Erstellt am: 30. 6. 2010 - 14:14 Uhr
Modern slavery
Traffickers who subject women and children to prostitution and forced labor are engaged in one of Europe's most lucrative crimes - a €2.5 billion a year, modern-day slave trade whose victims are growing by 50 percent annually, according to the UN.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that more than 140,000 people in Europe are currently controlled by organized gangs. Many victims are tricked into leaving lives of poverty in eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America with bogus promises of work.
The UN report said that 51 percent of victims in Europe come from the Balkan countries or the former Soviet Union, with another 13 percent coming from Latin America, 7 percent from Central Europe and 5 percent from Africa.
American actress Mira Sorvino, who serves as a goodwill ambassador for the UN agency, met in Madrid with women who have been rescued from trafficking gangs in Spain and their stories were heartbreaking.
APA
Steve Crilley: You’ve met & spoken with women in Madrid who’ve been rescued from trafficking gangs. Could you give us an example of a woman’s story that made a particular impression on you?
Mira Sorvino: Well, there is one young woman from Africa; she had a child and she could not support the child. These people offered to help her. they said that they would look after the child and taht they had contacts in Spain and that she would have a good job working in a restaurant. They transported her throughout Africa - sort of illegally smuggled her through various countries across land. They had to do some of the journey on foot at night through wild areas, where one person was bitten by a snake. The stress was extreme. Once the journey started they started showing her a different face; they grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into a train while she was on the train. Some of the girls with her died from the stress and were left behind. When they got to Spain,she was supposed to call a number in Nigeria, she discovered what she was supposed to do: When she called, they said, you owe us 50000 Euro, you have to send it to us or we will kill your daughter.
What is hampering bringing the perpetrators to justice, because we are told that the arrests and convictions of traffickers are very rare?
Part of the problem is, that it is a clandestine crime, it is hard to discover because it is in their interest to keep it under wraps. It is not immediately visible, the victims are not visible, sometimes they are really kept under lock and key and they never emerge. But political will, certain countries have it more than others, for sure. A lot of countries, pay lip-service to the idea that they are horrified by the existence of modern slavery but then when it comes to putting money into programmes such as the training of judiciary and police, many times traffickers are given a very, very light sentence - if they are convicted at all. They'll be given a fine or a very, very brief sentence.
Are there any positive steps that are been taken, say at the UN level?
Well, the UN is currently also drafting a global plan of action, which is a little bit more direct and a little bit more actionable and it is kind of a universal roadmap for countries to follow to commit to in theory. But then also if you go through the steps. It really presents a way in which an integral holistic approach to fighting trafficking and treating victims can be followed. So especially for countries who've made little progress in the fields so far, this could be a significant advance for them.
Also, how victims are treated when they are discovered – it’s often shameful how society then treats them?
Sadly they are seen as illegal immigrants and often their stories are not even believed. Otherwise they are so frightenend, they don't trust anyone, they clam up, they refuse to cooperate, they fear the retribution of the traffickers.