Report on Trafficking in Human Beings 2012

21 August 2012Mid-term report from Johan Linander and André Oktay Dahl, BSPC Rapporteurs on Trafficking in Human Beings (THB)1 BackgroundIn 2009 the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC) established a working group on Civil Security. The working group was to focus specially on Trafficking in Human Beings (THB). They presented their final report to the 20th BSPC in Helsinki 2011.[1]In order to follow up the work of the group and the recommendations concerning Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) made by the BSPC, the BSPC appointed two rapporteurs: Mr Johan Linander, MP and Vice Chair of the Swedish Riksdag's Standing Committee on Justice and Mr André Oktay Dahl, MP and Vice Chair of the Norwegian Storting's Standing Committee on Justice. Mr Linander and Mr Dahl served as Vice Chairs in the working group on Civil Security.2 MandateThe basic role of a BSPC Rapporteur is to follow the development within a specific subject area (usually one in which the BSPC has established a Working Group), to be able to provide briefings and updates on the development, to follow-up the implementation of BSPC recommendations within the subject area and to identify possible items for political attention, and, when necessary, to represent the BSPC in various activities within that area.As a principle, the Rapporteurs should be offered the opportunity to make a brief report at the annual Conferences. In addition, Rapporteurs could also choose to issue written reports. The Standing Committee, in its turn, could invite rapporteurs to provide status reports and updates; conversely, the Rapporteurs might wish to participate in Standing Committee meetings to discuss their activities and coordinate political positions.3 The work so farThe rapporteurs have held two meetings since their appointment. At the first meeting in Oslo we decided to start the work by writing a letter to the ministers responsible for the fight against Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) in the Baltic Sea states. The aim of this letter was twofold. Firstly we wished to draw the ministers’ attention to the recommendations concerning THB made by the 19th and 20th BSPC[2]. The resolutions where thus enclosed in the letters. Secondly, we asked four questions in order to build up an impression of the status of some of the important areas in the fight against THB.The second meeting was held in Stockholm on 25 May. In this meeting we met the Swedish National Coordinator for the fight against THB, Detective Superintendent Kajsa Wahlberg of the Swedish Police. Afterwards we had a meeting with the Council of the Baltic Sea States Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings represented by Mr Jan Austad from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security in Norway, Mr Magnus Jonsson from the Ministry of Education and Research in Sweden and Ms Bjarney Fridriksdottir and Mr Anthony Jay of the CBSS secretariat.4 The questions to the national governmentsThe four questions in the letter to the national governments were:1. Do you have a system for registration of cases of Trafficking in Human Beings, and what are the latest figures?2. Is the current legislation against Trafficking in Human Beings effective? To what extent are traffickers convicted?3. Trafficking in Human Beings is a highly profitable criminal activity; what measures are employed in order to track and confiscate the proceeds from THB?4. How are your government providing stable funding for public authorities, specialized agencies, NGOs, and inter-governmental organizations and projects in order to maintain the pursuit of persistent and sustained efforts against trafficking in human beings?So far we have received answers from ten countries out of eleven. We still await the answers from Iceland. In the following we will briefly try to summarise the answers. The complete set of answers will be published on the BSPC’s website.1. Registration of cases of Trafficking in Human BeingsAll of the countries have a system for registration of cases of THB. Some have a central point of registration while others have various institutions that collect data. We would like to draw attention to the recommendation from the CBSS study Hard Data: Data Collection Mechanisms on Human Trafficking in the Baltic Sea Region:‘Make sure that actors routinely forward this information to one specific institution or actor that is tasked with analysing and publishing data in one comprehensive report’We believe that there still is a potential for a more coordinated and standardized way of registration and data collection.As to the latest figures, it is not correct to try to compare them as some countries have figures from 2011 while other have figures from 2010. However it would be fair to conclude that THB is very much a present problem in most BSPC countries.2. Effective legislation against THBWhile most countries can show a number of convictions for THB, it is interesting to notice that the current legislation against THB is under revision or evaluation, or has recently been amended in almost all Baltic Sea states. One explanation could be the recent introduction of new international legislation such as the new EU directive on preventing and combating THB (Directive 2011/36/EU). Another explanation could be the need to adapt the current legislation to the fact that traffickers constantly invent new ways of exploiting people and loopholes in the legislation. In our view, it is vital for the fight against THB that legislators monitor new developments and are ready and willing to adopt legislation accordingly.3. Measures employed in order to track and confiscate the proceeds from THBTHB is big business and in order to combat trafficking it is most important to make the “business climate” as risky and uncertain as possible. One way is to deprive the traffickers of the possibility to enjoy the proceeds from THB by tracking and confiscating both money and property that can be linked to the criminal activity.From the answers we have received, it is clear that all the countries have provisions for confiscating proceeds from THB. In Germany, €7 million of proceeds from THB have been confiscated during the last five years. Several countries are integrating investigation and tracking of proceeds in to the investigation of THB. This is often done with the help of specially trained officers. Cooperation and exchange of information with other authorities such as the tax administration, financial institutions and custom and border control authorities is encouraged and is on the increase.We think that this is positive but would like to see even more emphasis on this aspect of fighting THB in the coming years. We think it is vital to be able to intercept the proceeds from THB going back to the “investors”, i.e. the kingpins or heads of the criminal network. They are often located abroad, far away from the country where the THB takes place and out of reach for the investigating police force. The traffickers that are arrested and convicted are often footmen and disposables for the kingpins.If we are unable to reach the investors, we must take away their incentive to invest i.e. stop the returns on their investments. This is why the interception of proceeds from THB trying to cross the border is so important. When the money finally has arrived in the hands of the kingpin, confiscation and prosecution is often hard to accomplish.4. Stable fundingSeveral countries have organized the fight against THB in action plans that typically will run for three or four years. The funding for the implementation of these plans will naturally have a temporary, ad-hoc character. However, there is a tendency towards projects being institutionalized and becoming permanent operations, thus receiving funding on a permanent basis. Some countries subcontract service provisions (i.e. for victims) to non-governmental organizations (NGO's) through tender processes. The division of responsibility between state and local or regional administration is also a theme for discussion in several countries.5 New forms of traffickingIn the meeting with Swedish National Rapporteur on THB, Detective Superintendent Kajsa Wahlberg, we were made aware of forms of trafficking that has recently been registered by the Swedish police:Trafficking for identity theft“Once on site in the destination country, the women’s identities are used to register companies, open bank accounts, apply for and receive different forms of benefit. Some of the exploited women also stated that they had been exploited for sexual purposes. In 2010, confirmed information in Sweden related to suspected human trafficking crimes show that the victims’ identities were used to make purchases by mail order, sign up for mobile phone subscriptions and similar transactions. This financial exploitation of the victims went on long after they had left the country”(Swedish Police Situation Report 12 “Människohandel för sexuella och andra ändamål” [Trafficking in human beings for sexual and other purposes])Trafficking for criminal activities like theft and fraudAlthough this is not a new form of THB, but evidence might suggest that this form of THB is on the rise. Victims are forced to commit crimes and hand over the proceeds to their traffickers. Detective Superintendent Wahlberg could tell us that in this form of trafficking the victims are often children. The traffickers exploit the children’s young age in order to escape punishment and a criminal record.Trafficking for beggingThis form of THB is often combined with THB for criminal activities. The victims beg in the street, which is legal in many countries, but they are not allowed to keep the proceeds. These they are forced to hand over to the traffickers who organize the begging.One solution would be to outlaw begging altogether. The problem is that a ban would also close down “normal”, non-trafficked beggars. We believe that a viable solution could be to outlaw the organization of begging for self-enrichment. In many respects, the trafficker in such instances is comparable to the procurer/pimp. By specifying “for self-enrichment” one avoids to outlaw organized collections for charities such as the Red Cross.Additional funding for telephone tappingPerhaps the most important investigating tool for the police in THB cases is the ability to monitor telephone conversations between the traffickers and between traffickers and victims. These conversations are often the decisive piece of evidence in order to obtain a conviction against the trafficker in a trail. According to Wahlberg, the monitoring of telephone conversations is a time-consuming operation and consequently involves the use of considerable manpower resources. In addition to this, the conversations are often in a language foreign to the police officers, who will then require assistance from professional interpreters. This involves costs and delays in the investigation. Sometimes lack of recourses might jeopardise the whole investigation.We believe that this is something that our governments should look into. Is there a possibility for cooperation between the CBSS member states in this matter? Could one imagine some sort of pool of funds and interpreters that police forces investigating complex THB cases could draw on?6 The way aheadOur ambition is to deliver a final report to the 22. BSPC in Estonia 2013.We plan to send the answers from the ministers to relevant NGO’s in order to get their feedback and assessments of their governments’ policies.Mr Linander will participate in Parliamentarians Against Human Trafficking seminar on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 September 2012 in the Assembleia da Republica, Lisbon. The purpose of the seminar is to examine best practice relating to data collection on victims of trafficking.We also plan a trip to Lithuania, hopefully this autumn.The role of the independent national rapporteur is something we would like to examine, and we are therefore considering a visit to the Netherlands to meet with Corinne Dettmeijer-Vermeulen,Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings.-----------------------[1] See http://www.bspc.net/page/show/216[2] See http://www.bspc.net/file/show/333 and http://www.bspc.net/file/show/511