MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN OPENS TIP COUNSELING CENTER - ALL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HAMBURG 000025 SIPDIS STATE FOR G/TIP, DRL, EUR, INL,PRM STATE - PLEASE PASS TO USAID E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG ASEC KFRD ELAB PREF GM SUBJECT: MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN OPENS TIP COUNSELING CENTER - ALL STATES NOW COVERED HAMBURG 00000025 001.2 OF 002 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: On May 4, a counseling center for victims of forced prostitution and trafficking-in-persons (TIP) opened in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (M-V). With this new center, all sixteen German federal states now host NGOs explicitly dedicated to TIP. M-V registers approximately 20 TIP cases annually, but due to victims often not coming forward to authorities this figure likely under represents the true number of cases, which is believed to be substantially higher. END SUMMARY. -------------- -------------- -------------- One-Person TIP Operation Receives Local, State and National NGO Support -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) On July 16, Congen Hamburg representatives visited Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's newly opened Counseling Center for Victims of Forced Prostitution and Trafficking (ZORA) in the capital city of Schwerin and talked to Center Director Nicole Musolf. ZORA is a one-person operation with an initial two-year mandate that is funded by the state of M-V. Musolf has begun building a network of police, prosecutors, foreigner office, and other TIP NGOs on state and federal levels. According to Musolf, it was through Dr. Margret Seemann's efforts as M-V parliamentary state secretary for women and equal opportunity that ZORA was created. ¶3. (U) The supporting organization of ZORA is the Worker's Welfare Organization - Section Schwerin-Parchim (AWO). Musulf pointed out that AWO has substantial expertise in counseling victims of domestic violence and considerable experience in cooperating with police, the justice system and government offices, both factors that can be employed in providing comprehensive assistance to TIP victims. Musolf added that the well-known anti-TIP coordinating body ("Koordinierungskreis gegen Frauenhandel und Gewalt an Frauen im Migrationsprozess/KOK") provided significant administrative start-up support. She noted that ongoing support is provided primarily by TIP NGOs in the neighboring states of Hamburg (Coordination Center Against Trafficking in Women/KOOFRA) and Lower Saxony (Coordination and Counseling Center for Victims of Trafficking/KOBRA); both of these NGOs have qualified foreign language speakers who can counsel TIP victims in their mother tongue. (Note: From our frequent interaction with the heads of KOOFRA and KOBRA we know that they have an extraordinarily dedicated staff with extensive experience assisting TIP-victims. End Note.). -------------- -------------- -------------- Interior Ministry Still Skeptical that TIP is a Problem in M-V -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Musolf believes that the state of M-V, and the interior ministry in particular, have underestimated the TIP challenge in M-V and the necessity to create a victims assistance organization. To underscore this assessment Musolf pointed out that the M-V state criminal police (LKA) and NGOs assisting TIP victims have not been able to develop a successful working relationship over the past years, essentially because the interior ministry argued that given the low number of TIP cases in M-V, a binding cooperation agreement was not needed. Musolf feels that the creation of ZORA marks a clear turning point in how TIP is being viewed and handled in M-V, although a cooperation agreement has yet to be concluded. ¶5. (SBU) Musolf remarked that while the interior ministry is not completely convinced that there is a need for a separate TIP organization in M-V, she is confident that ZORA will prove otherwise. Getting full cooperation from state authorities is, however, still an uphill battle. Currently, M-V has nine shelters for battered women. Each can accommodate only one or two TIP victims at any given time and TIP victims are not allowed to stay more than three days at a shelter, for fear, according to the interior ministry, that other women will be exposed to reprisals by pimps. HAMBURG 00000025 002.2 OF 002 ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: Prior to the opening of the ZORA counseling center, M-V authorities did not place a strong emphasis on providing TIP victim support services, believing that M-V is largely a transit, rather than a destination, state for TIP victims. The opening of a TIP-specific NGO in M-V indicates that M-V is taking, at least for now, a new approach toward TIP victim assistance. The fact that colleagues from TIP NGOs in neighboring states are supporting Musolf is a positive sign of the close and practical cooperation among TIP NGOs in northern Germany. ConGen Hamburg will note its support of this counseling center to M-V authorities, particularly those in the interior ministry. In addition, we will seek to place Musolf in an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on cooperative efforts in combating TIP. END COMMENT. ¶7. This message has been coordinated with Embassy Berlin. JOHNSON