GREECE PART 1: TIP REPORT SUBMISSION 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ATHENS 000503

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 1: TIP REPORT SUBMISSION 2007

REF: A. 2006 State 202745


1. The following is Sensitive but Unclassified. Please Protect
Accordingly.


2. (SBU) Below are Embassy Athens' responses to the 2007 TIP report
questionnaire. Text is keyed to Ref A request for "Overview"
Section. This is the first of four cables.


3. (SBU) SUMMARY: Greece continues to make significant efforts
domestically and regionally in its TIP fight in 2006-07,
demonstrating evidence of progress from the previous year. Greece
shared comprehensive conviction statistics on arrests made in 2006.
In 2006 Greece identified 83 victims, provided assistance to 39 of
them and arrested 206 traffickers. Greece has also taken a number
of steps outside and beyond the benchmarks. It funded numerous
important programs to prevent trafficking and to provide for
domestic shelters, legal aid, and other victim services. It has
sponsored, hosted, and funded major TIP-focused international and
domestic conferences, and has funded and implemented training for
law enforcement authorities and others. Interministerial cooperation
has been strong. The Ministry of Interior produced a national
public awareness campaign last year and continued its use into this
year, building on the momentum of press articles detailing the TIP
problem in Greece. The MFA completed a Child Repatriation Agreement
with Albania; however after more than a year the agreement remains
unratified even while it appears to be followed in practice. Greece
signed the Council of Europe's Convention against Trafficking and is
progressing towards ratification of the Palermo Protocol. Problem
areas still remain, however. The process by which victims are
identified needs to be strengthened in order to successfully and
reliably identify victims of trafficking. Other problems include
the fact that victims are still frequently prosecuted alongside
their victimizers. The final serious deficiency is the dearth of
reliable statistics on a wide range of matters related to TIP in
Greece. It is the Embassy's judgment based on the progress made
this year and reflected in this report, and the need for continued
improvement in key areas, that Greece should remain in Tier Two.
Looking ahead, septel will analyze how best to capitalize on current
momentum in the government and in public opinion for 2007-2008 with
the entirely achievable aim of reaching Tier One before publication
of the next annual TIP report. END SUMMARY.

Overview of Greece's activities to eliminate TIP:
-------------- --------------
-- A. Is the country a country of origin, transit, or destination
for internationally trafficked men, women, or children? Specify
numbers for each group; how they were trafficked, to where, and for
what purpose. Does the trafficking occur within the country's
borders? Does it occur in territory outside of the government's
control (e.g. in a civil war situation)? 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? Are
certain groups of persons more at risk of being trafficked (e.g.
women and children, boys versus girls, certain ethnic groups,
refugees, etc.)?

Greece is a destination and transit country for international
trafficking in women and children, and to a smaller degree, men. In
2006 the GoG identified 83 victims of TIP and provided assistance to
39 of them. International organizations such as IOM and authorities
from other destination countries report that Greece is sometimes a
transit country, with victims being moved on to Italy and other EU
countries. There are no official estimates of the extent or
magnitude of TIP in Greece. In January 2005 sociologist and
criminologist at Panteion University Grigoris Lazos estimated, based
on field
research, that there were between 6,100 and 6,250 victims of sex
trafficking (women and teenage girls) in Greece. Lazos, a 2005
Index on Censorship Whistleblower Award winner for his "tireless
campaign against human trafficking," estimated in 2003 that there
were 20,000 TIP victims in Greece. Lazos is the only person in
Greece who has made an effort at estimating the scope of the TIP

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phenomenon in Greece. He has attributed the decrease in trafficking
to decreased demand for prostitution, due to lower discretionary
income of Greeks. (Note: Whether actually true or not, anecdotal
polling results show Greeks believe their discretionary income has
decreased and that inflation is outpacing wage increases. Greeks
may, therefore, less frequently visit sex workers. End Note.)
Other anecdotal evidence and some NGO workers support the belief
that the high rates of trafficking seen in the earliest parts of
this decade have begun to subside. Without an analysis conducted in
accordance with accepted statistical norms, it remains impossible to
verify or refute this assertion.

Anti-child trafficking NGOs estimated in 2006 that "hundreds" of
children, mainly Roma from Albania, remain victims of trafficking
for labor exploitation; typically selling small items (packs of
tissue or flowers),begging, or stealing. NGOs report that
trafficking of children has decreased due to police efforts in
Greece and because it has become easier for Albanian parents to
immigrate to Greece with their children rather than "rent" their
children to traffickers as was done in the past. There are teenaged
girls trafficked to Greece for commercial sexual exploitation. One
volunteer NGO offering medical services to aliens awaiting
deportation at the Petrou Ralli police detention center said that it
identified one suspected child trafficking victim. The 14 year-old
child, however, refused to testify against the traffickers or to
take advantage of the protections eligible to victims of
trafficking. The Child Repatriation Protocol with Albania, signed
in Tirana in February 2006, will address some of the problems with
the protection of child victims. The Protocol is designed to bring
about cooperation between Albanian and Greek authorities in
returning Albanian children from Greece, in locating the families of
returning children and of placing children in the hands of
appropriate carers when families cannot be located immediately. It
also aims at assisting Greek and Albanian NGOs to closely monitor
the reintegration and rehabilitation of the children following their
return to Albania. After more than a year, the agreement remains
signed but not ratified, although authorities assert that it is
being followed in practice, nonetheless. In the meantime, some NGOs
allege that only a few of the children deported to Albania are
actually returned to their families. NGOs claim that many of these
children are literally imprisoned in Albania and slip back into
Greece at the first opportunity.

-- 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). Also briefly explain the
political will to address trafficking in persons. Other items to
address may include: What kind of conditions are the victims
trafficked into? 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.?) What methods are used to
move the victims (e.g., are false documents being used)?

Political Will to Address TIP
--------------
The Greek Government demonstrated political will at the highest
levels in 2006-2007 to address trafficking in persons. The GoG
updated its Action Plan for 2006-2007 to include plans to ratify the
Palermo protocol and the Bilateral Agreement with Albania for Minor
Victims of trafficking. In 2006 it streamlined the procedure for
issuance of residence and work permits by centralizing the system
for victims. It undertook to improve regional police cooperation
initiatives including cross-border cooperation through the Southeast
European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) and by initiating in December
2006, the "Ilaeira" Project -- a regional police cooperation program
involving more than twenty countries. The GoG also has several
ongoing multilateral, regional programs to combat trafficking. One
program is conducted in cooperation with USAID and UNICEF in
Albania. Another project is designed to establish a clearing house
for missing Children in southeastern Europe in cooperation with the
NGO 'Smile of the Child;' and another is to codify the trafficking
legislation in ten countries that are the homes of many trafficking
victims in cooperation with the European Public Law Center. The GoG
also carried on public awareness campaigns and cooperation with
NGOs. It continued to consult with diplomatic and consular

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authorities from victims' countries of origin. It has structures in
place for the protection of victims and ongoing support and
prevention projects in victims' countries of origin. The Greek
government asserts that it lobbies and promotes trafficking
awareness in international organizations including NATO, the OSCE,
the Council of Europe and the Human Security Network.

Some examples of the GoG's resolve to combat TIP are below:

-- Since 2005, Hellenic Aid and IOM are signatories to a
humanitarian repatriation and social integration contract to ensure
the humane repatriation of trafficking victims and to provide for
their social reintegration into their countries of origin.

-- In 2006, the Secretariat for Gender Equality held five seminars
for Public Administration officers in five different Greek cities.
The attendees included social workers, psychologists, nurses, police
personnel and judges. The focus was on violence against women and
trafficking of women for sexual exploitation.

-- The Secretariat for Gender Equality produced informative
materials in Greek and English about the support services available
for victims. The Secretariat plans to publish the material in
Albanian, Russian and French, as well.

-- 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.

-- In 2006, the Secretariat for Gender Equality launched a
development assistance project in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo
entitled "Support of Regional Policies Against Illegal Trafficking
of Women." The program has a total budget of 100,000 euros and aims
at providing direct counseling support to victims in Sarajevo and
Pristina. It includes an education campaign in schools in both
cities and support to the IOM structures in both Sarajevo and
Pristina which are already providing assistance and protection to
victims of trafficking in the Balkans.

-- As part of the National Action Plan to Confront Trafficking in
Persons, the Union of Public Prosecutors in Greece and the IOM held
a 2-day conference in June 2006 to train Greeek Prosecutors in
applying the protections guaranteed victims under the
anti-trafficking legislation. The conference entitled "The
Combating of Human Trafficking" was financed by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Hellenic Aid Division. Almost half of the total
prosecutorial force from all over Greece attended this training
Conference.

--On November 13, 2006, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and IOM held
a conference on "International and Regional Counter Trafficking
Cooperation" with speakers from the Swedish police, the Stability
Pact, representatives of Greek Ministries and the NGO Community.

-- The Ministry of Public Order held a conference in November 2006
on the "Ilaeira" initiative to combat trafficking in human beings
announced in the EU Council of Ministers in April 2006. The
Conference, the scope of which was to improve trans-border police
cooperation in bilateral and multilateral level, was attended by
police personnel from 20 countries and four international bodies
(EUROPOL, EUROJUST, FRONTEX, INTERPOL). The MPO's Ilaeira Project
targets police, task forces, prosecutors, law enforcement officials,
and NGOs.

-- The Secretariat for Gender Equality held a regional Conference,
December 5-6, 2006, on "Action against Trafficking in Human Beings,
Prevention, Protection, Prosecution" under the auspices of the
Directorate General of Human Rights of the Council of Europe. The
Conference brought together trafficking experts from eight countries
including Greece with experts from the Council of Europe.

Some NGOs continued to raise complaints in 2006 that there is a lack
of political will to address TIP evidenced by low numbers of
identified victims. Others countered that the political will is

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real but needs to be matched with more effective implementation of
the tools now in place.

Based on the array of activities carried out by the GoG, only some
of which are shown above, it is the assessment of the Embassy that
the government is demonstrating the political will to continue to
address this issue, by focusing not only on the "benchmarks," but
also on self-generated anti-TIP initiatives and ideas.

TIP Trends in Greece
--------------

--As in past years, NGOs and police agree that most victims
trafficked to Greece are women from former Soviet states, the
Balkans and Africa. These victims work in bars, brothels, and strip
clubs. In 2006, Greek law enforcement authorities identified the
following numbers and nationalities of TIP victims: from Albania (4
victims),
Bulgaria (10),Georgia (1),Kazakhstan (1),Kyrgyzstan (1) Latvia
(2) Belarus (1) Lithuania (2),Moldova (5) Nigeria (3),Ukraine (5),
Poland (1),Romania (20),Russia (25),Serbia (1) Syria (1).

--Most victims continued to enter Greece with legal documentation,
including work permits. Some recognized victims also have legal,
but fraudulently obtained, documentation. For example, at least
four Russian victims over the past few years have reported to
NGOs that their traffickers falsified visa applications to obtain
visas in the victims' legal names (See Prosecution -
K).

--There was an increasing trend of immigrant smugglers locking
smuggled immigrants for labor trafficking in apartments once they
arrived in Greece, and demanding a "ransom" from family members in
origin countries.

--There were reports of debt bondage both by victims and by source
country diplomatic representatives in Greece.

--In 2006, the trend continued of increasing numbers of
African, especially Nigerian, women trafficked to Greece for sexual
exploitation. Some of these women believe they are under a "spell,"
and will not, therefore, speak to police and/or NGOs about their
possible victimization, and refuse assistance offered to them. In
2006, police and NGOs convinced at least three Nigerian women "under
voodoo curses" to accept GoG assistance.

-- TIP victims are subjected to withholding of documents and
physical and psychological violence and threats. The trend
continued of victims being trafficked into more so-called "humane"
conditions, with some freedom of movement, communication, and small
stipends, but increased psychological abuse. For example, some
victims' lives and the lives of their families were threatened, and
traffickers told some victims they would be arrested, deported, or
even killed if they went to the police.

--Some victims were forced to marry traffickers or traffickers'
associates to "legalize" their status in Greece.

--NGOs report that increasing numbers of women were acting as
traffickers.

Ultimately, the identification of trends becomes more difficult in
the absence of reliable statistics and beyond recounting the
anecdotal evidence above, little can be said reliably.

-- 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?

The government has made funds available for training of police
personnel and for key civil servants, including judges, prosecutors,
psychologists, social workers, and the personnel responsible for
issuing residence permits. Resources to address support and
assistance needs of victims are more than adequate when considering
the limited number of identified victims in the last year. The

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government funds NGOs to maintain shelters and to provide
assistance, aid and other services to victims. However, corruption
within the Greek bureaucracy and a slow judicial system contribute
to limitations on the GoG's ability to address trafficking in
practice. GoG continued efforts to educate the police force and key
civil servants. Plans are in place for continued training of
police, prosecutors and judges.

-- D. To what extent does the government systematically monitor its
anti-trafficking efforts (on all fronts -- prosecution, prevention
and victim protection) and periodically make available, publicly or
privately and directly or through regional/international
organizations, its assessments of these anti-trafficking efforts?

TIP experts at the Ministries of Justice, Public Order,
Health, Interior and Foreign Affairs actively monitor the
anti-trafficking efforts of the GoG in prosecution, prevention, and
victim protection. The GoG makes their assessments available, both
publicly and privately, directly to regional organizations,
international bodies, and embassies. The absence of reliable
statistics, however, continues to be a barrier to assessing
anti-trafficking efforts.

In 2007 as in 2006 the GoG coordinated with NGOs and IOM to provide
information for this report, gathering some statistics directly from
NGOs and forwarding them as-is.

Greece 2007 TIP Report Submission Continued Septel.