TIP: GOVT. OF SLOVENIA PAYS NGO FOR WORK AND PLANS

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000847 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR EUR/NCE, G/TIP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL SI SUBJECT: TIP: GOVT. OF SLOVENIA PAYS NGO FOR WORK AND PLANS TO ISSUE A TENDER FOR FUTURE ASSISTANCE. REF: A. LJUBLJANA 593 ¶B. LJUBLJANA 523 ¶C. LJUBLJANA 247 ¶D. LJUBLJANA 118 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: After nearly 12 months of promises, and regular and persistent inquiries from the Embassy, the GOS has finally committed to paying the anti-trafficking NGO Kljuc for the shelter and other services it has provided to trafficking victims in 2005. For 2006, the GOS plans to issue a tender for victim care services. It has assured post that Kljuc may participate. We are not certain, however, that Kljuc can recover from the funding drought it experienced this year. At least one other NGO, Karitas, has been mentioned as a possible bidder for the project, however, it is not clear if there exist in Slovenia any competent alternatives to Kljuc in the field of trafficking in victims. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Following up on his meeting with the Minister of Interior (Ref B) and DCM's meeting with the Director General of the MFA (Ref A),COM sent a letter to Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Labor, and Justice on September 20 expressing the USG's deep concern about Slovenia's ability to protect trafficking victims in light of the NGO Kljuc's financial difficulties. Kljuc is almost entirely dependent on government funds for its operations. COM also raised our concerns in his November 8 lunch with Prime Minister Jansa. Responses from both the MFA and the Minister of Interior indicated that the GOS was on the verge of a solution to the problem of how to care for trafficking victims - which seems now, finally, to be the case. ¶3. (SBU) According to the national TIP coordinator, Sandi Curin, Kljuc must provide the GOS with all receipts related to its work with trafficking victims and the GOS will then reimburse them. To date, only a partial reimbursement has taken place. This lack of funding has resulted in the decimation of Kljuc's ranks and a severe diminution of its ability to provide services. By the end of this year, 60% of Kljuc staff will have been terminated including the president, Katujsa Kodele Kos, who will nonetheless stay on in her position on a volunteer basis. Kljuc will be able to keep some of its programs going including its crisis hotline available for trafficking victims as well as victims of domestic violence. It will also continue to do work in the area of reintegration of victims to society. It will, however, fully divest itself of victim safety responsibilities. According to Kodele Kos, Kljuc will sell its safe-house purchased originally with EU funds, and it will cancel its leases on other safe-house apartments. According to Kljuc, 10 potential victims of trafficking were not offered the use of the safe-house because of a lack of financial resources this year. Six potential victims, however, were given psycho-social counseling by Kljuc staff. ¶4. (SBU) The GOS has said that for 2006 it will issue a public tender seeking victim protection services, and it hopes that several NGOs will apply. Among these, Karitas has been mentioned several times. Karitas currently provides services for victims of domestic violence. Discussions with other members of the NGO community dealing with trafficking are concerned that while well intentioned, Karitas may not posses the specific expertise needed to effectively and confidentially deal with trafficking victims. The tender SIPDIS will be managed by the Ministry of Labor, where it was earlier reported (Ref B) that the position of national coordinator for anti-TIP activities would also be relocated. It is not clear if Sandi Curin will remain with the Ministry of Interior in another position or if he will be transferred to the Ministry of Labor to continue his coordinating duties from there. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: The clumsy handling by the GOS of its concerns about a potential conflict of interest (Ref B) between the president of the NGO Kljuc and (her husband) the head of the besieged anti-corruption commission had a detrimental effect on Slovenia's ability to successfully deal with trafficking in persons in 2005. We are encouraged, however, that after nearly five months of dormancy, the inter-ministerial working group on trafficking in human beings has begun meeting again in earnest. This shot of adrenaline comes directly from the MFA. We will continue to work through the MFA and directly with other ministries to ensure that Slovenia gets its program back on track with the goal of earning Tier 1 status. End Comment. ROBERTSON NNNN