TIP IN TURKEY: MEDIA ATTENTION, DECEMBER 1-14, 2004

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006938 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE, INL/CTR DEPARTMENT FOR VALERIE KWOK USAID E&E/ECA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREF TU TIP IN TURKEY SUBJECT: TIP IN TURKEY: MEDIA ATTENTION, DECEMBER 1-14, 2004 ¶1. (U) In response to G/TIP inquiries, national and international media sources published the following news articles about TIP in Turkey. Text of articles originally published in Turkish is provided through unofficial local FSN translation. ¶2. (U) Published December 12, 2004 by the Telegraph, Calcutta, India: TITLE: Tight watch on human export BEGIN TEXT: Chandigarh, Dec. 12: In the 1970s, Punjab exported wheat. In the eighties, it was terror. The nineties saw the emergence of foot-tapping Punjabi pop music that caught the ears of the world. Now it is the turn of human trafficking. In an incident that has surfaced recently, Amrik Singh, a resident of Nandalo village in Hoshiarpur, was found dead in a container in which he was being transported from Syria to Turkey. Amrik had booked his ticket to a better future through an agent by paying Rs 4 lakh. The agent's name is being kept secret for investigation purposes. Amrik's father, Darshan Singh, who is the sarpanch of Nandalo, said his son had left for Jordan on August 17. "We received regular phone calls from him till August ¶20. On October 18, we were informed by his friend that Amrik was dead. I am told that Amrik died because of unbearable heat and suffocation," he said. According to Darshan, Amrik was shoved into a container with 23 Pakistanis and 10 Indians. Police sources said Amrik's group travelled from Jordan to Iraq on foot. From Iraq, they were taken to Syria and then put in a container marked for Turkey. They had nothing to eat. Taking a serious view of dubious travel agents continuing to fleece youths by promising them jobs abroad through wrong means and by forging documents, the Union home ministry has now directed the Punjab government and the Chandigarh administration to keep a strict watch on 14 agents operating in the region. The agents, some of whom are women, belong to Chandigarh, Khanna, Hoshiarpur, Sangrur and Nawanshahr. "The abduction of Sukhdev, Antaryami and Tilak Raj has finally forced the government to act. All three were sent abroad by dubious travel agents. While new agents and sub-agents are sprouting every day, the fact that the Centre has realised the gravity of the problem by identifying at least some of them signifies that the problem of human trafficking has to be dealt with sternly," a senior officer said. Enquiries revealed that apart from the abductions in Iraq, the death of two truck drivers also played a major role in identifying agents who are believed to be operating in Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Another revelation which has alarmed the Centre concerns a case in which at least 106 people were sent abroad on forged papers by travel agents in alleged connivance with the city's protector of immigrants. The CBI has thrice raided the office of the protector of immigrants in the recent past. Police sources said six travel agents and two employees of the office have been booked. END TEXT. ¶3. (U) Published December 11, 2004 by Greek International English-language Kathermini: TITLE: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Three drown, one missing off Samos BEGIN TEXT: Samos coast guards yesterday recovered the bodies of three Afghan illegal immigrants who drowned off the island after their boat sank before dawn. Another 13 migrants believed to have been on the same wooden boat that had set sail from Turkey were detained. Among them is a Turk thought to be the group's smuggler. One more migrant was yesterday still missing. The coast guard was alerted to the sinking by two passengers who swam to shore. END TEXT. ¶4. (U) Published December 7, 2004 by Reuters News: TITLE: PAKISTAN: Civil Society Role Central to combat human trafficking BEGIN TEXT: LAHORE, 6 December (IRIN) - Given the lack of economic and human resources in Pakistan, civil society should shoulder the responsibility of reducing human trafficking by developing skills and employment opportunities in general, and for victims in particular, anti-trafficking activists say. "Combating human trafficking in Pakistan should be located within the larger context of underlying social and economic problems and lower status of women," Abid Gulzar, acting national executive secretary of the Rome- based international charity, Caritas Pakistan, told IRIN in the eastern city of Lahore, capital of Punjab province. Some 310 cases have been registered under the anti- trafficking law in Lahore alone since it was promulgated in 2002, according to the Lahore chapter of country's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). "At present, traffickers are employing all three routes of land, air and sea," Tehseen Anwar Ali, deputy director at FIA Lahore, told the delegates at a seminar arranged by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The IOM is holding a series of seminars across the country under its ongoing project, entitled: "Development of a Conceptual Framework and Strategies to Combat Trafficking" to help develop a national strategy to combat human trafficking. The two-year programme, comprising stakeholders from the governmental, intergovernmental and nongovernmental sectors, is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Ali noted that the trafficking in persons was being carried out in collaboration with some corrupt officials, primarily through airports and on the southern coastline between Karachi and Gwadar. Anti-trafficking activists stressed the need to address the root causes of trafficking through larger anti- poverty and anti-corruption frameworks, both at the national and global level. Direct support should be given to children at risk and their families through income generating activities, Gulzar maintained. Educational and vocational training opportunities for victims - especially girls who are often discriminated against in society due to their inferior status - should be prioritised as well, she noted. "We need to run a massive awareness raising campaign at all levels - from the village community to the shop floor, involving both electronic and print media - aimed at preventing people falling into the hands of traffickers," Gulzar said. The country's migration and anti-trafficking authorities also stressed the need to enhance regional cooperation with India, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and Bangladesh on trafficking issues. "Steps should be taken for elimination of trafficking through better migration management in the region and the protection of migrant rights as mentioned in the 'Bangkok declaration of 1999'," Rashid Ahmed Mughal, director at Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, said. Bangkok Declaration on Irregular Migration adopted in 1999 gives particular attention to regional cooperation on irregular/undocumented migration. Meanwhile, anti-trafficking activists urge law enforcement agencies, legislators, litigators, religious leaders and educators to take active part in curbing tragic enslavement of millions of innocent people, particularly women and children. END TEXT. ¶5. (U) Published December 6 by Russian news service Interfax: TITLE: ANKARA. (Interfax) - Russia and Turkey have promised to boost joint efforts aimed at countering terrorism. BEGIN FBIS TRANSLATED TEXT: "The parties confirm their readiness to jointly combat terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, smuggling, drug trafficking, illegal migration, trafficking in humans and organized crime in compliance with existing bilateral and multilateral international treaties and agreements," reads a joint declaration signed by the Russian and Turkish presidents on Monday. "[Russia and Turkey] condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and underscore the need to expand joint measures to combat it," the document reads. END TEXT. [Description of Source: Moscow Interfax -- non- government information agency known for its aggressive reporting, extensive economic coverage, and good coverage of Russia's regions]