ISRAEL: SIXTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TEL AVIV 000915 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR G/TIP: GAYATRI PATEL; NEA/IPA: JOSHUA DAVIS; NEA/RA: JOHN MENARD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB IS ISRAELI SOCIETY GOI INTERNAL SUBJECT: ISRAEL: SIXTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT (1 OF 4) REF: A. SECSTATE 03836 ¶B. TEL AVIV 596 ¶1. (SBU) This cable forms the first part of a four-part message in response to reftel A. Embassy point of contact is poloff James Miller, phone (972)3-519-7437, fax (972)3-519-7484. Poloff spent approximately 120 hours in preparation of TIP report; deputy polcouns spent six hours, polcouns spent six hours, DCM spent two hours, and Ambassador spent two hours. The Government of Israel (GOI) has provided for the past four years extensive written answers to post's questions about its efforts to combat trafficking. This year the GOI provided the answers on March 1, 2006. The responses in this cable draw from these answers, from a series of prior meetings with GOI officials, from meetings with and reports by NGO representatives, and from press reports. -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) OVERVIEW OF ISRAEL,S ACTIVITIES TO ELIMINATE TIP -------------- -------------- -- A. Is the country a country of origin, transit, or destination for international trafficked men, women, or children? Israel is a country of destination for victims of TIP, primarily for the purpose of prostitution, according to statistics compiled by the GOI and NGOs. NGOs claimed that some employers forced adult laborers who entered the country, both legally and illegally, to live under conditions that constituted trafficking, but presented no evidence of the trafficking of children. GOI officials acknowledge that Israel's population of foreign workers sometimes suffers from exploitative work conditions, failure to pay proper wages, and physical and emotional abuse, and that some employers trafficked foreign workers, especially from China and Thailand. -- Specify numbers for each group; how they were trafficked, to where, and for what purpose. -- Sex Trafficking: According to local NGOs, during 2005 traffickers brought between 1,000 and 3,000 women into the country to serve as prostitutes. The government reported that 60 trafficking victims resided in the "Maagan" Shelter, and an additional 130 trafficking victims stayed in the detention facilities. The government estimates that at least 682 more women in the detention centers met the minimum criteria the GOI applies to identify likely trafficking victims, even if they did not so admit, including place of entry (Egyptian border),age (between 15 and 30 years old), and place of origin (former Soviet Union Republics). Police intelligence sources report that during 2005 the number of women trafficked into Israel decreased significantly, due to the closure of many brothels, stiffer sentences for traffickers, and increased police vigilance at the borders. NGOs concur that the number of victims appears to have decreased, but question the extent of the decrease. NGOs claim that many traffickers shifted victims from open brothels to private apartments and escort agencies, a move that makes it difficult to identify victims and to estimate accurately the numbers of victims. Some police investigators also questioned the purported decrease. Police contacts reported that the Israeli National Police (INP) concentrates its anti-trafficking resources in Tel Aviv; Jerusalem commands the second most police resources to combat trafficking, but fewer than Tel Aviv; police in Haifa operate with even fewer resources than Jerusalem; and the rest of the country has fewer still. According to police sources, traffickers have responded to this imbalanced distribution of police resources by moving their victims to suburban areas and to small- and medium-sized cities, where it is hard to estimate the extent of the problem. According to the GOI, most victims come from the former Soviet Union, primarily from Uzbekistan, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia. The GOI and NGOs maintain that Uzbekistan has become the leading source country, based on police intelligence data and information about the nationalities of women that the GOI deports. Traffickers send the women to brothels or private apartments to serve as prostitutes. To bring the women into the country, traffickers use a variety of methods, including false documents and fraudulent claims of Jewish identity, to enter through Israel,s ports and airports. Police and NGOs claim but do not provide conclusive evidence that most often the traffickers transport women illicitly through Israel,s desert border with Egypt. NGOs also say that some enter through Ben Gurion airport, and others through the ports. -- Labor Trafficking: The GOI claims, although it does not maintain or provide reliable statistics, that trafficking for the purpose of labor is not a widespread problem. In its official anti-trafficking report, the government states that "there are cases of abuse of foreign workers, but they do not amount to trafficking, except in very extreme cases (estimated at 15-20 per year)." Often police and immigration authorities categorize trafficked workers who come to their attention as illegal foreign workers, unless, as in rare cases, the workers take legal action against their traffickers. In 2005, the the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor (ITL Ministry) issued 78,719 permits for employment of foreign workers. In addition, the GOI estimates that between 50,000 and 70,000 illegal foreign workersresided in Israel during the year, and government officials claim that very few of those have been trafficked. Two NGOs claim that approximately 200,000 foreign workers live in Israel and that 20 percent of these have been trafficked into Israel (approximately 16,000 to 20,000 people),although these NGOs do not provide evidence to support their claim. Former Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Workers Committee, MK Ran Cohen, stated in February 2005, "To talk of one hundred cases of trafficking in human beings, or of abuse and coercion and debasement and exploitation, is ridiculous. Indeed thousands of workers in Israel are working, when there is actually someone out there in China or Bulgaria, or somewhere else, that extorted them before they even got here... and here they are in effect being held hostage for the monies they owe. There are thousands of cases here." GOI data indicate that foreign workers come primarily from China, Romania, Jordan and Turkey (construction sector); Thailand (agricultural sector); the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and India (care giving sector). NGOs, and the daily newspaper Maariv, allege that Israeli and foreign traffickers lured approximately 400 foreign workers to the country with promises of jobs that proved non-existent; one NGO reports that all of the Nepalese and Chinese nationals in the nursing care sector whom the NGO's representatives met in the detention centers found themselves in this situation. Some foreign workers reportedly paid up to $10,000 (45,000 NIS) to employment agencies for work visas. These fees are illegal under Israeli law. According to NGOs, employers dismissed approximately 1500 workers workers shortly after arriving. Allegedly, some Israeli manpower companies responsible for recruiting foreign workers cooperated with authorities to deport the newly arrived workers, who were then replaced by others, earning the companies additional fees for the new workers. NGOs note that most workers expected to work for the two-year duration of their visas in order to recoup their initial payments. Dismissed foreign workers who avoided deportation often sought illegal employment, where they became even more vulnerable to other forms of abuse from employers, such as withholding their passports, limiting their movement, and forced them to work and live in inhumane conditions. NGOs claimed that traffickers smuggled into Israel an increasing number of workers, among them minors. Between March 2005 and February 2006, NGOs found 55 minors in the immigrant detention centers. Israeli law makes it very difficult for foreign workers to change employers. Human rights groups claim that since foreign worker visas tie them to a specific employer, even legal foreign workers had little influence on their work conditions. The law does not permit foreign workers to obtain citizenship or permanent residence status unless they are Jewish. -- Does the trafficking occur within the country's borders? According to GOI and NGO contacts, trafficking of Israelis or other legal residents of Israel or the occupied territories does not occur within the country's borders. Evidence presented in court cases suggests that pimps sometimes "sell" foreign women trafficked into Israel for prostitution to other pimps within Israel. NGOs allege that manpower agencies and employers sometimes sell or lend their trafficked foreign workers to other agencies or employers. -- Does it occur in territory outside of the government's control (e.g. in a civil war situation)? The GOI controls the entirety of Israel. -- Are any estimates or reliable numbers available as to the extent or magnitude of the problem? Please include any numbers of victims. What is (are) the source(s) of available information on trafficking in persons or what plans are in place (if any) to undertake documentation of trafficking? How reliable are the numbers and these sources? The figures cited above are generally reliable, although the government and NGOs differ in their estimates. To determine their estimates, NGOs do not compile specific data, but rely instead on largely anecdotal evidence drawn from interviews and observation. The GOI relies primarily on data collected by the INP, including the Border Police, as well as intelligence sources, the Knesset Committee on Trafficking in Persons, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor, and the Immigration Administration (IA). (Note: The GOI established the Immigration Administration in September 2002. End note.) -- Are certain groups of persons more at risk of being trafficked (e.g. women and children, boys versus girls, certain ethnic groups, refugees, etc.)? Foreign women are at risk of being trafficked into Israel for the purpose of prostitution. The government maintains that Chinese workers are at risk, since traffickers have defrauded and abused them in the past. NGOs claim that male and female Filipino and Thai workers are also at risk, as traffickers have brought them into Israel under conditions that constitute forced labor. -- B. Please provide a general overview of the trafficking situation in the country and any changes since the last TIP Report (e.g. changes in direction). -- Sex Trafficking: Israeli police claim that trafficking of persons for prostitution is decreasing, due in part to the closure of numerous brothels and the deterrent effect of longer sentences for traffickers. NGOs and some police officers assert that two new patterns have emerged: the movement of traffickers and their victims from brothels into private apartments, and from major urban areas to smaller cities and suburbs. GOI and NGO data indicate that Uzbekistan continues to be the number one source country for victims of trafficking for sex/prostitution. -- Labor Trafficking: No reliable data documents the scale of labor trafficking, and NGOs and the GOI differ in their estimates of the problem. NGOs argue, with support from some public officials, including Members of Knesset, that the number of trafficked workers has increased. Of those workers identified as trafficking victims, most still come from China, the Philippines and Thailand. -- What kind of conditions are the victims trafficked into? What methods are used to move the victims (e.g., are false documents being used?). -- Sex Trafficking: NGOs claim that most women enter Israel through the border with Egypt and hence do not need false documents. Those who enter through Ben Gurion Airport, NGOs aver, often claim false Jewish identity, which, under the &Law of Return,8 enables them to obtain automatic citizenship. According to the GOI, most victims recently trafficked for prostitution now work in apartments and escort agencies, although NGO workers report that many women still work in brothels. Each woman services an average of five to seven clients a day, according to the GOI. The GOI also claims that prostitutes in the apartments (whether living and working in the same place, or traveling to visit clients, apartments) experience better conditions than do prostitutes in brothels. As a rule, the GOI reports, the women live in pairs in apartments, and receive better wages. NGOs say that traffickers and pimps threaten the lives and safety of victims, as well as of relatives the victims have left in their countries of origin. Many brothels have barred windows and other security measures to prevent escape. Reports from NGOs and the GOI indicate that when trafficking victims are permitted to leave the premises, they usually do so under the supervision of the pimp or his associates. In those cases where pimps permit victims to leave the brothel, the victims, lack of fluency in Hebrew, combined with the threats against their families, deters them from going to the police. -- Labor Trafficking: Most trafficked workers enter Israel legally with valid work visas, NGOs claim, unaware of the conditions that await them. Some enter Israel as tourists and work illegally when they find a job, according to NGOs and the GOI. Some employers forced individual laborers who entered the country, both legally and illegally, to live under conditions that constituted trafficking. Taking advantage of debt bondage and the restricted mobility of foreign laborers, some employers coerced workers into accepting inhumane working conditions through confiscation of documents, confinement, threats of deportation, and physical abuse. Journalists and NGOs documented several cases of migrant workers living in harsh conditions, subjected to debt bondage, restricted in their movements, and lured to Israel under false pretexts regarding their work terms and legal status. NGOs report that some employers withheld a portion of workers' salaries as a guarantee that the workers will comply with employer demands. -- Which populations are targeted by the traffickers? Who are the traffickers? What methods are used to approach victims? (Are they offered lucrative jobs, sold by their families, approached by friends of friends, etc.?) -- Sex trafficking: Israel is not a country of origin, according to the GOI and NGOs, and available evidence supports this claim. According to the GOI, small-scale international crime groups conduct most if not all of the trafficking in persons in Israel, and most criminals involved in trafficking are immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Some NGOs believe, however, that individual freelancers, as well as small groups that work in cooperation with freelance agents and organizations in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, comprise most of the traffickers. Evidence from police and court records indicates that Israeli Bedouin play a part in smuggling women across the border from Egypt. In some cases, NGOs aver, traffickers lure women by offering them service sector jobs. NGOs claim while traffickers employ a wide variety of such recruitment ploys, most often women know they will serve as prostitutes in Israel, but traffickers mislead them about the pay and conditions. -- Labor trafficking: NGOs charge that some employment/manpower agencies engage in activities that meet the definition of labor trafficking. The GOI maintains, however, that government officials have not seen evidence that Israeli employment, travel and tourism agencies or marriage brokers facilitate trafficking. Available evidence does not indicate that government officials are involved in trafficking. For more information about this issue, please see responses, below, to question C, and to question L in the section on investigation and prosecution of traffickers. -- Also briefly explain the political will to address trafficking in persons. During 2005, the government continued its good faith and collaborative efforts to fight TIP, according to the GOI and NGOs, and built on policies it adopted in previous years. NOTE: Prior annual reports detail further evidence of GOI determination to fight TIP. END NOTE. -- Sex trafficking: Post provides below an overview of the government,s demonstrated political will to combat sex trafficking. Prevention In October, the MFA re-established an inter-ministerial committee to address trafficking in persons for the purposes of prostitution and labor. The committee draws members from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Interior, Industry Trade and Labor, Social Affairs, as well as the Police and the IA. The committee has met three times since its inception and has begun to prepare preliminary recommendations for the Directors General Committee charged with leading Israel,s anti-trafficking efforts. During the year, according to the GOI, cooperation between government agencies and NGOs working on the TIP issue improved and expanded. The GOI invited NGOs to help train government officials to fight trafficking. GOI,s de facto inter-agency TIP coordinator, who works in the Ministry of Justice (MOJ),collaborated with the Israel Defense Force (IDF) to introduce an informational article on trafficking in women in the IDF,s monthly circular. A representative of the IDF Education Corps also worked with the coordinator and NGOs to begin developing anti-trafficking seminars and lectures for IDF soldiers. The GOI provided evidence of its increased efforts to identify victims of sex trafficking in detention centers. As part of a pilot program, officials in the IA solicited input from various government agencies and NGOs to create a questionnaire that assists in identifying trafficking victims among detained illegal residents. Officials distributed the questionnaire to women in the country,s three immigration detention facilities. Also, judges of the Tribunal for Detention Review, which adjudicates the status of alleged illegal residents, have begun to identify victims of trafficking. They received a two-day seminar on trafficking in June, and, in cooperation with officials at the IA, the MOJ, and the INP, instituted a referral procedure to send suspected sex trafficking victims directly to the shelter. Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers During 2005, the state attorney established guidelines stipulating that, in general, prosecutors should not take legal action against trafficking victims for offences the victims committed while being trafficked, even if the victims return to Israel several times. The deputy attorney general directed prosecutors to conduct a risk assessment for all illegal residents who raise substantial allegations that they or their families may face danger if returned to their countries of origin, regardless of their status as a state witness. In November, a comprehensive law to forbid all forms of trafficking passed its first reading (of three) in the Knesset, a crucial step on the way to becoming a law. The Knesset passed a law in April that gives the police and the courts the authority to limit the use of properties that previously served as brothels if there is a reasonable basis to suspect that they will continue to serve that purpose. The GOI also submitted an amendment to the Courts Law to the Knesset, which allows one judge, instead of a bench of three judges, to hear criminal trials regarding trafficking in persons. This amendment aims to expedite trafficking cases, as in the past the necessity to convene three judges consistently caused delays. It has also passed its first reading. The Courts Administration issued guidelines enjoining judges to expedite trafficking cases. Also, as a result of coordinated international police efforts during the year, several governments extradited individuals to Israel on charges of trafficking in persons (for further details about these extraditions, please see response, below, to question H in the section on the prosecution and investigation of traffickers.) Assistance to victims During the year, the government or a constituent element thereof transferred 46 women to the government-run shelter, 36 of whom agreed to testify against their traffickers. Israeli law stipulates that victim testimony must be taken within two months of the indictment of suspected traffickers. Chief Justice of the Tel Aviv District Court Justice Edna Beckenstein told post that she and all the judges under her authority strictly adhere to this law. The government reported that during the year victims waited an average of two months, in all court districts, from the time of filing the indictment until the first court hearing. The Director of the Courts Administration also appointed a judge in the Tel Aviv District Court to be responsible for hearing the testimony of trafficking victims. The government also made progress during the year in assisting victims by obtaining more resident visas than previously, and helping more victims to find jobs in the framework of the shelter program. The state-funded &Legal Aid8 program based in the MOJ helped women in the shelter to apply for visas, protect their privacy, file civil suits, and communicate with prosecutors in criminal cases. The Ministry of Social Welfare funded the shelter to provide women psychological and psychiatric counseling and extensive medical care. In addition, the courts awarded more victims financial compensation for the crimes committed against them (for more details about financial compensation, please see response, below, to question E in the section on protection and assistance to victims). The de facto coordinator continued to help individual trafficking victims. -- Labor trafficking: Post provides below an overview of the government,s demonstrated political will to combat labor trafficking. Prevention The Knesset has made significant progress toward passing legislation that will prohibit all forms of trafficking, including for the purpose of labor exploitation. Currently, Israeli law prohibits trafficking only for the purpose of prostitution. The government,s re-established inter-ministerial committee to fight trafficking combines, for the first time, officials with expertise in both sex and labor trafficking. In addition, the GOI has made significant strides toward implementing a pilot program for recruiting foreign workers that is designed to prevent trafficking. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) agreed to facilitate the pilot program in Thailand, where the GOI will grant IOM exclusive authority in recruiting, selecting and preparing Thai laborers who seek to work in Israel. GOI officials say the program ran into last-minute delays when the Government of Thailand proved unable to sign the agreement. The GOI hopes to launch the program in 2006. NGOs claim that the GOI played a part in causing the program,s delay by refusing to sign a bilateral agreement with Thailand about the employment of foreign workers, insisting instead that the Thai government and IOM sign the agreement. A February 26, 2006 article in Haaretz also states that &the Foreign Ministry refused to join a treaty that the International Organization of (sic) Migration was ready to sign with the Government of Thailand.8 In addition, NGOs aver, the GOI neglected to approach other source countries about this program. In the meantime, GOI officials drafted in 2005 an official proclamation of workers, rights, which they then translated into 14 languages, distributed to manpower agencies and employers, posted in Israel,s immigrant detention centers, and displayed on the website of the ITL Ministry. Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers The INP, IA, and the ITL Ministry implemented during 2005 improvements in their efforts to prevent labor trafficking by more effectively monitoring and prosecuting employers and manpower companies that traffic or abuse foreign workers. In March 2004, in response to judicial criticism concerning protracted detention of foreign workers, the attorney general ordered that such workers be brought before the court within four days of arrest. The government generally honored the attorney general,s directive during 2005, according to the GOI and NGOs. The Prosecution Division of the ITL Ministry filed 206 criminal indictments in 2005 against employers of foreign workers, including manpower companies, for violations of the labor laws. While law enforcement agencies have successfully prosecuted employers for labor law violations, including for violations tantamount to trafficking, they have not severely penalized labor agencies for trafficking because trafficking for purposes other than prostitution is not illegal. NGOs maintain that a high deportation "a8 encourages the police to allocate far more resources to deporting workers than it does to investigating traffickers. NGOs also claim that the GOI has exacerbated labor trafficking in Israel by failing to enforce laws against accepting fees for foreign laborers, and by limiting the freedom of foreign workers to change employers. These two government actions lead to debt bondage for foreign workers who must tolerate appalling conditions in Israel to pay off the debt they acquired to get to Israel. NGOs noted that when investigators from the Crime Unit of the IA caught employers confiscating the passports of their foreign workers, the investigators most often merely instructed these employers to return the passports, rather than arresting or prosecuting the employers for breaking the law. Foreign workers who had informed the IA about this illegal practice then had to return to work for an angry employer who had broken the law with impunity. Assistance to Victims In May 2005, the government made a concerted effort to combat labor exploitation and trafficking in the construction sector. It launched a new system of employment for foreign workers at construction firms. The new system ties workers to manpower companies instead of their employers. The manpower companies pay the workers their salaries, and the construction firms pay the manpower companies for the service of the workers (the firms &rent8 the workers). The workers may change employers while working for the same manpower company, and they can also change manpower companies. The ITL Ministry has licensed 40 manpower companies to hire foreign construction workers, and has required each of them to post a bond of 4 million NIS to ensure the rights due to their workers; if the company fails to pay a worker, then the ITL Ministry can pay the worker by drawing on this bond. As part of this system, the ITL Ministry reports that it has also developed a mechanism for automatic payment for overtime work, ensuring that workers receive payment every month for 236 hours, regardless of how many hours they have actually worked. Ministry officials believe that this approach eliminates the possibility that a manpower company will not pay his workers for overtime hours, and stems from the realization that foreign workers tend to work many overtime hours and often do not receive the pay stipulated by law for those additional hours. In addition, the system requires manpower agencies to pay a special monthly deposit for employees over and above monthly wages, to be paid when an employee leaves the country. Ministry officials say they designed this bonus to serve as an incentive for foreign workers to leave when their visa expires; for each month beyond the expiration of their visas that workers remain in Israel, they lose a part of this bonus pay. Following an evaluation of this new system for the construction sector, GOI officials say they plan to implement it in all fields that employ foreign workers. NGOs report problems with this system, including the government,s failure to inform workers about the structure of the system and their rights within it. Workers face limitations in their ability to change employers, since construction firms often own the manpower companies and therefore refuse to send workers to rival construction firms. Workers may only change manpower company every three months, and hence must wait up to 12 weeks while continuing to work in sometimes intolerable conditions, say NGOs. The GOI appointed in July, 2005 an ombudswoman to investigate workers, complaints, and she has energetically advocated on behalf of workers. Between July 15 and December 31, 2005, the ombudswoman reports that she received 265 complaints; she has handled 178 of these complaints, and continues to examine ¶85. Workers in the construction sector who seek to change employer before the end of three months may appeal to the ombudswoman. She claims to have approved the requests of most workers who applied to change employers. NGOs noted, however, that she faced significant limitations: the GOI has failed to specify the ombudswoman,s responsibilities and budget, to publicize her availability, phone number, location, and office hours, and to provide her with translation services. In practice, the NGOs claim, the ombudswoman takes, on average, more than three months to process complaints, and she often requires NGOs to provide translation. -- C. What are the limitations on the government's ability to address this problem in practice? For example, is funding for police or other institutions inadequate? Is overall corruption a problem? Does the government lack the resources to aid victims? Available evidence indicates that official corruption in this sector is not a widespread problem. The government has limited financial and human resources available to combat TIP, in part due to the ongoing security threat and developments with the Palestinians, according to GOI sources. Disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank required an enormous expenditure of human, political and financial capital. INP sources claim funding for police and law enforcement has generally proved adequate, although some police officers maintain that the government does not direct enough INP resources to combating TIP. NGOs believe that the GOI could increase funding for the prevention of TIP in the country. NGOs pointed specifically to the failure of the GOI to fund the position of the GOI TIP coordinator and her assistant. (Note: The GOI has made strenuous efforts at budget reform, including adherence to limitations on the budget deficit, agreed to as part of the terms of the U.S. loan guarantees agreement. End note.) ********************************************* ******************** Visit Embassy Tel Aviv's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/telaviv You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website. ********************************************* ******************** JONES