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.

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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


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-- 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

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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

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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