Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ANKARA589
2005-02-02 11:49:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

TURKEY: FIFTH ANNUAL TIP REPORT: PROTECTION

Tags:  KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB TU TIP IN TURKEY 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000589 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, INL/CTR, DRL, PRM, IWI
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/PGI
DEPARTMENT FOR USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB TU TIP IN TURKEY
SUBJECT: TURKEY: FIFTH ANNUAL TIP REPORT: PROTECTION

REF: SECSTATE 273089

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000589

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, INL/CTR, DRL, PRM, IWI
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/PGI
DEPARTMENT FOR USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB TU TIP IN TURKEY
SUBJECT: TURKEY: FIFTH ANNUAL TIP REPORT: PROTECTION

REF: SECSTATE 273089


1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly.


2. (U) Post's responses are keyed to questions in Reftel A.
This is part 4 of 4 (septel).


Protection and Assistance to Victims
--------------


A. (U) The GOT issued 26 humanitarian visas to allow victims
to remain in the country for rehabilitation, medical care,
and legal assistance. The humanitarian visas carry a
six-month residence permit and the option to extend for an
additional one month. Most victims, however, choose to return
to their country of origin, according to shelter
psychotherapist Serra Akkaya, who counsels victims at the
shelter. Victims were not required to pay normal departure
fees or fines and the GOT did not take steps to bar re-entry
to Turkey.

Foreign women detained for illegal sex work are routinely
screened for sexually transmitted diseases. Victims of
trafficking, however, are given the choice to seek free of
charge psychological and medical attention, coordinated by
HRDF and/or IOM, at any point after they are referred to the
NGOs. In one extreme example, a victim who survived a jump
from the sixth floor of an apartment building in September,
is confined to a hospital where she receives continuing
treatment valued at tens of thousands of USDs. Once in the
shelter, victims may also seek legal services.

According to IOM and HRDF, the GOT has halted its past
practice of summarily deporting victims of trafficking,
referring victims instead to the HRDF shelter in Istanbul or,
when unavailable, providing other housing arrangements. By
late January 2005, more than thrity-two women were treated at
the Istanbul shelter with another twenty to thirty victims
waiting for access at any given time. IOM notes that many
victims may have possession of their travel documents when
they are rescued. In these cases, victims often choose to
return directly home or to an NGO in the source country.



B. (U) In September 2003, the GOT signed an anti-TIP protocol
with HRDF (see para D in the Prevention section) that
includes shelters. No other Turkish NGOs currently provide
such services. The GOT paid membership dues to IOM totaling
152,000 Swiss Francs. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality
directly finances rent and overhead costs for HRDF's shelter
in Istanbul. The GOT, in partnership with Turk Telecom,
financed set-up and monthly charges for the HRDF-administered
hotline for victims of trafficking.


C. (U) IOM and HRDF say the sharp increase in victims
identified in 2004 (more than two hundred in 2004 vice two in
2003) substantiates police claims that they screen victims
regularly. Since January 1, 2005, IOM says victim referrals
for voluntary repatriations average about one per day.
Jandarma and IOM participated in numerous training programs
focusing on treatment of victims. IOM and HRDF note that
police are "much more sensitive to trafficking issues" and
that they "ask the right questions", a direct result of the
training and the GOT's stepped-up TIP agenda. IOM is also
organizing an April 2005 training conference for source
country consular officers.


D. (U) The GOT claims, and IOM and HRDF independently
confirm, that law enforcement authorities have halted the
practice of summary deportation of victims. Instead, victims
are immediately referred to HRDF for a case-by-case review.
Officials note that many victims do not wish to remain in
Turkey, in which case the GOT, IOM and HRDF cooperate to
expedite the victims' safe return. Victims are not jailed,
fined for visa overstays, or barred from reentry. Victims
are not prosecuted for prostitution, narcotics, or other laws
that would apply to non-victims.

In September 2004, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said
nearly half a million illegal migrants were deported from
Turkey within the previous five years. Aksu noted that, over
the same period, about 3000 smugglers had been arrested. It
is a long-standing police practice to deport illegal
migrants, and foreign women detained for illegal
prostitution. In the past, subjects of most such cases are
generally deported within two weeks of detention. In a
survey of victims referred to the Istanbul shelter, only one
victim complained that police had mistreated her.


E. (U) The introduction of humanitarian visas, residency
permits, and the shelter for victims of trafficking has
cleared the way for victims to seek medical, legal, and
social services. Victims have also begun to cooperate with
police to seek action against their traffickers. In one case
described by HRDF Executive Director Demet Gural, an Azeri
victim of trafficking refused to provide any details about
her traffickers or the network of forced prostitution into
which she was sold. In three weeks at the shelter, however,
the woman reportedly developed "a sense of security and
confidence in HRDF staff and police investigators",
ultimately volunteering to return to Corum, Turkey, and lead
investigators to her traffickers. According to IOM Ankara's
Countertrafficking Program Coordinator Meltem Ersoy, the
victim identified at least one of the traffickers and
provided written testimony to her police escorts. Police
arrested the trafficker and recovered the victim's passport.
IOM repatriated the victim days later. The case demonstrated
a so-far effective system of cooperation between law
enforcement officials and victims' assistance NGOs. Gural
told us, "All through this process, the police cooperation
was excellent. Police in both Ankara and Istanbul did
whatever we asked them to do, including safely escorting the
victim for her last visit to Corum."


F. (U) We have no evidence that the GOT provides protection,
beyond the Istanbul shelter, to victims or witnesses of any
crimes, including trafficking in humans. The government
currently operates one shelter in Istanbul, though plans are
underway at the MFA to open NGO-supported shelters in Ankara,
Antalya, Izmir, Trabzon and Van. Currently, the Istanbul
Municipality funds the rent for the shelter facilities and
provides the national hotline free of charge.

G. (U) See para G in Investigation and Prosecution section.


H. (U) With the exception of one Turkish citizen victim
currently refusing voluntary repatriation to Turkey, we have
no evidence that Turkey qualifies as a significant source
country. Turkey does however, provide assistance such as
medical aid, shelter, and financial help to internally
trafficked victims.


I. (U) The International Organization for Migration works
with trafficking victims in Turkey and in the majority of
source countries. Through its partnership with IOM and the
GOT, the Human Resources Development Foundation (HRDF)
coordinates shelter, medical services, psychological and
legal counseling, and repatriation services in both Turkey
and the source country. Both IOM and HRDF highly complement
the cooperation and support they receive from the GOT.
EDELMAN