MALTA INVESTIGATES TRAFFICKING CLAIMS AMONG

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VALLETTA 000303 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, DRL, PRM, IWI, EUR/WE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG ASEC KFRD PREF MT SUBJECT: MALTA INVESTIGATES TRAFFICKING CLAIMS AMONG MIGRANT POPULATION REF: VALLETTA 93 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. On June 25, DCM and PolOff met with a GOM interagency group on trafficking to discuss reports from representatives of NGOs based in Malta that four Nigerian women being trafficked to Italy had ended up in a Maltese detention centers after being rescued at sea. After an animated discussion over the technicalities of whether the women had been trafficked "to Malta," all the government players eventually agreed that any reports of victims of trafficking among the immigrants would be investigated immediately, and if the reports proved credible, the victims would be released from detention and offered protection and assistance. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) DCM and Poloff met June 25 with representatives of GoM agencies involved in handling matters related to immigrants and asylum-seekers. The interagency group includes Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs (MJHA),MFA, Police, Organization for the Integration and Welfare of Asylum Seekers (OIWAS),and APPOGG (Malta,s Social Welfare Agency). For background on the origins of Embassy's request for the meeting, see para 7. ¶3. (SBU) At the outset of the meeting, several participants focused on venting their frustration at the 2008 TIP report, which had kept Malta at Tier Two despite significant progress in the way Malta handles TIP issues. Joseph Gerada, the Executive Director of APPOGG, provided a copy of an informative brochure outlining TIP and referring possible victims to a GoM hotline and website for assistance. Several participants made the point that the four Nigerian women had not been trafficked "to Malta" but had been en route to Italy. (DCM and Poloff emphasized that the important thing was not where they had originally been headed, but that they be assisted and protected once identified.) Alex Tortell, OIWAS Director, noted that in 2007 a total of 29 Nigerian women had arrived in Malta, among them the four possible victims of trafficking, and that so far this year only 6 of the new arrivals had been from Nigeria. ¶4. (SBU) Alex Tortell said that as soon as OIWAS had become aware of the case of the Nigerian women it had interviewed them and carefully assessed their stories, but had found no evidence to suggest that they had been victims of trafficking. DCM emphasized the importance of such assessments being out by trained professionals, since victims are often traumatized and reluctant to talk about their victimization. He recommended that OIWAS seek documentation of the original JRS interviews, which would almost certainly tell a different story. ¶5. (SBU) The tone of the meeting improved remarkably over the course of its hour and a half duration, and at its conclusion all present agreed that all reports of victims of trafficking among the immigrants, from any source, would be immediately investigated, and that if they were found to be credible, the victims would be released from detention and protected/assisted. New Working Group ¶6. (SBU) The NGOs tell us they have formed a working group with OIWAS to address the specific needs of the immigrant community. OIWAS and APPOGG (Malta,s Social Welfare Agency) are capable of offering assistance to victims once identified. Moving forward, we hope to facilitate a meeting between the GOM interagency group and the NGO representatives in order to clarify the protocol for identifying possible victims of trafficking among the migrant population. The channels of communication for reporting cases between the NGOs and the GOM agencies need to be clarified and reinforced through regular meetings. ¶7. (SBU) Background: In April of this year, Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) reported that they had identified four Nigerian women who were potential victims of trafficking. The women had been en route to Italy but, like nearly 2000 other immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa over the past year, were rescued at sea and brought to Malta. JRS and UNHCR conduct interviews with all newly arrived migrants and asylum seekers shortly after their arrival in Malta, and they emphasized that the phenomenon of apparent trafficking victims among African immigrants was a new phenomenon never before encountered in Malta. JRS emailed the names of the four individuals to the GOM agency tasked with providing for the welfare of the asylum seekers, OIWAS (Organization for the Integration and Welfare of Asylum Seekers),but never heard back; JRS later learned that the employee to whom the names VALLETTA 00000303 002 OF 002 had been emailed had left OIWAS. These cases were all Nigerian women whose intended destination was Italy ) not Malta. In early May, DCM raised the matter with Charles Deguara, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs (MJHA),who said it was the first he had heard of it but undertook to follow up. He later reported that when OIWAS interviewed the four women, they made no claim of having been trafficked. Two of the women were released and given shelter in a GoM funded "open center" as vulnerable immigrants, while the other two remained in detention while any possible claim to asylum was assessed. DCM emphasized the importance of dealing with such cases in a timely fashion and requested a meeting with the various GoM players involved in handling such matters; the interagency meeting reported in this cable was the result. ¶8. (SBU) Comment: OIWAS is a new agency, formed only last year; Tortell was clearly frustrated in the lack of direct communication from the NGOs on these particular cases. He emphasized that they are working now to develop policies and structures. Tortell is seeking training for his staff to better assess victims and offer protection; he attended a session in April 2008 at the Marshall Center in Germany on Migration and International Security, and will attend a second session in September on Immigration Policies and Integration. The GOM agencies are clearly willing to deal with the challenges facing them ) it,s a matter of training, building expertise and maximizing the available resources. End comment. BORDONARO