INTERNATIONAL TIP EXPERTS DISCUSS BEST PRACTICES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 000414

SIPDIS

EUR/SE FOR MELLINGER/PARENTE, EUR/PGI FOR BUCKNEBURG, G/TIP
FOR DONNELLY, INL/HSTC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KWMN CVIS GR TIP
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL TIP EXPERTS DISCUSS BEST PRACTICES
WITH LOCAL NGOS, GOG

REF: A. ATHENS 328


B. 04 ATHENS 3110

C O R R E C T I O N - - THIS CABLE REPLACES ATHENS 413


1. (U) SUMMARY: The International Organization for Migration
(IOM),the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Hellenic Aid
Division, and Embassy Athens co-organized a January 24
roundtable that brought together local NGOs with
international TIP experts who were in Athens for a separate
business community roundtable on TIP (Ref A). The NGOs
shared their experiences fighting TIP in Greece and the
experienced international panel offered both concrete
suggestions and warm encouragement. Also on the margins of
the international conference, OSCE Special Representative on
TIP Helga Konrad held a full slate of TIP meetings with
numerous GoG and NGOs reps. The two events were yet another
benefit of Athens hosting the international roundtable: "The
Business Community Against the Trafficking of Human Beings."
END SUMMARY.

Local NGOs Share Challenges
--------------

2. (U) IOM, Hellenic Aid, and post took advantage of having
anti-TIP experts in Athens for the "End Human Trafficking
Now!" conference to hold a domestically focused discussion
with Greek NGOs at IOM's Athens HQs. The NGOs candidly
discussed the challenges they face, including inadequate
resources, lack of protocols with law enforcement in
practice, and dealing with Greek society's negative view of
TIP victims:

--Nea Zoi, a U.S.-based and funded evangelical NGO that
supports and tries to remove people from prostitution,
described the difficulties in working with increasing numbers
of Nigerian prostitutes under self-described "voodoo curses"
and in desperate economic situations.

--KEPAD/Human Rights Defense Center discussed their
coordination of the "Ariadne Network" of anti-TIP NGOs
(www.ariadnet.net)

--ARSIS/The Association for the Social Support of Youth,
which aims to prevent marginalization and socio-economic
exclusion of children, told an anecdote of a special
prosecutor for children not providing a legal guardian for a
potential child TIP victim.

--Social Aid of Hellas, which tries to improve living
conditions of "socially-excluded groups" (including TIP
victims) through social and material support, distributed an
(out-of-date) multi-lingual anti-TIP informational leaflet,
an initiative of the Galatsi Group (a gathering of Greek
anti-TIP NGOs which meets on an informal basis).

--Also present was Faros Elpidas, a faith-based organization
that carries out relief work in Africa.

Experts Offer Constructive Ideas to Move Forward
-------------- ---

3. (U) Responding to the NGOs, Melanne Verveer, Chair of the
U.S.-based NGO Vital Voices told NGOs reps to capitalize on
the momentum of the international conference where she was a
presenter, especially since one third of the Greek cabinet
attended. She suggested, "With the government's commitment
to working on this issue, it is a great opportunity to show
your work and to ask for more collaboration and assistance."
Richard Danziger, IOM's head of anti-trafficking programs and
also a presenter at the international conference, agreed with
NGOs that the Africans are being increasingly trafficked into
all of Europe, highlighting that the lack of infrastructure
and support for returned victims in many African countries,
notably Nigeria, makes prevention and victim reintegration
even more difficult. Danziger also mentioned the growing and
mysterious trend of unaccompanied Chinese minors who arrive
in Europe with cell phones, cash, and no apparent travel
plans, then disappear from the authorities' hands. To combat
this, one suggestion was to annotate minors' Schengen Visas
with the accompanying guardian's information, as is sometimes
done with minors' U.S. visas. Wenchi Yu Perkins from Vital
Voices shared that the U.S. has similar experiences of
insufficient resources for its anti-TIP NGOs and authorities
have difficulty identifying and protecting TIP victims, but
she shared details of the immigration relief (T Visa) that is
available to TIP victims in the U.S. She discussed the
commonalities between protection of victims of domestic
violence and TIP, the increasing trend of TIP within marriage
(as seen in Greece),and foreign brides tolerating domestic
violence for fear of losing their residence permits and/or
children.

OSCE Special TIP Rep Explores Greek TIP Scene
--------------

4. (U) Also in town for the international conference, OSCE
Special TIP Representative Helga Konrad had a separate, full
schedule of meetings with members of the GoG's
Interminsterial Committee on TIP, a number of Greek NGOs, and
independent experts such as the Deputy Ombudsman for Human
Rights. Prior to her meetings, poloff shared with Konrad
Greece's latest anti-TIP progress, including a draft of the
Memorandum of Cooperation signed with NGOs (Ref B),details
of the new reflection period, and a non-paper summary of the
2005 TIP Action Plan for Greece (Note: The USG "benchmarks."
End Note.) Following Konrad's many meetings, her advisor
Liliana Sorrentino told poloff that the OSCE delegation found
the GoG to be "open to cooperation," and "ready to move
forward on a number of issues," such as the implementation of
the reflection period and revision of legislation.
Sorrentino said OSCE plans to "maintain a close dialogue"
with the Greek authorities during this "crucial" first round
of work.


5. COMMENT: The opportunity to add international expertise
to Greece's TIP program was an unexpected dividend coming out
of Ref A conference, but one we -- and Greece -- took
advantage of fully. The Greek NGO discussion is another
example of improved cooperation between the GoG and NGOs,
with the assistance of IOM. While the turnout was a bit
limited (only five dedicated NGO reps braved Athens' worst
snowstorm in several years),the participants agreed that the
ensuing collegial discussion was possibly more productive
than a large gathering would have been. Also encouraging was
the positive readout of Konrad's range of meetings with Greek
officials on TIP.
RIES