, nakon objavljivanja ovog izveštaja ali pre uvođenja sankcija, vlada ispunila minimum standarda ili čini značajne napore da to postigne.

Bez obzira na rangiranje, svaka zemlja može da učini više, uključujući i Sjedinjene Države. Ni za jednu državu dati rang nije večan. Sve zemlje moraju održavati i povećavati napore u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima.

II. NAJBOLJA MEĐUNARODNA ISKUSTVA

Australija: Borba protiv dečjeg seks turizma

Zajedno sa Vladom Australije, nevladina organizacija Child Wise je sponzorisala regionalnu obrazovnu kampanju za borbu protiv dečjeg seks turizma koju je usvojilo deset ASEAN ministarstava turizma 16. januara 2006. Program ima za cilj podizanje svesti o trgovini decom zarad seksa i seks turizma kod osoblja avio-kompanija, putničkih agenata i imigracionih i konzularnih službenika, kao i široke javnosti. On podstiče ciljne grupe da pozovu telefone dežurnih službi i prijave sumnjive radnje. Program je posebno dragocen za napore policijskih službi u otkrivanju i krivičnom gonjenju pedofila i prestupnika koji upražnjavaju seks sa decom. Osamnaesti globalni tim za zaštitu dece od seksualne eksploatacije u turizmu pozvao je ovu nevladinu organizaciju da predstavi svoju kampanju na konferenciji u Berlinu 10. marta 2006. Prošle godine, Australija je otvorila 24 istrage u vezi sa dečjim seks turizmom, podigla optužnice protiv sedmoro ljudi i donela presudu za jednu osobu. Dosada je Australija krivično gonila 17 ljudi po ekstrateritorijalnim zakonima.

Bangladeš: Distribucija informacija o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima među ugroženim ženama

Vlada Bangladeša je uvela program po kojem se informacije o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima distribuiraju članovima programa za uzimanje mikrokredita. Siromašne žene, posebno iz seoskih područja Bagladeša, prevashodni su korisnici mikrokredita; takođe spadaju i u najugroženiju populaciju kad je u pitanju trgovina ljudima. Distribucijom brošura o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima tokom sastanaka za dodelu mikrokredita, vlada je informisala 400.000 ugroženih žena kroz 39.061 sastankkoji je održala i upozorila ove žene na opasnosti trgovine ljudima. Ovaj primer pokazuje korisnu vezu između kampanja za borbu protiv trgovine ljudima i društvenih razvojnih inicijativa.

Bosna i Hercegovina i Tadžikistan: Efikasne policijske strategije

Udarna grupa za borbu protiv trgovine ljudima u Bosni i Hercegovini sprovela je četiri velike racije 2005. i 2006. godine u kojima je spašeno 26 žrtava i privedeno najmanje 14 trgovaca ljudima. Ova grupa primerom pokazuje značaj tesne saradnje između tužilaca i policije u efikasnom sprovođenju uspešnih racija zarad spasavanja žrtava i hapšenja trgovaca ljudima. Ona takođe ističe praktične rezultate saradnje različitih policijskih službi na istragama trgovine ljudima. Posledica jedne racije je bilo zatvaranje jednog od najozloglašenijih noćnih barova u centralnoj Bosni.

Tadžikistan je napravio elitne jedinice za borbu protiv trgovine ljudima koje se sastoje od dva do četiri specijalno obučena policijska istražitelja u regionima širom zemlje. Povećani broj ovakvih jedinica doveo je do 81 istrage trgovine ljudima 2005. godine što je značajno povećanje u odnosu na 2004.

Brazil: Centri za pomoć žrtvama na velikim graničnim prelazima

Mnoge žrtve otpremljene u inostranstvo na kraju bivaju deportovane ili repatrirane i pri povratku im je potrebna pomoć. U Brazilu većina žrtava koja se vraća iz inostranstva ponovo ulazi u zemlju na međunarodnom aerodromu u Sao Paolu. Država Sao Paolo je sarađivala sa jednom nevladinom organizacijom na osnivanju centra za pomoć žrtvama u blizini aerodroma tako da žrtve povratnici mogu brzo dobiti pomoć. Nevladina organizacija Association for the Defense of Women and Youth pružila je pomoć za više od 150 žena i devojaka u protekle dve godine organizujući prevoz za povratak žrtava u njihove prvobitne sredine i obezbeđujući informacije o vladinim službama zaštite i zakonskim procedurama.

Kolumbija i Ekvador: Širenje javne svesti pomoću popularne kulture

Javna i privatna partnerstva koriste zabavne programe da bi se širile poruke o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima. U Kolumbiji je Kancelarija Ujedinjenih nacija za narkotike i kriminal (UNODC) radila sa producentom popularne sapunske opere „Svi vole Merilin” da se u scenario uvede lik „Kataline” kroz dramatizaciju neprilika žrtve trgovine ljudima. Upotrebom izuzetno gledanih televizijskih serija na španskom jeziku, emitovanjem širom Kolumbije i izvozom serije u Venecuelu, Ekvador i Sjedinjene Države javnost je edukovana a veliki deo populacije informisan. Ovo je takođe pomoglo potencijalnim žrtvama da se identifikuju sa ovim likom i shvate neke metode koje se koriste da bi se žrtve obmanule, kao i da vide zlostavljanje koje žrtva može doživeti od ruke trgovca ljudima.

U Ekvadoru su dobrovoljci iz Nacionalnog instituta za decu i porodicu (INNFA) radili sa gostujućim međunarodnim muzičarom Rikijem Martinom, njegovom dobrotvornom organizacijom i kolumbijskim zabavljačem Karlosom Vivesom na širenju poruka o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima i informacijama koje su doprle do 24.000 ljudi koji su prisustvovali njihovim koncertima u Kitu i Gvajakilu. Oko 50.000 fudbalskih gledalaca u Ekvadoru je gledalo utakmicu koja se igrala na terenu gde je svuda INNFA ispisala ogromnim slovima „NE trgovini ljudima”.

Ekvador: Širenje poruka protiv trgovine ljudima pomoću javnog prevoza.

Opština Gvajakil i Udruženje taksista za šire područje Gvajakila radilo je sa jednom nevladinom organizacijom na podizanju javne svesti stavljajući nalepnice sa porukama protiv trgovine ljudima po unutrašnjosti lokalnih taksi vozila. Nalepnice objašnjavaju prirodu trgovine ljudima, upozoravaju na stroge kazne za trgovce ljudima i ohrabruju prijavljivanje krivičnih dela trgovine ljudima.

Etiopija i Kuvajt: Napori na zaštiti radnika migranata u zemljama izvorima i odredištima.

Etiopljanska imigraciona služba obezbeđuje štampani materijal o trgovini ljudima, uključujući organizacije koje treba kontaktirati za pomoć u inostranstvu, za hiljade Etiopljana koji podnose zahteve za pasoš zbog rada u inostranstvu. Služba takođe traži od podnosilaca da vide spot pod nazivom „Donesi pravu odluku”, u produkciji IOM-a, o rizicima trgovine ljudima svojstvenim zapošljavanju u inostranstvu i o tome šta činiti u slučaju viktimizacije.

Kuvajtski Savez kancelarija za rad posluge (KUDLO), udruženje agencija za regrutovanje radnika, pod vođstvom generalnog direktora Hašima Madžida Mohameda, utrlo je put zaštiti radnika u inostranstvu u Kuvajtu. KUDLO je u partnerstvu sa advokatskom firmom Al-Hakuk i ambasadama nekoliko zemalja izvora obezbedio besplatne pravne usluge ovakvim radnicima koji su imali probleme sa svojim poslodavcima. KUDLO radi na stvaranju prvog kuvajtskog prihvatilišta za osobe koje obavljaju poslove posluge, koji će moći da dobiju brzu pravnu i administrativnu pomoć u rešavanju problema na radnom mestu kao što je neisplaćivanje plata ili uznemiravanje. U odgovor na rasprostranjen problem zamene ugovora koji radnici potpišu u svojoj matičnoj zemlji na svom maternjem jeziku novim, nepovoljnijim ugovorima na arapskom jeziku, KUDLO je omogućio sporazum po kojem Indijska ambasada i KUDLO pregledaju, potpisuju i čuvaju primerak ugovora za svakog Indijca koji radi kao član posluge pre nego što dođe u Kuvajt. Sporazum takođe obezbeđuje osiguranje radnika za slučaj zdravstvenih ili pravnih problema. KUDLO radi na tome da slične sporazume potpiše sa drugim ambasadama. KUDLO je takođe okupio pristigle migrante sa njihovim potencijalnim poslodavcima da bi i jedne i druge edukovao u pogledu njihovih prava i odgovornosti.

Indonezija i Litvanija: Mobilizacija izviđača i učenika.

Izviđački pokret, koji obuhvata gotovo sve učenike državnih škola u celoj zemlji, počeo je 2004. kampanju protiv trgovine ljudima u Indramaju, na Zapadnoj Javi, gde su mnoge mlade žene i devojke postale žrtve trgovine ljudima. U trenutnoj fazi, Izviđački pokret će do avgusta 2006. obezbediti edukaciju o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima za 25.000 učenika u 116 škola u području Indramaju. Izviđački pokret je obučio 285 pomoćnika na nivou škola koji koriste inovativnu obuku i opremu za kampanju koja sadrži četvorodelni dokumentarni film, stripove i druge materijale o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima. Nacionalni izviđački pokret razmatra proširenje kampanje na druga područja i uvođenje znački koje ocenjuju napore u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima u cilju ohrabrenja što većeg broja izviđača da saznaju i promovišu borbu protiv trgovine ljudima. Angažman izviđača u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima jeste deo obimnije strategije koju je inicirala indonežanska Vlada, Američki centar za međunarodnu radničku solidarnost (Centar solidarnosti) i Međunarodna katolička migraciona komisija (ICMC) da bi se mobilisale postojeće masovne institucije i njihove značajne mreže za borbu protiv trgovine ljudima.

Slično ovome, i Litvanija takođe radi na podizanju svesti u školama. Centar za podršku porodicama nestalih osoba napravio je edukativni program za škole da bi učenici dobili adekvatne informacije o opasnostima trgovine ljudima. Zaposleni u Centru studentima drže jednočasovna predavanja na kojima se, između ostalog, prikazuju dokumentarni filmovi u kojima mlade žrtve govore o svojim iskustvima. Učenici takođe učestvuju u raspravama na okruglim stolovima i dobijaju brošure o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima. Centar godišnje održi dvadeset ovakvih sesija.

Globalni sudski podaci

Reautorizacija Zakona o žrtvama trgovine ljudima (TVPRA) iz 2003. u originalnu verziju Zakona unela je novi uslov: da strane vlade Stejt departmentu dostave podatke o istragama, krivičnom gonjenju, osudama i presudama u predmetima koji se odnose na trgovinu ljudima da bi se odredilo da li u potpunosti ispunjavaju minimum standarda po TVPA za ukidanje trgovine ljudima (Nivo 1). Ovi podaci su prvi put prikupljeni u Izveštaju o trgovini ljudima za 2004. godinu. Sa ovim izveštajem ovaj uslov u potpunosti stupa na snagu. U niže navedenoj tabeli upoređuju se podaci iz ovog i dva prethodna izveštaja.

Počev od ovog izveštaja, vlade moraju prikupiti i dostaviti kompletne sudske podatke da bi se kvalifikovali za Nivo 1

Godina	Tužbe	Presude	Novi ili izmenjeni zakoni
2003.	7992	2815	24
2004.	6885	3025	39
2005.	6618	4766	41

Malavi: Svest domaće javnosti omogućava identifikaciju trgovaca ljudima

Da bi povećala svoje mogućnosti u borbi protiv trgovine decom, Vlada Malavija je angažovala oblasne službenike za dečju zaštitu da u seoskim zajednicama širom zemlje održavaju edukativne sastanke o trgovini ljudima. Informativni plakati i brošure su takođe korišteni za podizanje svesti lokalnog stanovništva. Seljani malavijskog grada Mčindži naučili su kako da prepoznaju aktivnosti koje ukazuju na trgovinu ljudima zahvaljujući ovoj obrazovnoj kampanji i nedugo potom, brzo izvestili lokalnu policiju o sumnjivom muškarcu koji pokušava da pređe granicu sa grupom dece. Usledila je istraga i muškarac je za trgovinu decom osuđen na sedam godina zatvora uz težak rad. Nakon što su prošli sličnu obuku o trgovini ljudima, lokalne zajednice u Burkini Faso i Gvajani su takođe bile u stanju da uspešno identifikuju slučajeve trgovine ljudima u svojim zajednicama.

Filipini: Naglašavanje potrebe za timovima na lokalnom nivou

Grad Zamboanga je napravio lokalnu verziju Međuagencijskog saveta za borbu protiv trgovine ljudima (IACAT) koja je istovetna savetu koji postoji na nacionalnom nivou. Ovo telo okuplja lokalne jedinice vlasti koje se bave trgovinom ljudima da bi se osnažila tesna saradnja u radu na predmetima trgovine ljudima. Lokalna policija, tužioci i socijalni radnici su 2005. ostvarili efikasnu saradnju da bi dobili prvu presudu u zemlji po zakonu o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima iz 2003. Nakon što se žrtva u ovom slučaju pojavila, gradska Kancelarija za socijalnu zaštitu i razvoj radila je sa policijom na istrazi u ovom predmetu. Policija je takođe tesno sarađivala sa kancelarijom tužioca. Na kraju, sud je ovom predmetu trgovine ljudima dao prioritet što je omogućilo da se slučaj okonča u roku od rekordnih pet meseci. Kancelarija gradonačelnika je dala izvanredan primer dajući do znanja organima lokalne uprave da je spremna da se bori protiv trgovine ljudima.

Rumunija: Otvorena i kooperativna sa privatnim istraživačima

Vlada Rumunije je zatražila detaljan izveštaj o trgovini ljudima u Rumuniji do danas. Izveštaj je podržao i delimično finansirao UNICEF, a istraživalo nevladino telo. Istraživači su imali potpuni pristup vladinim zvaničnicima i oficijelnim informacijama što je omogućilo da izveštaj bude krajnje otvoren i kritičan prema trenutnim propustima u politici borbe protiv trgovine ljudima. Izveštaj već služi poboljšanju vladinih napora.

Dečje ropstvo

Prema podacima Međunarodne organizacije rada, kad su u pitanju deca mlađa od šesnaest godina, najbrojnija kategorija zapošljavanja na svetu jeste rad po tuđim kućama. Ogromna većina ove dece su devojčice. Mada većina dece na prinudnom radu po kućama ima između 12 i 17 godina, u mnogim zemljama se mnogo mlađa deca prisiljavaju da rade.

Žrtve ropstva dečje posluge se obično izlažu fizičkom, mentalnom i verbalnom zlostavljanju, uskraćena im je sloboda i školovanje, neuhranjena su i izrabljena. U nekim zemljama, kao što su Egipat, Indonezija, Brazil i Nigerija, normalno je da deca rade po kućama. Decu šalju njihovi roditelji ili se iz seoskih područja u grad namamljuju obećanjima da će zarađivati dovoljno novca da će moći da šalju i svojim porodicama. Odvojena od porodice, često su primorana da dugo rade, da su stalno na raspolaganju poslodavčevoj porodici za obavljanje poslova kao što je čišćenje kuće, kuvanje, pranje rublja i čuvanje dece.

Mada obično žive sa porodicom poslodavca, mlade žrtve uglavnom nemaju svoju sobu niti ikakvu privatnost. Obično su primorani da spavaju na podu u uglu neke prostorije ili ispod kuhinjskog stola, a hrane ih ostacima. Često ih od ranog doba članovi porodice, uključujući i drugu decu, verbalno, mentalno i fizički zlostavljaju. U mnogim slučajevima kada su žrtve deca, nije im dozvoljeno da napuštaju kuću bez nadzora i čak ih zaključavaju kada porodica napušta kuću.

Izolacija dece koja rade u tuđoj kući dovodi ih u položaj izuzetne ugroženosti u pogledu seksualnog iskorištavanja. Ova deca se često suočavaju sa seksualnim zlostavljanjem muškaraca u domaćinstvu, uključujući mušku decu i rođake. Zatvorene u kuću, žrtve nisu u mogućnosti da pobegnu, potraže pomoć ili se vrate svojoj kući. Ljaga koja stiže decu koja rade po kućama i činjenica da nisu školovani ne ostavlja im mnogo izbora za zapošljavanje. Štaviše, velike populacije dečje posluge često nisu vidljive u društvu koje je inače sve svesnije i aktivnije u drugim oblastima ljudskih prava gde postoje problemi. Neki napori koji zaslužuju pohvalu su u toku i usmereni su na povećanje javne svesti o ovom problemu pomoću novih tehnika. Jedan takav napor je započela indijska nevladina organizacija, National Domestic Worker's Movement, koja objavljuje reklame u modnim magazinima namenjenim srednjoj i višoj klasi u Indiji. Reklama iz ove kampanje nalazi se na sledećoj strani.

Politika spasavanja žrtava

Trgovina ljudima je moderno ropstvo gde su žrtve primorane, prevarene ili prisiljene zarad radne ili seksualne eksploatacije. Mada neke žrtve ovog krivičnog dela uspevaju da pobegnu iz prisilnog ropstva, mnogo je više onih koji to sami ne uspevaju. Njima je potrebna pomoć. Pomoć obično stiže u vidu racija u preduzećima koja bedno plaćaju radnike, ili, na primer, pri pretresu kuća u kojima se posluga izrabljuje. Žrtve seks trafikinga se spasavaju u racijama po bordelima i drugim lokacijama gde postoji komercijalna seksualna eksploatacija kao što su saloni za masažu, karaoke barovi i striptiz klubovi. Bez obzira na vrstu spasavanja, policijske operacije – koje se obično zovu „racije” – treba izvoditi zakonitim sredstvima sa propisnim ovlašćenjima, uz upotrebu sudskih naloga ili drugih potrebnih sudskih ili policijskih naređenja.

Osmišljene i nasumične racije

Policijske racije u cilju pronalaženja žrtava trgovine ljudima najefikasnije su kada im prethodi valjana priprema i prikupljanje podataka. Mada je nerealno očekivati potpune informacije o žrtvama u ropstvu, važno je saznati dovoljno da se, sa visokim stepenom sigurnosti, zna da su na mestima komercijalnog seksa i rada prisutne žrtve trgovine ljudima. Informacije o žrtvama se obično dobijaju preko policijaca na tajnim zadacima ili preko strateški regrutovanih potkazivača. Uz brižljivo planiranje da bi se obezbedila sigurnost svih uključenih i negu organizovanu za žrtve trgovine ljudi nakon spasavanja, u ovakvim osmišljenim racijama mogu se osloboditi žrtve trgovine ljudima, a ostalima minimalno naškoditi.

Neke policijske racije su nasumične. Izvode se u određenom cilju bez prethodnih pokušaja da se na takvim lokacijama utvrdi postojanje žrtava trgovine ljudima. Nasumične racije mogu dovesti do slabih rezultata i ugroziti ili naškoditi osobama koje nisu povezane sa trgovinom ljudima. Policijski agenti često se obeshrabre nakon takvih neuspešnih racija, pogotovo ako su pretpostavljali da će naći zatočene ljude koji željno iščekuju oslobađanje. Loša iskustva sa nasumičnim racijama mogu dovesti do smanjenja napora u vezi sa lokacijama gde se odvija rad ili seks žrtava trgovine ljudima – ili do ciničnog odnosa prema pojavi trgovine ljudima.

Identifikacija žrtava trgovine ljudima

Nasilje (fizičko i psihičko) i zastrašivanje koje obeležava prisilno ropstvo znači da žrtve često ne žele da se identifikuju kao žrtve. Ovo važi u celom svetu i događa se iz različitih razloga. Prvo, žrtve obično uče da se plaše policijskih organa i nevladinih organizacija. Ako su žrtve maloletne, obično ih trgovci ljudima i vlasnici bordela prisiljavaju da tvrde da su punoletne osobe koje su pristale na prostituisanje. Punoletne žrtve trgovine ljudima mogu biti prisiljene na prikrivanje znakova trgovine ljudima – kao što je zatvaranje, dužničko ropstvo, ili pretnje nasiljem nad njima i njihovim porodicama. Upravnici na poslu i vlasnici bordela često prete žrtvama ili njihovim srodnicima da će im naškoditi ukoliko otkriju situaciju. Osobe za koje postoji sumnja da su žrtve moraju se skloniti sa mesta eksploatacije, dalje od sredine koja ih ugrožava i odvesti na bezbedno mesto. Država često treba da ima privremeni pritvor za ovakve osobe za koje se sumnja da su potencijalne žrve, u ulozi žrtava ili svedoka teškog krivičnog dela. U takvom okruženju – obično u formi prihvatilišta – verovatnije je da će žrtve trgovine ljudima će otkriti pravu situaciju u kojoj se nalaze. Pravi uzrast žrtava može se saznati tako što će se žrtve same izjasniti ili lekarskim pregledom. Policiji i socijalnim radnicima treba vreme za razgovor i savetovanje sa potencijalnim žrtvama. Ovaj period savetovanja treba da bude standardna praksa u zemljama gde postoji zamašan problem trgovine ljudima. Kad se ustanovi da osoba ima status žrtve trgovine ljudima, dugoročna nega treba da bude dostupna da bi se olakšala rehabilitacija.

Deca upotrebljena za komercijalni seks

Politika Vlade Sjedinjenih Država o deci (ispod osamnaest godina starosti) upotrebljenoj za komercijalni seks nedvosmislena je: deca moraju biti sklonjena od eksploatacije čim su pronađena. Upotreba dece u komercijalnoj trgovini seksom zabranjena je po američkom i međunarodnom pravu. Ne postoje nikakvi izuzeci, niti kulturne ili društveno-ekonomske racionalizacije koje sprečavaju spasavanje dece iz seksualnog ropstva.

Angažman nevladinih organizacija

Nevladine organizacije često pomažu pripadnicima policije pri izvođenju racija i spasavanja. Nude psiho-socijalno savetovanje koje pomaže identifikaciju žrtava trgovine ljudima, obično nakon što su sklonjena iz situacija trgovine ljudima. Nevladine organizacije i predstavnici medija takođe mogu odigrati dragocenu ulogu i navesti organe policije i sudstva da se pridržavaju zakonskih standarda u pogledu prevencije kriminala i nege žrtava pružajući dokaze i zahtevajući odgovornost. Međutim, nevladine organizacije ne treba da igraju vodeću ulogu u racijama ili spasavanju, jer nisu ovlašćene za takvu delatnost. Nevladine organizacije i mediji treba da izbegavaju sve aktivnosti koje štete pravima dece ili ostalih.

Prava žrtava trgovine ljudima

Ustav Sjedinjenih Država (Amandman 13) zabranjuje ropstvo ili prislino ropstvo u Sjedinjenim Državama. Nastojimo da ispunimo ovaj osnovni standard u našim naporima u međunarodnoj borbi protiv trgovine ljudima. U pristupu potencijalnom spasavanju žrtava trgovine ljudima kroz policijske operacije („racije”) prava žrtava su najvažnija. Treba nastojati da se u racijama i spasavanjima broj žrtava koje nisu uključene u trgovinu ljudima svede na minimum, ali ovo ne sme da onemogući napore da se oslobode sve žrtve, koji su, po definiciji, očigledno u fizičkoj opasnosti. Ne bi trebalo da postoji sigurna zona u kojoj trgovci ljudima mogu da zlostavljaju žrtve bez straha od policijske i sudske akcije.

[1] Pearson, E. ”Study on Trafficking in Women in East Africa”, GTZ, decembar 2003.

[2] Bal KumarKC, Subedi G, Gurung YB, Adhikari KP, ”Nepal Trafficking in Girls With Special Reference to Prostitution: A Rapid Assessment.” International Labour Organization, novembar 2001

[3] Zimmerman, Cathy. The Health Risks and Consequences of Trafficking in Women and Adolescents: Findings from a European Study. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 2003. http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/hpu/docs/trafficking final.pdf

[4] Zimmerman, Cathy. ”Stolen Smiles: A Summery Report on the Physical and Psychological Consequences of Women and Adolescents Trafficked in Europe. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 2006.

[5] Sarkar K, Bal B, Mukherjee R, Saha MK, Chakrabortz S, Niyogi SK, Bhattachary SK. „Zoung age is a risk factor for HIV among female sex workers – An experience from India”. Journal of Infection, 2005, (vol): 1-5, and Sarkar K, Bal B, Mukherjee R, Saha MK, Chakrabortz S, Niyogi SK, Bhattachary SK. ”Epidemiology of HIV Infection among Brothel-based Sex Workers in Kolkata, India. Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition. 2005; 23(3); 231-235.

SRBIJA I CRNA GORA (NIVO 2 – NADZORNA LISTA)

Objavila Kancelarija za nadzor i borbu protiv trgovine ljudima

5. juni 2006.

Državna zajednica Srbija i Crna Gora je zemlja-izvor, kao i tranzitna i odredišna zemlja za trgovinu ženama i devojkama kojima se trguje na lokalnom i međunarodnom nivou u cilju seksualne eksploatacije. Žrtve identifikovane u Srbiji i Crnoj Gori tokom 2005. potiču iz Srbije i Crne Gore, Moldavije, Ukrajine, Rusije, Rumunije, Bugarske i Hrvatske. Bilo da potiču iz Zajednice ili da je za njih ona tranzitno područje, žrtve su često preko Hrvatske stizale u zapadne evropske zemlje. Romskom decom se trguje unutar zemlje u cilju prosjačenja. IOM (Međunarodna organizacija za migracije) je prijavila rastući trend u trgovini ljudima unutar zemlje gde su žrtve i iz Srbije i iz Crne Gore, a ima slučajeva gde je u pitanju ponovno iskorištavanje istih žrtava. Otprilike 30-50 posto žena obuhvaćenih prostitucijom u Crnoj Gori zapravo su žrtve trgovine ljudima, a polovina su deca.

Vlade republika članica Srbije i Crne Gore, koje imaju najveću nadležnost, ne pridržavaju se u potpunosti minimuma standarda za eliminaciju trgovine ljudima, iako ulažu znatne napore u tom pogledu. Dve republike nemaju zajedničke institucije za borbu protiv trgovine ljudima, ali po potrebi sprovode zajedničke aktivnosti, te ovaj izveštaj, shodno tome, daje posebnu analizu za svaku republiku. Crna Gora je napravila opipljiv napredak na polju krivičnog gonjenja i zaštite. Srbija je povećala napore na zaštiti žrtava-svedoka, ali su napori policije i dalje slabi. Nijedna republika nije uspela da preduzme korake protiv javnih zvaničnika umešanih u trgovinu ljudima. Oznaka ''Nivo 2 na Nadzornoj listi'' zasniva se na njihovim ukupnim naporima, koji su pokazali trend rasta, zahvaljujući značajnom trudu Crne Gore.

Vlada Republike Srbije napravila je skroman ali neujednačen napredak u pogledu policijskih aktivnosti i zaštite žrtava tokom 2005. U periodu na koji se izveštaj odnosi, nekoliko važnih predmeta trgovine ljudima brzo je obrađeno, dok su preostali stajali u srpskim sudovima. Vlada je izdala veći broj humanitarnih viza za žrtve trgovine ljudima i započela primenu novog zakona o zaštiti svedoka. Trgovci ljudima i dalje se blago kažnjavaju premda je u nekim slučajevima izrečena najveća kazna od šest do osam godina zatvora. Vlada treba da institucionalizuje mehanizme upućivanja da bi se povećala identifikacija i zaštita žrtava trgovine ljudima u Srbiji. Trebalo bi da obezbedi potpunu primenu zakona o zaštiti svedoka da bi se sprečilo ponovno traumatizovanje žrtava koje su voljne da pomognu policiji i svedoče protiv trgovaca ljudima čije su žrtve bili. Vlada treba da nastavi sa istragama i krivičnim gonjenjem u slučajevima navodne korupcije vezane za trgovinu ljudima te preduzme korake na poboljšanju sudskog rešavanja predmeta koji se odnose na trgovinu ljudima.

Republika Crna Gora je napravila konkretan napredak u sveobuhvatnoj borbi protiv trgovine ljudima tokom 2005. Povećan je broj presuda za trgovinu ljudima, više žrtava je dobilo pomoć i zaštitu, a povećani su i resursi za pomoć i zaštitu žrtava. Trgovci ljudima u Crnoj Gori i dalje su blago kažnjavani. Vlada treba da institucionalizuje mehanizme upućivanja da bi se povećala identifikacija i zaštita žrtava trgovine ljudima u Crnoj Gori i obezbedi trajno finansiranje skloništa za žrtve trgovine ljudima. Treba da obezbedi potpunu primenu zakona o zaštiti svedoka da bi se sprečilo ponovno traumatizovanje žrtava koje su voljne da pomognu policiji i svedoče protiv trgovaca ljudima čije su žrtve bili. Neki trgovci i dalje uspevaju da umaknu vlastima zahvaljujući korupciji vezanoj za trgovinu ljudima. Vlada mora da se odlučno pozabavi i krivično goni saučesnike u trgovini ljudima.

REPUBLIKA SRBIJA

Krivično gonjenje

U Srbiji je jula 2005. usvojen novi krivični zakon koji je stupio na snagu 1. januara 2006. Zakon razlikuje trgovinu ljudima od krijumčarenja i odnosi se na sve oblike trgovine ljudima. Srpska Vlada je u 2005. obavila istrage u petnaest predmeta trgovine ljudima, podigla optužnice za trgovinu ljudima protiv trideset četiri osobe i osudila petnaest trgovaca ljudima, što je manje od dvadeset pet presuda koje su izrečene prethodne godine. Presude su se kretale od dve do osam godina zatvora. Većina trgovaca ljudima, međutim, puštena je iz zatvora posle odsluženja polovine kazne što je uobičajena praksa za sve osuđene kriminalce. U martu 2006. Vrhovni sud Srbije je odbacio žalbu na presudu Okružnog suda u Beogradu iz 2004. godina u predmetu „Zarubica” koji se odnosi na trgovinu ženama i devojkama iz Moldavije. Vrhovni sud je takođe povećao zatvorsku kaznu sa tri i po na četiri i po godine. Optuženi u ovom predmetu su, međutim, shodno standardnoj sudskoj praksi, ostali na slobodi, a datum početka odsluženja kazne još nije određen. Opsežna obuka policije i pograničnih službi dala je značajne rezultate u 2005. Policija je uspešno zaustavila dve grupe trgovaca ljudima na graničnom prelazu u februaru 2006. kada je međunarodna grupa sastavljena od državljana Srbije, Ukrajine i Moldavije pokušala da devojke iz Ukrajine prokrijumčari u Srbiju. Nije bilo izveštaja o korupciji vezanoj za trgovinu ljudima. Međutim, jedna nevladina organizacija je optužila policiju za navodno saučešće u obavljanju prostitucije u Novom Pazaru. Lokalni zvaničnici iz Novog Pazara nisu odgovorili na pitanja nevladine organizacije u vezi sa ovim navodima.

Zaštita

Policija i Agencija za koordinaciju zaštite žrtava trgovine ljudima sarađivali su sa nevladinim organizacijama na identifikaciji i zbrinjavanju četrdeset i četiri žrtve u 2005. Svim žrtvama je obezbeđeno sklonište, medicinska i psihološka pomoć kao i pomoć za reintegraciju. Nevladine organizacije obezbeđuju većinu ovih službi, dok Vlada finansira plate zaposlenih u jednom skloništu. Vlada je povećala broj boravišnih dozvola za žrtve trgovine ljudima i u 2005. odobrila trinaest. Vlada je dopunila zakon da bi se obezbedila besplatna medicinska pomoć žrtvama trgovine ljudima 2005. Stalna edukacija službi je neophodna jer su nevladine organizacije izvestile o slučajevima gde su lokalne bolnice odbile da žrtvama pruže pomoć. Januara 2006. Srbija je usvojila zakon o zaštiti svedoka koji se odnosi na žrtve trgovine ljudima i uspostavila jedinicu za zaštitu žrtava svedoka. Bilo je nekih izveštaja o lošem postupanju prema žrtvama u sudovima van Beograda. Sudovi često od žrtava traže da iznova svedoče protiv trgovaca u krivičnim i parničnim postupcima što stvara nepotrebne traume i putne troškove. Vlada je u svim opštinama propisala osnivanje tima u kojem će biti jedan policajac i jedan socijalni radnik koji će pružiti pomoć žrtvama. U 2005. je svega nekoliko ovakvih lokalnih timova bilo aktivno, dok ostali ili nisu reagovali ili tek treba da budu osnovani. Iako srpska policija ima odgovornost za inicijalnu identifikaciju žrtava trgovine ljudima, pet žrtava je bilo greškom pritvoreno od kojih je jedna deportovana 2005. Policija je naknadno ustanovila da su u pitanju žrtve i preostale četiri prebacila u sklonište.

Prevencija

Aktivnosti Vlade u prevenciji trgovine ljudima su u 2005. i dalje u začetku. Nevladine organizacije nastavile su da organizuju i finansiraju većinu srpskih kampanja javnog informisanja. Nevladine organizacije učestvuju u vladinom antitrafiking timu i podgrupama; međutim, nacionalni tim se sastajao samo periodično tokom perioda na koji se izveštaj odnos,i a jedna podgrupa nikada nije održala sastanak. Nacionalni savet je u 2005. godini napravio i primenio Nacionalni akcioni plan uz konsultacije sa nevladinim organizacijama. Nacionalni savet je pripremio nacrt antitrafiking strategije za period 2006-2009. koji je podneo na odobrenje srpskoj Vladi. Kabinet premijera tek treba da odobri strategiju ali se elementi Akcionog plana, u skladu sa predloženom strategijom, i dalje primenjuju. Nevladine organizacije su srpskoj omladini delile pamflete i plakate s ciljem podizanja sveti o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima i upozoravanja na načine na koje se postaje žrtva trafikinga. Konzularne kancelarije su nastojale da spreče trgovinu ljudima na području Srbije odbijajući da izdaju vize za četiri hiljade podnosilaca iz zemalja za koje se zna da su zemlje-izvori.

REPUBLIKA CRNA GORA

Krivično gonjenje

Vlada Republike Crne Gore poboljšala je reagovanje policije na trgovinu ljudima i povećala broj istraga i presuda izrečenih trgovcima ljudima u periodu na koji se izveštaj odnosi. Vlada je u 2005. podigla pet optužnica protiv sedam osoba, inicirala četrnaest istraga o trgovini ljudima i osudila šest trgovaca ljudima u tri predmeta. Kazne su se kretale od šest meseci do pet godina zatvora i svi osuđeni trgovci ljudima se trenutno nalaze na odsluženju kazne. Vlada je nastavila da obezbeđuje obuku za policiju, sudije i druge službenike u pogledu prepoznavanja, istrage i krivičnog gonjenja trgovaca ljudima. Tokom 2005. u saradnji sa ukrajinskim zvaničnicima, Vlada je osudila četiri trgovca ljudima na ukupno četrnaest godina zatvora za trgovinu ljudima iz Ukrajine u Crnu Goru sa ciljem prinudnog rada. Bilo je izveštaja da su neki policijski i carinski zvaničnici omogućili trgovinu ljudima a podmićeni službenici pružali obezbeđenje objektima u kojima se odvijala prostitucija u 2005.

Zaštita

Vlada Crne Gore je u 2005. pokazala povećane napore u zaštiti i pomoći žrtvama trgovine ljudima. Potpisala je memorandum u saradnji sa nevladinim organizacijama da bi se osnažila saradnja na zaštiti i pomoći žrtvama trgovine ljudima, a policija je dvadeset pet žrtava uputila na nevladine organizacije u skladu sa memorandumom. Vlada Crne Gore je u 2005. godini izdala formalna uputstva o izdavanju privremenih boravišnih dozvola žrtvama trgovine ljudima. Policija je povremeno vršila pritisak na žrtve da podnesu zvanične prijave policije da bi se kvalifikovali za boravak u skloništima. U januaru 2006. Vlada je preuzela finansiranje skloništa za žrtve trgovine ljudima u Podgorici gde je prijavljen smeštaj dvadeset osam žrtava u 2005. a od februara 2006. pet potencijalnih žrtava. Republika Crna Gora je 2004. donela zakon o zaštiti svedoka koji se primenjuje na žrtve trgovine ljudima ali se još ne odnosi na zaštitu tih žrtava. Navodno, granična policija traži žrtve trgovine ljudima i nezvanično nadzire granicu da bi otkrila dokaze o trgovini ljudima. Međutim, Vlada tek treba da uspostavi zvanične mehanizme upućivanja da bi žrtve bile stalno i tačno identifikovane i upućene u skloništa nevladinih organizacija. IOM je prijavio da su u retkim slučajevima neke potencijalne žrtve trgovine ljudima preuranjeno deportovane.

Prevencija

U saradnji sa jednom nevladinom organizacijom, Vlada Crne Gore je 2005. organizovala radionice u mnogim srednjim i osnovnim školama da bi podigla svest i predstavila načine prepoznavanja potencijalnih opasnosti trgovine ljudima. Kancelarija nacionalnog koordinatora je tražila mesečne izveštaje o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima od svih relevantnih državnih organa a Ministarstvo rada i socijalne zaštite organizovalo je seminar o trgovini decom. U 2005. Vlada je ažurirala Nacionalnu antitrafiking strategiju iz 2003. a razna ministarstva su usvojila odgovarajuće akcione planove koje strategija propisuje.

KOSOVO

Iako je tehnički deo Srbije i Crne Gore, Kosovo se i dalje nalazi pod upravom Privremene administrativne misije Ujedinjenih nacija na Kosovu (UNMIK) u skladu sa Rezolucijom 1244 Saveta bezbednosti Ujedinjenih nacija iz 1999. Od juna 1999. UNMIK obezbeđuje privremenu upravu na Kosovu i ima najvišu nadležnost nad organima borbe protiv trgovine ljudima kao što su policija i sudovi, ali sporo prebacuje nadležnost na lokalne institucije. UNMIK je svestan problema koji trgovina ljudima predstavlja na Kosovu i nastavlja da čini napore u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima u saradnji sa OEBS-om, privremenim institucijama samouprave (PISG) i lokalnim i međunarodnim nevladinim organizacijama. Odgovornost za socijalnu pomoć žrtvama trgovine ljudima dele UNMIK, PISG i međunarodne organizacije.

Kosovo je izvorna, tranzitna i odredišna tačka za trgovinu ženama i decom kojima se trguje u cilju seksualne eksploatacije. Ustanovljeni su izvesni slučajevi prinudnog rada i rada po kućama. Trgovina ljudima unutar područja postaje sve ozbiljniji problem. Preko osamdeset procenata identifikovanih žrtava kojima je ukazana pomoć su maloletnici. IOM je za 64 posto žrtava sa Kosova kojima je pružena pomoć u 2005. izvestio da su žrtve trgovine ljudima unutar područja, dok je 15% prokrijumčareno u Makedoniju, a 13% u Albaniju i Italiju. UNMIK-ova Jedinica za trgovinu ljudima (THBS) prijavila je da su strane žrtve, kojima su pomoć ukazali, krijumčarene uglavnom iz Moldavije, Albanije i Bugarske. Sve veći broj albanskih i kosovskih žrtava su u 2005. ponovo bile žrtve trgovine ljudima na Kosovu. Prostitucija se i dalje sve više odvija u tajnosti i postaje sve skrivenija na Kosovu, a trgovci ljudima sve češće finansijskim sredstvima podstiču žrtve da ne prihvate pomoć.

Krivično gonjenje

I dalje postoji značajna razlika u broju policijskih racija i hapšenja u 2005; THBS je izvestio da su trgovci ljudima često imali dojave o njihovim operacijama. THBS je izveo 2.000 racija tokom perioda na koji se izveštaj odnosi ili je uhapsio svega trideset troje osumnjičenih. Tokom 2005. THBS je izvršio 45 pretresa privatnih kuća u potrazi za žrtvama trgovine ljudima. THBS je identifikovao 49 žrtava, za 38 pružio pomoć, a repatrijacija je izvršena u 14 slučajeva. Meseca jula, tri albanska državljana su osuđena za trgovinu ljudima na deset i dvanaest godina zatvora. U novembru je jedan službenik UNHCR-a osuđen na tri godine zatvora zbog izrabljivanja maloletnika. Većina presuda za trgovce ljudima iznosila je od jedne do tri godine zatvora. Blage presude za osuđene trgovce ljudima su i dalje značajna prepreka zbog korupcije i pogrešnog kulturnog shvatanja ključnih razlika između trgovine ljudima i krijumčarenja i prisile i dozvole. Tužioci navodno nisu tražili stroge kazne za trgovce ljudima zbog pogrešne percepcije, odustva obuke i dosluha sa trgovcima ljudima.

Zaštita

Istraga i krivično gonjenje i u 2005. su bile sputane nedostatkom odgovorajuće zaštite svedoka. Tužioci su nastavili da od žrtava zahtevaju da svedoče u prisustvu trgovaca ljudima čije su žrtve bili, mada je zakonom drugačije propisano. U 2005. konzorcijum lokalnih i međunarodnih činilaca uključenih u borbu protiv trgovine ljudima (međunarodna policijska služba, advokati žrtava, OEBS i lokalne nevladine organizacije) uveo je standardnu operativnu proceduru (SOP) da bi se izbeglo dupliranje u radu i poboljšao raniji nedelotvoran proces pružanja pomoći i upućivanja žrtava. Po ovoj proceduri, THBS identifikovane žrtve upućuje na jednog od dvadeset tri advokata žrtava širom Kosova koji žrtvama pružaju direktnu pomoć.

Prevencija

Maja 2005. PISG je objavio akcioni plan da bi se jedinstvenim okvirom objedinili svi relevantni činioci i aktivnosti u borbi protiv trgovine ljudima. IOM i UNMIK su 2005. vodili nekoliko kampanja za podizanje svesti o borbi protiv trgovine ljudima, od kojih je jedna bila usmerena na potencijalne klijente seksualne industrije, a jedna na povećanje pomoći žrtvama, uključujući otvaranje anonimne telefonske linije za žrtve i ugrožene grupe. Ministarstvo obrazovanja je u saradnji sa jednom nevladinom organizacijom nastavilo aktivnost u kampanjama za podizanje svesti u školama.