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.



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One-Person TIP Operation Receives Local, State and National NGO
Support
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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 Frau

en 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.).


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Interior Ministry Still Skeptical that TIP is a Problem in M-V
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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