Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ATHENS203
2009-02-17 14:38:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Athens
Cable title:  

Greece: 2009 TIP Report Submission - Part 1 of 4

Tags:  PHUM KTIP PREF ASEC KCRM KFRD KWMN SMIG ELAB GR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4336
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTH #0203/01 0481438
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171438Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3198
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0060
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0100
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0022
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0649
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 0032
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0425
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0298
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 ATHENS 000203 

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

FOR G/TIP, G-ACBlank, EUR/SE, EUR/PGI, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KTIP PREF ASEC KCRM KFRD KWMN SMIG ELAB GR
SUBJECT: Greece: 2009 TIP Report Submission - Part 1 of 4

REF: 08 STATE 132759

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 ATHENS 000203

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

FOR G/TIP, G-ACBlank, EUR/SE, EUR/PGI, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KTIP PREF ASEC KCRM KFRD KWMN SMIG ELAB GR
SUBJECT: Greece: 2009 TIP Report Submission - Part 1 of 4

REF: 08 STATE 132759


1. (U) This document is Sensitive But Unclassified.
Please protect accordingly.


2. (U) This is the first of four cables. After the
Summary, the cable text is keyed to REFTEL paragraphs 23
(THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION) and 24 (SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE
GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS).

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


3. (SBU) The Government of Greece made significant domestic,
regional, and international efforts to combat Trafficking in
Persons (TIP) in 2008-09. Greek law enforcement statistics
for 2008 show that the government arrested 162 traffickers
(41 more than the previous year),investigated 40 trafficking
cases (one fewer than the previous year),identified 78 victims
of trafficking (22 fewer than the previous year),and provided
protection and assistance to 36 victims (one more than the previous
year). Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international
organizations (IOs),many of whom receive government funding and
training support, reported providing assistance to at least 657
trafficking victims. The Anti-Trafficking Unit, part of the
Organized Crime Division of the Hellenic Police, spearheaded
multiple successful operations, tackling major human trafficking
rings throughout the country.

Greece strengthened efforts to raise awareness about trafficking
and demonstrated increased political will on tackling TIP.
Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyiannis publicly stated that
combating TIP was a priority, and the government partnered with
UNICEF on a major public awareness campaign on the trafficking of
children. The government resumed interministerial cooperation on
TIP and formed a new working-level task force coordinated by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The MFA, the Ministry of
Justice (MOJ),and the International Organization for Migration
(IOM) began work on a comprehensive trafficking database to
enhance the government's collection and dissemination of law
enforcement, judicial, and victim-related statistics.


The government continued to support numerous programs to prevent
trafficking and address the needs of TIP victims, funding public
and private shelters, legal aid, counseling, and health services.
In 2008, the Government of Greece reported funding at least
2,671,207 euro (3,740,000 USD) for anti-trafficking efforts, a 43
percent increase from the 1,869,100 euro reported for the previous
year. Of the 2008 funding, 1,739,421 euro (2,435,000 USD) was
provided by the MFA and Hellenic Aid, 486,786.20 euro
(681,500 USD) was provided by the Secretariat for Gender Equality
(Ministry of Interior),and the remaining 445,000 euro
(623,000 USD) was provided by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
The Director of Hellenic Aid stated that anti-trafficking
projects would continue to be a priority for 2009. (NOTE: Please
protect all funding data. END NOTE.)

Despite numerous successes, problem areas still remain. Victim
identification procedures, especially among front-line Border
Police, Coast Guard, and "vice squad" officers, need to be
strengthened. Greek courts, especially at the appeals level,
need to reduce the number of suspended sentences given to
traffickers and complicit officials and make sure jail time is
served. Obtaining statistics on many TIP-related indicators
continues to be challenging. The Greek Parliament ratified
a Child Repatriation Agreement with Albania in July 2008; however,
implementation of the agreement has been slow. Greece has signed
but still has not ratified the Council of Europe's Convention
on Action against Trafficking.

Based on the Greek government's clear progress on combating TIP
but also its need for continued improvement, it is the Embassy's
judgment that Greece should be assessed a Tier Two ranking. We
look forward to harnessing the government's increased political
will and momentum on tackling TIP for the 2009-2010 reporting

ATHENS 00000203 002 OF 010


period. END SUMMARY.

--------------
THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION
--------------


A. What is (are) the source(s) of available information on
trafficking in persons? What plans are in place (if any) to
undertake further documentation of human trafficking? How
reliable are these sources?

Sources of information include:

-- Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The MFA is the Embassy's
primary government interlocutor on trafficking issues and
coordinates a working-level interministerial task force to
coordinate anti-trafficking activities. The MFA receives most of
its anti-TIP information from other ministries.

-- Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and the Hellenic Police, part of the
Ministry of Interior (MOI),Department of Public Order. The MOJ
provides legal statistics on trafficking crimes. The Hellenic
Police collects information on anti-trafficking law enforcement
activities. Much of this information is not available to the
public but is usually shared with NGOs and international
organizations.

-- Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Anti-trafficking
NGOs in Greece exist in all forms: large and small, domestic and
international, victim-focused and policy-focused, and secular and
faith-based. Most NGOs provide anti-trafficking information to
the public.

-- International Organizations / Entities. International
organizations such as IOM, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR),UNICEF, and the Council of Europe regularly monitor
human trafficking in Greece. Their periodic reports are
available to the public.

-- Source-Country Diplomats. Diplomatic representatives of
source countries for sex and labor trafficking informally
provided information on trafficking flows and victim conditions.
This information was not publicly available.

-- Migrant-Community Organizations. Representatives of immigrant
communities, such as the Pakistani and Nigerian communities often
had information on smuggling and trafficking activities affecting
them.

A lack of easily-accessible, reliable statistics on some
trafficking-related metrics continues to be a problem. For
example, court-case data is still largely kept in paper files,
limiting the ability of the MOJ and the courts to compile and
publish statistics on trafficking cases. To address this issue,
in 2008, the MFA and the MOJ, in coordination with IOM, began
work on a comprehensive trafficking database to enhance the
government's collection and dissemination of law enforcement,
judicial, and victim-related statistics. The MFA will own and
operate the database, the police and the MOJ will provide law
enforcement (arrests and investigations) and judicial (convictions
and sentences) statistics on trafficking crimes, and IOM will
work with NGOs and government-run shelters to provide victim
support data.

-- B. Is the country a country of origin, transit, and/or
destination for internationally trafficked men, women, or
children? Does trafficking occur within the country's borders?
If so, does internal trafficking occur in territory outside of
the government's control (e.g. in a civil war situation)? To
where are people trafficked? For what purposes are they
trafficked? Provide, where possible, numbers or estimates for
each group of trafficking victims. Have there been any changes
in the TIP situation since the last TIP Report (e.g. changes in
destinations)?

Greece is a destination and transit country for internationally

ATHENS 00000203 003 OF 010


trafficked women and children, and to a lesser extent, men. The
government and NGOs report that female sex trafficking victims
originate primarily from Eastern Europe and the Balkans (Russia,
Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Lithuania, Latvia)
as well as Africa (Nigeria). ACT UP, an NGO, reported that
there are scores of male sex trafficking victims from Afghanistan
and sub-Saharan Africa working as prostitutes in Greece, many in
their teens and suffering from sexually-transmitted diseases
(STDs). Anecdotal evidence from NGOs suggests that sex
trafficking may have decreased since the previous year.

Labor trafficking victims are primarily children and men,
originating from Albania, Romania, Moldova, Afghanistan, Pakistan,
India, and Bangladesh. (NGOs report that labor trafficking is more
closely tied to migrant smuggling networks.) The Anti-Trafficking
Unit of the Hellenic Police reported that there may be hundreds of
victims of labor trafficking in Greece. In 2008, NGOs reported
assisting at least 657 TIP victims. Anecdotal evidence also
suggests that labor exploitation in northern Greece has increased,
and Anti-TIP Police have stated that they plan to focus on labor
trafficking for 2009. However, official statistics or reliable
estimates on the extent or magnitude of human trafficking are
unavailable.

Greece is also a transit country for TIP, with victims being moved
on to Italy and other EU countries. There are no indications that
Greece is being used as a TIP transit country for the United States.
Several NGOs reported anecdotal evidence that Roma women and
children are trafficked within Greece for sex and labor
exploitation. The makeup of source countries for trafficking in
Greece did not change from 2007 to 2008.

The Anti-Trafficking Police reported that there were no Greek
citizens who were victims of trafficking in 2008.

In January 2005, Grigoris Lazos, a sociologist and criminologist
at Panteion University, estimated 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," had
earlier estimated, in 2003, that there were 20,000 TIP victims in
Greece. He has attributed the decrease in his estimate to lower
demand for prostitution, linked to the lower discretionary income
of Greeks. (NOTE: We are unaware of recent studies linking lower
incomes to a decrease in demand for prostitution in Greece. END
NOTE.) Anecdotal evidence from NGOs and the Anti-Trafficking
Police indicates that trafficking rates continue to decline, but
other NGOs report an increase in sex trafficking from Romania and
Bulgaria.

Anti-child trafficking NGOs estimated in 2008, as in 2007, that
"hundreds" of children, mainly Roma from Albania, remain victims of
trafficking for labor exploitation. These children are typically
forced sell small items (packs of tissue or flowers),beg, or steal.
NGOs report that the trafficking of children by third parties
continues to decrease, due to police enforcement actions in Greece.
However, NGOs and the police also report an increase in
"family-based" trafficking, where Albanian Roma parents bring their
own children into Greece and force them to work.

The government ratified the bilateral Child Repatriation Agreement
with Albania in July 2008 and the protocol came into force of law in
August 2008 (law 3692/2008). The law provides for coordinated
prosecution, trafficking prevention, victim identification, and
repatriation between the two countries, with NGO involvement.
However, the agreement has not yet been implemented in a systematic
way. (Preexisting cooperation between Albanian and Greek NGOs and
law enforcement continues in an ad hoc manner.)

-- C. What kind of conditions are the victims trafficked into?

Female victims are trafficked primarily for prostitution, working in
bars, brothels, strip clubs, and on the streets. NGOs and the
police report that conditions for these victims vary greatly, with
some victims subject to physical violence and others induced into
prostitution by psychological or emotional deception. Traffickers,

ATHENS 00000203 004 OF 010


brothel owners, and pimps often confiscate the identity documents of
victims and subject them to a variety of threats. Victims are
forced to "work off" debts owed to traffickers.

NGOs and the Anti-Trafficking police reported that sex trafficking
victims suffered less outright physical abuse, with traffickers
using emotional and financial deception to induce victims into sex
work. Victims in this situation had some freedom of movement,
communication with relatives, and small amounts of spending money,
but suffered increased psychological and emotional abuse. NGOs
reported that these victims sometimes remained in contact with and
emotionally dependent on their traffickers even after entering a
shelter or entering police protective custody. Permitted to keep
part of their earnings, some victims appeared to be unlicensed
prostitutes rather than trafficked women. However, victims were
subject to threats of physical violence, deportation, or loss of
life if they went to the authorities.

NGOs reported that some African (particularly Nigerian) women
trafficked to Greece for sexual exploitation were led to believe
they were under spiritual or magical bondage, and were thus more
fearful and less likely to go to the police and/or NGOs for
assistance. Some victims were forced to marry their traffickers or
traffickers' associates to "legalize" their status in Greece. Some
victims, mostly African women, were forced by traffickers to file
for asylum in order to legalize their status in Greece.

While traffickers sometimes arranged for basic health and STD
checkups for their sex workers, victims of sex trafficking typically
lacked adequate health care.

Male victims came mostly from Albania, Bulgaria, Bangladesh,
Pakistan, and India, and were forced to work in farms in debt
bondage. Typically, victims' travel documents were confiscated or
destroyed, and they were paid little or no wages, often under threat
of violence. As in 2007, there were reports of human smugglers
locking labor trafficking victims in apartments once they arrived in
Greece, and demanding a "ransom" from family members in origin
countries.

Child TIP victims were mainly Roma from Albania, though there were
increasing numbers of Bulgarian and Romanian children. Subject to
labor exploitation, they typically sold small items (packs of
tissues or flowers),or engaged in begging or stealing. The
Anti-Trafficking Police reported that this type of child trafficking
was carried out less by third-party traffickers and more by the
children's parents, who forced their children to work on the
streets. These child victims often lived in poverty and lacked
basic education, shelter, and medical services.

-- D. Vulnerability to TIP: Are certain groups of persons more at
risk of being trafficked (e.g. women and children, boys versus
girls, certain ethnic groups, refugees, IDPs, etc.)?

NGOs and the Anti-Trafficking Police reported that the following
groups of persons were at particular risk of being trafficked:

SEX TRAFFICKING:
-- Poor women from Eastern Europe (in particular, Romania and
Albania) were especially susceptible to being induced into
prostitution by emotional entrapment and deception;
-- Women from Africa (especially Nigeria) were particularly
vulnerable to spiritual and magic or voodoo-based coercion;
-- Boys and male teenagers from Afghanistan were at particular risk
of contracting STDs as sex workers.

LABOR TRAFFICKING:
-- Refugees and asylum seekers from Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan
were susceptible to being exploited for labor by their smugglers /
traffickers;
-- Roma children, particularly from Albania, were at high risk of
being trafficked for labor exploitation by their families.

-- E. Traffickers and Their Methods: Who are the
traffickers/exploiters? Are they independent business people?
Small or family-based crime groups? Large international organized

ATHENS 00000203 005 OF 010


crime syndicates? What methods are used to approach victims? For
example, are they offered lucrative jobs, sold by their families, or
approached by friends of friends? What methods are used to move the
victims (e.g., are false documents being used?). Are employment,
travel, and tourism agencies or marriage brokers involved with or
fronting for traffickers or crime groups to traffic individuals?

Arrest statistics and analyses by the Anti-Trafficking Police
indicate that Greek, Eastern European, and Nigerian criminals are
the primary traffickers for sexual exploitation. Police estimate
that there are fewer than 100 sex and labor trafficking
organizations based in Greece. The vast majority are small,
cell-based organizations that operate without a Mafia-style
hierarchy. Instead, trafficking rings are flexible and are known to
cooperate with each other on a short-term basis. Trafficking
networks are often linked to bars, clubs, and hotels. Travel and
employment agencies are known to facilitate travel and legal
documentation for traffickers. Police have discovered a variety of
money-laundering fronts for trafficking rings: restaurants,
nightclubs, and even a chain of bakeries.

Police reported a trend that Greeks were running fewer trafficking
networks over time. Instead, traffickers were organized
increasingly along ethnic lines:

-- RUSSIAN: Larger criminal groups with recruiting networks
throughout the former Soviet Union; often collaborated closely with
Greek criminal organizations. More likely to be linked to
international crime syndicates.

-- ALBANIAN / ROMANIAN / BULGARIAN: Smaller, more ethnically
homogeneous cells. These sex traffickers increasingly used
emotional and relational deception to lure women into sex work.
Some traffickers are women, who also act as pimps.

-- NIGERIAN: Small, ethnically homogenous cells where traffickers
often intermarried with their victims to provide the victims with
legal status. Some traffickers are women, who also act as pimps.

-- LABOR TRAFFICKERS: Typically operated separately from sex
trafficking organizations; linked closely (and sometimes operating
simultaneously) as "normal" smugglers. Tied to smuggling networks
in Turkey, who facilitated travel from the Middle East and South
Asia to Greece.

Victims of sex trafficking are approached by members of trafficking
networks or "friends" of the networks. Men or women with knowledge
of both Greek and the language of the country of the victim's origin
typically offer to "assist" the victim in finding a job in Greece as
waitresses, nurses, or household workers, but upon their arrival in
Greece are forced into prostitution. If the victims resist, they
may be physically and verbally threatened, raped, or isolated until
they give in. NGOs and police report that victims are rarely
physically abused because traffickers see them as commodities which
have to be in good physical shape in order to attract customers.
Traffickers use debt bondage to coerce victims into sex work,
telling them that they owe the traffickers large sums of money and
must work for them. Usually, traffickers organize travel groups of
2-8 women who travel by bus, train and air on legal passports and
visas.

The newer trend of emotional coercion reported by NGOs and the
police involves a trafficker (or a friend of a trafficker) using
deception to enter into a romantic relationship with a victim -
typically from poorer areas in countries such as Albania or Romania.
The trafficker then arranges for his "girlfriend" to travel to
Greece to live with him, but upon arrival uses fraud (typically
claims that he is in financial difficulty) to induce the victim into
sex work. This type of trafficking involves fewer but more
emotionally dependent victims, many of whom are unaware that they
have been trafficked and will avoid seeking help from the police or
NGOs. The police attribute the recent increase in this type of
trafficking to two factors: 1) Physical abuse of victims is solid
evidence in court, leading to tougher prison sentences for
traffickers; emotional abuse and coercion is harder to prosecute,
and 2) victims under emotional entrapment are less likely to seek

ATHENS 00000203 006 OF 010


police or NGO help.

Sex trafficking victims typically enter Greece using legitimate
visas and valid passports. Traffickers typically trick Greek
consular officials into issuing tourist visas to their victims, or
in rarer cases, bribe officials to issue visas. Travel and
employment agencies in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Greece are known
to arrange fraudulent itineraries, job offers, and hotel
reservations to facilitate travel. In addition, such agencies are
known to be fronts, especially in the former Soviet Union, for
traffickers' recruitment efforts.

Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union on January 1, 2007.
Citizens of both countries enjoy freedom of movement into Greece.
Thus, victims from the two countries are easily trafficked into
Greece without a need for additional documentation.

Traffickers for labor exploitation are often linked to smuggling
organizations, who arrange for the transportation of victims from
their source country into Greece. Labor trafficking victims
typically enter Greece without legal documentation, crossing the
Albania-Greece or Turkey-Greece land borders or making the journey
across the Aegean Sea. Travel is in larger groups and may involve a
variety of "middlemen" of different nationalities. While most
undocumented migrants are smuggled into Greece and then "set loose"
by their smugglers, labor trafficking victims are received by local
criminals / labor brokers who arrange for forced agricultural labor.
Oftentimes, fraudulent employment agencies in source countries are
the initial point of recruitment for victims of labor trafficking.

Roma children victims of trafficking are brought into Greece without
documentation or with fraudulent family documents or birth
certificates. Destitute parents are known to "rent" or sell their
children into forced labor. In the case of parents accompanying and
exploiting their own children for labor, children may travel with
their parents using legitimate documentation.

-------------- --
SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP
EFFORTS
-------------- --

-- A. Does the government acknowledge that trafficking is a problem
in the country? If not, why not?

The government 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 official responsibility for
anti-trafficking efforts. The Interministerial Committee on
Trafficking in Persons is comprised of nine Secretaries General (SG)
from those ministries. In 2008, the MFA SG became the chair of the
Committee and created a new working-level interministerial task
force to work more effectively on TIP issues.

The responsibilities of each ministry:

-- MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (MFA): The MFA oversees the new
working-level interministerial task force, negotiates bilateral and
multilateral agreements such as the Child Repatriation Agreement
with Albania, and coordinates the government's yearly report on its
anti-trafficking efforts. Hellenic Aid, the development arm of the
MFA, funds NGO and IO initiatives such as shelters, anti-TIP
training, victim services, and trafficking source country
development projects. Hellenic Aid cooperates with USAID in funding
the Transnational Action against Child Trafficking (TACT) program in
Albania. The MFA Secretary General assigned to oversee anti-TIP
activities is a senior Ambassador with a rank similar to that of an
Under Secretary of State.

-- MINISTRY OF JUSTICE (MOJ): The MOJ supports and provides
coordination and anti-TIP training for Greece's prosecutors and
judges. The MOJ collects prosecution, conviction, and sentencing

ATHENS 00000203 007 OF 010


data on TIP crimes. Under Greek law, prosecutors have the legal
authority to recognize an individual as an official victim of
trafficking.

-- MINISTRY OF INTERIOR (MOI): The MOI is responsible for
implementing Greece's migration policy, including the issuance of
residency permits for recognized victims of trafficking. The
Department of Public Order oversees the Hellenic Police and its
Anti-Trafficking Unit, which has primary responsibility for anti-TIP
law enforcement and investigative activity. Anti-Trafficking Unit
officers receive specialized training from the government and NGOs
(as well as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to conduct
anti-TIP operations, support other police units on TIP issues, and
protect victims. The Anti-Trafficking Unit also exchanges
intelligence and other information with prosecutors, NGOs, and
health authorities. In 2008, the Unit had 39 police officers,
expected to grow to 45 in 2009.

-- MINISTRY OF HEALTH (MOH): The MOH is responsible for the medical
care of trafficking victims, running shelters, operating a telephone
hotline fr TIP victims, coordinating victim repatriationwith IOM,
and emergency services. EKKA, a network of two shelters for TIP
victims, is operated by the MOH.

-- MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, MINISTRY OF EMPLOYMENT: These two
ministries are responsible for education, vocational training,
counseling, and social support for victims. (NOTE: NGOs report that
these ministries are not particularly involved in anti-trafficking
activities in practice.)

-- MINISTRY OF FINANCE (MOF): The MOF oversees financial policy for
Greece and sets government-wide regulations on the disbursement of
Greek funds, including grant funding to NGOs and other ministries.
This directly affects NGOs and IOs, many of whom depend on
government funding. In early 2009, the MOF and the MFA agreed to
remove a bank guarantee requirement for all Hellenic Aid TIP-related
grants - a relatively new restriction that would have prevented most
small anti-TIP NGOs from receiving grant funds.

-- 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?

Despite numerous successes, the government still has multiple
limitations on its ability to address trafficking effectively.
Victim identification procedures, especially among front-line Border
Police, Coast Guard, and "vice squad" officers (part of the
Prostitution and Gambling Division),need to be strengthened. Greek
courts, especially at the appeals level, need to reduce the number
of suspended sentences given to traffickers and complicit officials
and make sure jail time is served. (NOTE: This problem is not
unique to trafficking offenses; enforcement of sentencing is a
problem in many other areas of criminal justice as well. END NOTE.)
Obtaining statistics on many TIP-related indicators continues to be
challenging. The Greek Parliament ratified a Child Repatriation
Agreement with Albania in July 2008; however, implementation of the
agreement has been slow. Greece has signed but still has not
ratified the Council of Europe's Convention on Action against
Trafficking. NGOs complained that grant disbursement delays and new
grant reporting requirements have created financial difficulty for
anti-TIP organizations.

VICTIM IDENTIFICATION:

NGOs universally reported that victim identification was the
government's greatest limitation in combating trafficking in
persons. In 2008, Human Rights Watch, the UNHCR, multiple domestic
NGOs, and the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights all
criticized Greece for failing to ensure that proper victim
identification procedures were used by the front-line Border Police,
Coast Guard, and "vice squad." While the specialized
Anti-Trafficking Police did a good job with victim identification
and support, NGOs stated that trafficking victims were far more
likely to be first encountered by a Border Police or Coast Guard
officer detaining illegal migrants or a "vice squad" officer

ATHENS 00000203 008 OF 010


patrolling a red-light district. Thus, proper training and
implementation of victim identification techniques is crucial for
these front-line government workers.

Doctors and nurses in Greek hospitals, some of whom provide free
care and STD checkups to sex workers, lack training and the means of
how to identify and report confidentially trafficking victims.
Proper training and creating guidelines on confidentiality is
important, however, because if traffickers realize that health care
workers report potential victims, sex workers and trafficking
victims may be "driven underground" and denied health care by their
handlers.

In 2008, the government made multiple efforts to address this
problem. The Anti-TIP Police provides regular training to "vice
squad" officers on victim identification, and the MOJ and MFA, in
coordination with IOM, have provided anti-trafficking training to
Coast Guard officers. The Anti-TIP Police distributed nteractive
training guides on the governmen's "Ilaeira" anti-TIP initiative to
all polic commanders in the country.

SENTENCING TRAFFICKERS:

Greek courts, especially at the appeals level, need to reduce the
number of suspended sentences given to traffickers and complicit
officials and make sure jail time is served. Sentencing data from
the MOJ reveals that first instance courts, when they convict
traffickers, give relatively tough sentences. The Greek legal
system allows defendants to appeal up to two times, to the appeals
level and then to the Supreme Court. In 2008, there were multiple
examples of appeals courts giving more lenient treatment to
traffickers than first instance courts. In previous years,
complicit officials and police officers have been given suspended
sentences in lieu of jail time. In addition, some NGOs have accused
Greek prosecutors and judges of prosecuting foreign defendants more
aggressively than Greek traffickers. (NOTE: Part of the problem is
structural, as proseutors and courts in Greece are very independent
and wary of interference from the Ministry ofJustice. Another
problem is a generally inefficient judicial system, which allows
cases to drag on for years - sometimes with dangerous suspected
traffickers set free on bail in the interim. Greek courts use a
largely paper-based system to track cases, adding to judicial
inefficiency. Enforcement of sentencing is a problem in many other
areas of criminal justice as well. Thus, ensuring coordinated
action against traffickers is a challenge for the Greek government.
END NOTE.)

To address this issue, the MFA and MOJ, in cooperation with IOM,
organized multiple anti-trafficking training conferences for
prosecutors in 2007 and 2008. These events focused on awareness
building, legal techniques, and victim identification. The IOM
plans to expand this program to judges in 2009.

TIP STATISTICS:

Many TIP-related statistics, such as countrywide TIP victim
estimates, are unavailable or very hard to obtain. As the
government oly recently revived regular meetings of the
Inerministerial Committee on Trafficking in Persons, coordination
of data between government agencies is limited. The Ministry of
Justice, which maintains case files for prosecutors and the court
system, lacks modern databases and must compile many trafficking
statistics by hand, from paper files.

Recognizing this limitation, the MFA, MOJ, and IOM began joint work
on a comprehensive trafficking database to enhance the government's
collection and dissemination of law enforcement, judicial, and
victim-related statistics. The MFA will own and operate the
database, the police and the MOJ will provide law enforcement
(arrests and investigations) and judicial (convictions and
sentences) statistics on trafficking crimes, and IOM will work with
NGOs and government-run shelters to provide victim support and
identification data. The MFA expects an initial version of the
database to be in operation by the end of 2009.

INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS:

ATHENS 00000203 009 OF 010



NGOs and international organizations universally praised Greece's
anti-trafficking laws as robust and in line with international
standards. (Proper implementation of the law, all agreed, was the
challenge.)

At the end of the reporting period, however, Greece had not yet
moved forward on two important legal agreements. The Greek
Parliament ratified a Child Repatriation Agreement with Albania in
July 2008; however, implementation of the agreement has been slow.
Additionally, Greece has signed but still has not ratified the
Council of Europe's Convention on Action against Trafficking.

FUNDING:

Overall, the government does not lack the resources to aid TIP
victims and combat human trafficking. The government continued
making 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. In addition, the government provided grant funding for a
wide variety of NGO projects to combat TIP. This funding came from
multiple government ministries: The MFA, MOJ, MOI, and the MOH,
among others.

The commander of the Anti-Trafficking Police reported that he had
excellent funding support from Hellenic Police headquarters and that
he expected his unit to grow from 39 to 45 officers in 2009.

Despite the availability of government funding, over the last three
years, many anti-trafficking NGOs throughout the country have
reported delays with and increasingly limited access to grant
funding from Hellenic Aid, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry
of Employment. Grant disbursement delays forced two TIP shelters
(KLIMAKA and ENOW) to shut down in 2008. In addition, a new
regulation from the Ministry of Finance (MOF) requiring bank
guarantees for NGOs and an older regulation reducing the
government's contribution to 50 percent of a project's funding
adversely affected smaller NGOs, many of which do not have
sufficient resources to find funding elsewhere.

In response to Embassy engagement, the MFA and the MOF announced in
early 2009 that they would remove the bank guarantee requirement for
Hellenic Aid grants to anti-Trafficking NGOs - an important step in
restoring funding to these organizations. In addition, Hellenic Aid
made domestic, regional, and international trafficking projects a
key priority for its 2008 grant cycle, approving anti-TIP grants
worth 1,399,421 euro (1,960,000 USD). 515,738 euro (722,000 USD, or
37 percent) was designated for NGOs, while 883,683 euro (1,238,000
USD, or 63 percent) was earmarked for government-run
anti-trafficking projects. The Director of Hellenic Aid stated that
anti-trafficking projects would continue to be a priority for 2009.


(NOTE: Despite Hellenic Aid's continued support of TIP-related NGOs
and programs, it is not clear if this funding will be sustainable
over the long term. As Greece continues to modernize and follow
international best practices for NGO funding, the government needs
to put in place a system that will help make funding for TIP NGOs
sustainable. END NOTE.)

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

The government does an adequate job of monitoring its own
anti-trafficking efforts, but there are inconsistencies from
ministry to ministry.

-- POLICE: The Anti-Trafficking Police (under the Department of
Public Order, in the Ministry of Interior) have dedicated experts
who analyze and report on anti-trafficking law enforcement
operations. Major operations are publicized and the police
cooperate closely with international organizations (such as IOM) and

ATHENS 00000203 010 OF 010


NGOs to provide law enforcement assessments. The police, in
coordination with IOM and other NGOs, also publish and distribute
interactive anti-trafficking training manuals and case studies to
law enforcement officers throughout Greece.

-- MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: The MFA coordinates a working-level
interministerial task force which oversees the Greek government's
efforts to combat TIP. Every year, the MFA provides the Embassy and
select IOs and NGOs with a comprehensive, detailed assessment of the
government's anti-TIP efforts. This assessment covers all fronts -
law enforcement and prosecution efforts, victim protection, public
awareness efforts, and NGO activities. However, this report is not
made public. (COMMENT: In many countries, the police, Ministry of
Health, or the Ministry of Justice would be the proper lead agency
on anti-TIP coordination. In Greece, however, the MFA has a lead
role, which officials explain is due to the fact that TIP victims
are almost universally non-Greek foreigners. Additionally, USG
pressure on Greece, via the annual TIP Report, is seen as a "foreign
relations" issue for the MFA to handle. END COMMENT.)

-- MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, COURT SYSTEM: The Ministry of Justice,
prosecutors, and judges keep statistics and files on
anti-trafficking cases but do not systematically analyze
trafficking trends. Their data is passed on to the MFA for
analysis and assessment there.

-- MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND WELFARE: The Ministry of Health produces
trafficking assessments through its government-run shelters on an ad
hoc basis. This information is provided to NGOs and other
ministries.

The absence of reliable statistics on certain trafficking-related
metrics continues to be a barrier to assessing anti-trafficking
efforts.


4. (U) Greece 2009 TIP Report Submission continued SEPTEL.

SPECKHARD