GREECE PART 2: TIP REPORT SUBMISSION 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ATHENS 000502 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR EUR/SE, EUR/PGI, G/TIP, INL/HSTC, G, DRL, PRM, IWI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREL PREF ELAB GR SUBJECT: GREECE PART 2: TIP REPORT SUBMISSION 2007 REF: A. 2006 State 202745 The following is Sensitive but Unclassified. Please Protect Accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Below are Embassy Athens' responses to the 2007 TIP report questionnaire. Text is keyed to Ref A request for "Prevention" Section. This is the second of four cables. ¶2. (SBU) PREVENTION: -------------- -- A. Does the government acknowledge that trafficking is a problem in that country? If no, why not? The government, including high-ranking officials, publicly acknowledges that trafficking is a problem in Greece. -- B. Which government agencies are involved in anti- trafficking efforts and which agency, if any, has the lead? There are eight national ministries with responsibility for anti-trafficking efforts. Nine Secretaries General (SG) from those ministries comprise the Interministerial Committee on TIP, of which the SG of the Ministry of Justice is the president. The Ministry of: --Health (MOH) has responsibility for medical care for victims, operation of shelters, operation of a telephone hotline, coordination of repatriation program with IOM, and coordination of emergency services. --Public Order (MPO) has responsibility for TIP police task forces, conducting TIP raids, arresting traffickers, producing police reports as the basis for prosecutions, screening and identifying victims, and education of police. --Justice (MOJ) has responsibility for prosecutions, convictions, education of prosecutors and judges, assignment of prosecutors to TIP cases, amendment of the legislative framework and keeping a database on prosecution of trafficking crimes. Prosecutors have a special responsibility to formally grant (or deny) victim status. --Foreign Affairs (MFA) coordinates the diplomatic/NGO/GoG working group, coordinates and negotiates bilateral and multilateral agreements, such as the Child Repatriation Agreement with Albania, and acts as a liaison between interested parties. The spokesman of the Interministerial Committee on TIP is an MFA employee with the rank of ambassador. Hellenic Aid, a part of MFA, funds NGO and IO programs and shelters, provides legal aid to victims through NGO funding, funds training of police, judges and prosecutors, and is cooperating with USAID to contribute to the Transnational Action against Child Trafficking (TACT) program in Albania. --Interior (MOI) (including the SG for Gender Equality) has responsibility for amendment of the legislative framework regarding migration policy which includes residence permits and reflection periods, granting of residence permits, nationwide public awareness campaign, and vocational training, counseling, and social support for victims. --Education and Employment ministries have responsibility for education, vocational training, and job placement of victims. --Finance has responsibility for authorizing funding for TIP efforts. -- C. Are there, or have there been, government-run anti- trafficking information or education campaigns? If so, briefly describe the campaign(s),including their objectives and effectiveness. Do these campaigns target potential trafficking victims and/or the demand for trafficking (e.g. "clients" of prostitutes or beneficiaries of forced labor)? In 2006, the Secretariat General for Gender Equality (SGGE),under the MOI, completed a nationwide public awareness campaign on TIP. ATHENS 00000502 002 OF 005 The campaign is a 40-second television spot and an informational leaflet with the same visual theme. The message of campaign was designed to reach and impact "clients," victims, and citizens with a special focus on educating the general public about the TIP problem. The Secretary General of GE was personally involved in creating the television spot, which has powerful music and images, showing the phases of a young girl's life that lead her to become a victim of trafficking. After seeing and understanding the tragic story of the victim, the spot silently gives a simple message directed to all segments of society and the TIP problem: "THIS IS TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS. IT IS A CRIME. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO REVEAL IT." The National Greek Television and Radio Council agreed to air the ad for two months on three popular state television stations starting in March 2006. The ad is aired from time to time by some private TV channels on their own initiative. -- IOM and Hellenic Aid produced an information card in Greek, English, Romanian and Russian to alert potential victims to the law enforcement resources available to help them. The card is distributed at all check points to women entering Greece from specific countries. -- D. Does the government support other programs to prevent trafficking? (e.g., to promote women's participation in economic decision-making or efforts to keep children in school.) Please explain. The GoG continued cooperating with USAID in Albania through the TACT program. The GoG is allocating approximately $600,000 over three years. The Secretariat for Gender Equality and Hellenic Aid also support NGOs that carry out prevention work in source countries. The Greek Orthodox Church and its NGO Solidarity preach and campaign against trafficking and abuse in Orthodox parishes throughout Greece. The Church-funded NGO "Solidarity" in October 2005 constructed a shelter for TIP victims with funding from the MFA. Since that time, it reports that it receives no government funding. The shelter has good ongoing cooperation with law enforcement and prosecutors. In 2006, it provided assistance to 11 trafficking victims. Of the 11, 4 were repatriated while 7 received residence permits through legal support provided by Solidarity and are now trying to integrate into in Greek society. They receive training from the NGO to help them in this regard. In addition to the above programs, Hellenic Aid reported that in 2006 it approved funding to the following TIP projects to benefit victims in source countries and to prevent TIP and provide support to victims in Greece. These programs are GoG anti-TIP initiatives and are not related to the "benchmarks." (Note: Please protect. Funding levels for specific NGOs and agencies are not published or publicly released. End Note.) -- 85,000 euros to the Mediterranean Women Study Center to continue a project in Albania for victims of trafficking. -- 60,000 euros to Caritas of Athens to continue operating a day care center for refugees, immigrants and victims of trafficking -- 110,000 euros to the Greek Council of Refugees to provide legal assistance to trafficking victims seeking asylum -- 20,000 euros to the Greek Council of Refugees to produce a leaflet in English, Russian and Albanian on Humanitarian assistance programs in Greece -- 75,000 euros to the European Womens' Network for the operation of a TIP hotline -- 57,000 euros to the Antigone Center to provide training to the Greek police ATHENS 00000502 003 OF 005 -- 80,000 euros to Arsis for cross-border action to protect potential women and children victims of trafficking -- 120,000 euros to Klimaka to provide support and assistance to TIP victims in their shelter -- 74,000 euros to the International Police Association for prevention projects in Serbia -- 120,000 euros to Center of Abuse and Maltreatment in Ioannina for the operation of a shelter in Ioannina and for integration assistance to victims -- 45,000 euros to the Center for Defense of Human Rights (KEPAD) to extend the network of NGO cooperation in Southeastern Europe. -- 40,000 euros to Act-Up for a prevention project and street work in Greece, Slovakia and Ukraine -- 105,000 euros to the European Constitution Law Center to train justices in Albania -- 65,000 euros to Arsis for "Compass project" to enact innovative training methods in training trainers on Human Rights -- 167,000 euros to the General Secretariat for Gender Equality to provide training to public and local administration key employees engaged in trafficking -- 220,000 euros to the General Secretariat for Gender Equality for preventive action and support to victims in Bulgaria and Albania As with all Hellenic Aid projects on any issue, a percentage of the funding is provided up front, and the remainder is granted upon the receipt of acceptable interim and final project assessments. (Embassy has reported that certain NGOs have complained of significant delays in transferring this funding to NGOs - see Ref 07 Athens 413.) -- F. What is the relationship between government officials, NGOs, other relevant organizations and other elements of civil society on the trafficking issue? Government and NGOs largely enjoy good ongoing formal cooperation in providing assistance and support to victims. The GoG has funded NGOs and IOM to conduct prevention programs in origin countries. Government and NGOs cooperate on the basis of a Memorandum of Cooperation signed in 2005. Both parties plan to further enhance the MOC in 2007 by adding a new annex that would describe the services available to victims by NGOs and by accepting new NGOs as signatories to the MOC. NGO Nea Zoi stated that it plans to sign the MOC in 2007, although recent questions about its status as a faith-based organization may complicate this effort (please protect). NGOs and police work directly -- formally and informally -- on identifying and screening victims. An NGO called Med.in, supported by the Ministry of Public Order, has an office and a medical unit within the major detention center for illegal aliens in Athens. It provides brochures about trafficking to potential victims and staff members encourage victims to speak with law enforcement after admitting to social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists or medical staff that they have been trafficked. One particularly vocal NGO, Greek Helsinki Monitor, reported that it was not invited to become a member of the MOC. One NGO doing street work, ACT UP, decided not to sign the MOC because it believed that it did not cover provisions for NGOs that do street work and a Thessaloniki-based NGO, the Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture (CRVT),reports that there have been several occasions when it has not been informed by the police of important TIP cases, despite their having the only psychiatrist experienced in working with trafficking victims. Many NGOs continue to report difficulties in getting funding that was promised by the GoG. Some have reportedly closed their doors due to this problem. The GoG reports that one half of funding is ATHENS 00000502 004 OF 005 distributed at the beginning of a project and the rest is paid upon submission of appropriate documentation. Some NGO's, says the GoG, fail to comply with the documentation requirements and some change the scope of their previously approved projects. Another complaint raised by many NGOs is that they are not treated as fully equal members in the fight against trafficking in Greece. They report feeling that they must continually prove their worth to the GoG. Some call for institutionalizing the mechanisms that are already in place vis a vis victim identification, as one example, by legislating the role of NGOs in the process either through amending the trafficking statute or through a presidential decree. Finally, some NGOs claim that they are not given adequate access to detention facilities to enable them to try to identify trafficking victims. Based upon the fact that only 83 victims were identified last year, it seems obvious that some aspect of the victim-identification phase is not working properly. Some NGOs continue to report that victims are prosecuted alongside their victimizers and that many are incarcerated in detention centers, having slipped past police and prosecutors efforts to spot them, where they languish for three months and then return to their traffickers upon release. If a limited number of persons from a limited number of GoG approved NGOs were permitted regular access to all of the women in all of the detention centers, they believe that a far greater number of women could be identified as actual trafficking victims. -- G. Does it monitor immigration and emigration patterns for evidence of trafficking? Do law enforcement agencies screen for potential trafficking victims along borders? Law enforcement authorities, including border patrol officers and airport authorities, screen arrivals for possible TIP victims and travelers with fraudulent documents as part of its Schengen responsibilities. Airport and immigration law enforcement specialists are included in TIP training programs and are members of the diplomatic-NGO-governmental authorities "Working Group." Greece has acceptable border controls in general, though thousands of illegal immigrants cross or are smuggled into the country every year. -- H. Is there a mechanism for coordination and communication between various agencies, internal, international, and multilateral on trafficking- related matters, such as a multi-agency working group or a task force? Does the government have a trafficking in persons working group or single point of contact? Does the government have a public corruption task force? There is an Interministerial Committee at the Secretary General level that meets regularly and shares TIP information, progress, programs, and trends among ministries, headed by the MOJ. The MFA and MPO take the lead on coordinating with multilateral bodies, such as OSCE, on TIP. However TIP specialists visiting Greece in 2005-2006 from international organizations (OSCE, ILO, IOM, UN),met with a range of officials from many involved ministries. A TIP "Working Group" was established by the MFA and IOM in November 2005 between origin, transit, and destination country diplomats, NGOs, and working level government authorities, and they reportedly met five times in 2006. The Ministry of Public Order has an anticorruption unit in its Bureau of Internal Affairs, which has investigated a limited number of TIP-related cases. -- J. Does the government have a national plan of action to address trafficking in persons? If so, which agencies were involved in developing it? Were NGOs consulted in the process? What steps has the government taken to disseminate the action plan? The GoG has a National Action Plan (NAP) to address TIP, entitled "National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings." The NAP covers inter-ministerial activities and specific activities of eight ministries, and NGOs were consulted in its development. The MOJ Secretary General and the Interministerial Council presented the NAP at a Conference in December 2006. The government has taken steps to disseminate the NAP via its public release and press conference, at international conferences and meetings, as well as by ATHENS 00000502 005 OF 005 delivering it to international organizations such as the IOM, SECI, OSCE, and the EU and their representatives. In December 2006 the GoG produced an update on its progress on the NAP. Greece 2007 TIP Report Submission Continued Septel. RIES