Human Trafficking in Turkey - Term Paper Example

?Human Trafficking in Turkey Introduction Human trafficking refers to the illicit deal involving human beings who are traded essentially for reproductive slavery, obligatory manual labor, sexual exploitation and a kind of slavery practiced in the modern context. Human trafficking at present is a global issue and no nation is protected from this. This is significant because, sexual abuse, forced labor, and heath threats are the direct consequences of trafficking. Connor (2004) calls it a modern form of slavery. Women and children or teenagers are mostly the victims. They are usually brought by force or allure to the land of opportunities, that is, USA, European nations and Canada. In current times, human trafficking is considered to be an organizational and administrative concern. It has become precedence for those working in many other strategic areas such as human rights, health, gender, law enforcement, and community services. The organization formed by European Union conference on “Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings,” held in Brussels from 18-20 September 2002, is an instance of the increasing political concern for combating human trafficking (BRUSSELS DECLARATION ON PREVENTING AND COMBATINGTRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS, n.d.). Over the recent past, Turkey has been witnessing a significant problem of human trafficking, which in fact is an international concern. This issue is related with irregular ad illegal migration. The neighboring regions of Turkey have been affected by political turmoil and conflicts due to which the people have been flooding in Turkey from these lands to ensure a better living, protection from harassment and safety. Instances of civil wars and conflicts taking place in the Middle East, Balkan and Caucasus lands have urged such mobility. The nation has therefore become a final dumping ground of trafficked women and children for sexual exploitation and workforce. The trafficked population comes mostly from nations like Soviet Union incorporating Azerbajan, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Moldova along with Russia. (Narli, 2002) The current paper provides an insight into the problems of human trafficking in Turkey encompassing the scope of the problems, policies and actions undertaken to control the same, and a hint about what the future holds for the nation. The first section focuses on the context of the problem providing some statistical evidence on the incidence of trafficking along with cases and evidence involving women and children. In a nutshell this section provides an impression of the persistent problem in the nation with an insight into the severity of the issue. This part will logically analyze why human trafficking has become a problem for the society, especially in Turkey. The second part brings out what policies and measures have already been adopted by Turkey and an assessment of the existing policies with respect to their ability to address the problem. This reveals the actions undertaken by the NGO’s. It covers the scope of the issue both within and outside the Criminal Justice System. The section will also highlight the actions being adopted in the international scenario towards resolving the problem. The third section will discuss what the nation of Turkey and the other countries across the world are doing in order to combat the problem. This reveals some policies undertaken at micro level and in the operational departments. This section highlights the policies with respect to employment, economy, education and best practices of other nations, which could be applicable in Turkey to resolve the problem of human trafficking. The section also projects some recommendations to suggest Turkey’s next best steps those can be adopted for a better future with respect to the problem of human trafficking. Social Relevance and severity of the problem Turkey connects Asia and Europe and hence plays as a transit and also a target for human trafficking victims. The cities of Istanbul, Izmir and Trabzon are the most popular destinations for victims of human trafficking. Despite actions taken by the police to address the problem in Turkey, the police force has been accused of accepting bribes and corruption. The crime chains of Russia and Ukraine assist in these operations of human trafficking in Turkey. Although the nation does not declare itself to be a nation subject to immigration, the lack of effectual control measures have made the nation prone to different processes of smooth influx ands settlements. During the Gulf War, Turkey experienced huge influx of people from the Middle East (Icduygu, & Toktas, 2002). The international community declares human trafficking as an abuse of human rights and also a kind of violence against women. Illegal migration and organized crimes are directly related because the organized crime chains operate human trafficking as well as illegal employment. The European Union authorities have placed this issue at the top of the agenda in June 24 2002 summit in Spain. This was due to the upheaval in the right wing support form electors all over Europe. Before this summit Turkey was warned against human trafficking with respect to tightening control over illegal migration, which allows people to travel to Europe through the country. From the beginning of the 80s this nation has been a hub of illegal migration with a country subject of being the first asylum. The disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century led to the Turks living in the Balkans and Caucasus to migrate towards Istanbul and Anatolia. In 1923 when there was an exchange in population between Turkey and Greece there was around 1.5 million people comprising mostly of Greeks who left their place of residence and moved to Turkey. Other populations came from the Jews, Armenians United States and Israel. In 1960s there was a new problem, which made this issue a concern. Labor supply exceeded its demand in Turkey and migration began towards Western Europe and Australia where foreign labor was largely required and demanded (Yildiz, 2007). This continued till the 80s in search of better quality of living and employment. Many of them sought for political shelter. There were Sudanese and Algerians who escaped form their nations owing to the fear of the civil war and Afghanis who ran away form their nation under political disturbances since 80s. Gender has played a significant role here in the context of division of labor. Women from Russia, Ukraine and Moldova enrolled themselves as prostitutes, bar dancers and salesgirls in Laleli and Askaray where people from Russia, Ukraine and other nations like Romania Bulgaria etc arrive in order to sell textiles and leather goods. In the 2000s the issue of illegal laborers and human traffickers have come to the notice of the national media along with the global organizations and NGOs. According to the estimates of Turks, in 2001 illegal workers grew in numbers to around 4.5 million. However government’s officially reported data shows a more constrained estimation. The figure revealed by Labour and social Security Ministry was 1 million. The influx of these people has put pressure on the workforce of Turkey. Hence the need was realized to arrange for neutralization of illegal foreign workers in Turkey. Thus the migrant workers led to a social problem since 2001 in Turkey. (Narli, 2002; Dying to Leave 2003) Relating trafficking with women, the prime issue, which strikes the mind, is the connection between sex work and trafficking operations. Turkey is a significant and well-liked destination for the trafficked women coming from Ukraine and Russia. The prostitutes working here are in general referred as ‘Natashas’ since most of them working here are from Russia. In 1996, Istanbul witnessed two Russian women trafficked from Russia pushed from the balcony to meet their deaths and six of their associates kept looking. In Adana in south Turkey raised a strike of protest against police harassment. According to the complaints of women, there are constraints imposed by the police on playing songs, looking outside the window and talking to customers apart from the brothels run by the state, which serve as their workplace. The prostitutes are allowed licenses to carry out their deals in houses referred as “General Houses”. Women in prison are forced to undergo virginity tests in order to prevent allegations of rape against the prison guards in future. Prostitution is however one of the many reasons for trafficking. During the time of disintegration of the USSR there has been a severe economic crisis including high inflation, declining standards of living and large level of unemployment. This was coupled with other concerns and finally led to migration patterns including return of some ethnic groups who had long left their motherland and resulted in high frequency of unemployment amongst the educated and trained women. These women are brought to work in sweatshops, domestic and agricultural laborer and the brothels as well as strip clubs. An Armenian woman was influenced to come to Turkey through the agencies in order to find a job after the death of her husband. She was terribly betrayed by the travel agency. When she reached the office, a man was waiting for them and he offered a job at the canteen belonging to his factory. Then the women with four children had to share a three-room apartment and over in excess in order to make both ends meet since her employer did not pay her for months. Her problems were not solved and more than anything else, she escaped from there only after she managed some money in exchange of forced sexual relationship with the employer – “I do not know what to do now. When I heard about jobs in Turkey it seemed to me the best solution. Now I am back. I have the same debts, the same problems and four children to take care of” (IOM Case studies, n.d., p.6). She even gives an account of the immigration detention center where her employer threatened to report her expired visa if she failed to cooperate with his commands. At the center women were beaten, raped and insulted for days as she heard the count of her friend who was expelled in a state of unconsciousness. In another case the woman victim after returning to Armenia from Karabakh was finding no work and influenced by the bus operator and her neighbour who mentioned some Turkish agency giving jobs purchased tickets for Turkey. She went in a group and met a man who claimed to own a sewing factor and providing them jobs there. Hence he took their passports for registration. He took them to his massage parlor, which in other version was a brothel. The women were instructed to wear vulgar clothing and postponed payment after the first month of work. He gave them only the rent for their apartments. The woman managed to escape in a bus going to Armenia and had to spend one day at the immigration police, a time she describes as “Even though I have seen the horrors of war, that night was Unimaginable” (IOM Case studies, n.d., p.8). The case of a prostitute from Vanadzor who reached Turkey to make more money shows the other side of brutality and differences even in the voluntary sex workers’ lives. She was forced to handle more clients than she could take and later not paid to the reasonable extent. Trying to make money without association of local pimps was without hope and she finally decided to move to some other place like Dubai, which would treat people better. Unless this problem of trafficking is controlled, it would not only spoil the reputation of Turkey in the international scenario, but also give rise to criminal activities or organized crimes related to sex works and the development of an informal sector, which mostly goes unrecorded officially. In most cases, wrong impression of the environment at Turkey is given to the women in order to allure them to a poor wretched condition of living. Hence the lack of awareness and information crucially play a role in the victimization of the trafficked people. At this juncture the problem of human trafficking in Turkey needs effective and fast action. (Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, n.d.; IOM International Organization for Migration, 2003; IOM Case studies, n.d.) Evaluation of Turkey’s response and policies towards the problem Turkey responded to the concern of human trafficking in an effectual manner from 2002 onwards. The nation has been positioned in the Tier 3 level in US TIP Report in both 2000 and 2001. However the country has moved up to the Tier 2 level as a result of the announcement from the President of USA in September 2003. As it undertook approval of international contracts, passed a local law for dealing with human trafficking, passed the new Penal Code by June 2005, educated police officers, judges and prosecutors and engaged HRDF (Human Resources Development Fund) which acts as a NGO to work against the human trafficking. Fighting an issue like human trafficking does not demand any schedule, which is implemented by a single segment or department. Such a program engages different sectors and agencies involving the general public, non-profit institutes and private firms of the country. Both the regional and the transnational partnership along with association among different sectors might help. The HRDF is a significant non-profit making institution, which works autonomously from Istanbul in favor of reproductive health and human resource empowerment. From the time of its set up in 1988 with 40 members’ founding team, the organization played a role in several projects and programs both nationally and globally on a wide range of issues encompassing “promoting children’s rights and improving the socio-economic status of women, providing social support for refugees and victims of human trafficking” (120). The organization has been able to render service to 400000 women, 30000 medical practitioners, 8000 refugees and immigrants. It has a special NGO brand for recognition with UN Economic and Social Council. HRDF agreed to two protocols with the government, promising cooperation in striving against human trafficking and one agreement has been signed with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality for funding an apartment to shelter the victims. The victims of human trafficking are often in dire need of shelter, food and aid to adapt to the new environment apart from legal advice and protection during return. These are the essential criterion of the program against human trafficking. A flat was rented for the shelter purpose in July 2004 financed by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The managerial costs are covered by the HRDF while Philip Morris incurs operational costs. Beyoglu District Municipality supplies food items in dried and packaged state. Maintenance of the shelter requires voluntary participation in counseling and working at the apartment. These counselors are entitled to deport victims from Istanbul Foreigners department to the shelter and hence arranging for their safe departure. They need to look after the daily needs and offer both emotional and law related advice. The victims stay at the shelter until they gain safe return. Above 100 victims already resided at the flat from the time it was initiated (38 percent come form Ukraine, 28.5 percent from Moldova, 8.5 percent from Russia). The educational program implemented by HRDF successfully has trained the law enforcement officers, judges and prosecutors in 2004. The European Union and the British Council financed this. The training program, which lasted for a three day training schedule arranged by HRDF in two different regions. Around 63 prosecutors and judges enrolled themselves in this training program. These educational programs are supposed to render knowledge and expertise to the judiciary and the workforce responsible for enforcing law and norms. These set of knowledge include the fundamental ideas of human trafficking along with the purpose, process involved and outcomes, global procedures, regulations, norms of working with victims, cooperation and association of the concerned groups in striving against human trafficking assistance programs for the victims of the problem, case studies and the involvement of the NGOs in encountering the issue. HRDF has also held a meeting with Catholic Relief Services of Bulgaria relating to “Cooperation Between NGOs and Law Enforcement Agencies Across Countries in Combating Human Trafficking.” This meeting was held at Istanbul from 16-17 September 2004. The aim was to unravel and address the opportunities for cooperation of the law keepers, the administrators and the NGOs in Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania and Moldova. 54 participants came form these nations to the conference. Likewise another project was undertaken by HDRF on “Cross Border Cooperation for Efficient Victim Assistance” in association with CRS from Bulgaria and Serbia, Caritas from Bulgaria and Astra from Serbia. The organization has initiated to form networks from 2003 and has built a database of NGOs with whom it communicated information. The institute took part in many seminars and meets to raise voice and perform actions related to anti-trafficking measures. Owing to the reputation it has earned, HDRF welcomes the condemnation from NGOs in the source nations where women have been found missing and considered liable to human trafficking. HRDF’s collaboration with European Union, British Council, Ministry of Health, General Directorate of Security and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have aided in strengthening its work against trafficking of human beings especially women. The media has been utilized to raise awareness amongst the society regarding human trafficking issues and the condition of the nation of Turkey. This has been enabled by the HRDF by establishing an association with the media. (Dundar, 2006) A new project financed by the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Turkish government launches measures taken by the community against trafficking. This aims at enhancing law enforcement measures, plans to combat human trafficking and strategies to develop local plan of action along with community based solutions. The project entails funding for 157 Helpline and support towards a couple of NGO partners like Human Resources Development Foundation and Foundation for Women’s solidarity (FWS) to provide shelter for trafficked victims. IOM Turkey will launch the capacity enhancing educational programs for staffs engaged in operations. A bilateral meeting would be held between Georgia and Turkey in order to encourage cross border support against THB (Trafficking in Human Beings) and identify the human traffickers. (Counter trafficking, 2006) Solutions for the future and Turkey’s overall position Under the present scenario concerning the problem of Turkey discussed above, one may say that the government does not completely abide by the minimum benchmarks for the eradication of trafficking despite its attempts towards the same. The lawmakers began to make the networks of trafficking their target and the government enhanced its tribunal of the criminals involved in trafficking in 2008. Despite all restraints, the anti trafficking attempts persisted through identification, referral, protection and help extended towards Turkey. The first step that Turkey needs to ensure is to maintain a consistent support extended towards the trafficked people and sufficient funding should be provided for housing in Ankara and Istanbul. Expanding the capacity of the shelter for these trafficked victims will be essential and adequate financing will be required. Steps need to be adopted to identify the victims and search them or rescue them form the networks of crime which aim towards forced unpaid labor and sexual exploitation of the victims. The crimes related to trafficking should be rapidly prosecuted and official who are illegally involved in such activities should be promptly convicted. This is mainly applicable for the police force, which have been reported to harass the women and ill-treat them. Above all a comprehensive educational program should be undertaken at the micro level. Every school and college needs to be a part of this program apart from individual households. Advertisements could be a good tool to be used here for spread of awareness. The main problem existing in this context is the inadequacy in funding by the government. The administration has not been able to provide direct finance to the shelters for trafficked victims and the identified victims have been declining. Istanbul’s government withdrew the free rent facility despite the agreement to do so. In this regard the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did a helpful act in releasing around $20000 annually to the shelters. These shelters are run by donor funds. The victims have not always received prompt action despite their traffickers being reported to the law. it was found that a mere handful of trafficked victims were ready to identify their traffickers in the court. This is because most of them were scared of vengeance from the traffickers on identification and also the court procedures took too long to be completed. Government has adopted the general witness protection law to encourage the trafficked victims to identify their traffickers. Apart from this a facility of obtaining humanitarian visas to reside in Turkey are offered up to six months but very few such immigrants bother to adopt the same. Only two such visas were issued in 2008. Hence this points out how harsh the conditions are for work and living in the nation. The migrants were disillusioned most of the time. Support needs to be extended to the victims of abuse essentially the women and children. Child labor and involvement of children in crime rings have become common and most of them are trafficked to the big cities. (Degirmencioglu, Acar, & Acar, 2008; U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2009) In order to understand the options available to Turkey to combat human trafficking, one may study the case of US. Most cases of sex trafficking are linked with organized crimes. The above accounts of experts clearly show that the long run impact of such activities could lead to strengthening of crime organizations, which would incorporate mostly the immigrants from economically backward and underdeveloped nations. Unless proper action is taken by the government this would lead to further crimes and corruption probabilities within the nation. This would generate feeding and caring for the enemies of the nation within the nation itself. Strict actions should hence be adopted apart from simply making legislations and holding of conferences. The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking was created in the State Department (G/TIP Office) has already distributed grants of millions of dollars to the organizations all over the world in order to tackle the problem of trafficking. Programs to provide economic opportunities are provided to those people who are potential victims of trafficking. The police are liberal about accepting opinions from the public as well as information (Laczko, & Gramegna, 2003). He also specifies that at times information provided by an individual citizen ahs helped the police track down a network of prostitution. (Tully, 2008) In March 1998 a raid by FBI in a house at Atlanta led to the discovery of eight girls who were aged between 15 to 16 years. They were held like captives in a prison like environment, which was actually a brothel. The FBI after a couple of years’ investigation came up with the information that almost 1000 women were kept by rotation in brothels in 16 states and accrued to these brothels a revenue of $1.5 million dollars within a period of 28 months. The trafficking of these women occurred in a span of a week to 10 days time. In 1999 august, 6 people out of the 13 suspected in the case were taken to prison. Another investigation in November 2000 led to the arrest of a man who was involved in the trafficking of around 40 immigrants across the boundaries of USA and Canada. (Raymond, Hughes and Gomez, 2001, pp.102, 105) Turkey may take a lesson from this and strengthen its information network. Outsourcing of jobs have helped in reducing the immigrants to some extent but the countries of the Middle East which mostly act as the source nation for trafficked people in Turkey mostly do not enjoy outsourcing of jobs. Hence people from these countries enter Turkey in search of a better living through work, which can be ensured, by a proper regulated labor market along with maintenance of proper official records of the trafficked people. Conclusion From the above discussion it is clear that human trafficking and illegal immigration are related issues and combined policies need to be framed in order to combat both. Once the reasons for illegal immigration are identified the factors working behind human trafficking will become clear to a large extent. For instance the lack of jobs in the source nation and hope for a better living brings the trafficked victims to Turkey. The organized groups operating in this trafficking operation use forced unpaid labor with the help of these trafficked victims and therefore the first step is to identify these groups, which often operate through individuals like the bus operators and tourist agencies. So a strict monitoring of these subjects might ensure a proper method for identification of crimes related to trafficking. The nation of Turkey should open up more to foreign investment and encourage MNCs to enter the economy such that the educated women amongst the traffickers can find a suitable job and also International Labor Standards may be put into effect rather than the local ways of working with the labor force. To tackle such a global issue mere national efforts or government assistance might not help. The non-profit organizations and humanitarian groups need to come up with their helping hand in terms of volunteers or counselors and financers and the future of this issue will depend essentially on foreign assistance. References 1. BRUSSELS DECLARATION ON PREVENTING AND COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS (n.d.), Belgium, Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://www.belgium.iom.int/STOPConference/Conference%20Papers/brudeclaration.pdf 2. Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, (n.d.), Turkey, Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://www.catwinternational.org/factbook/Turkey.php 3. Counter Trafficking (2006) The News from IOM Turkey, Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://www.countertrafficking.org/news_0806.html 4. Connor, G. (2004) Human Trafficking - A Global Issue, UMCOR, Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/ngo/issues/trafficking.cfm 5. Degirmencioglu, S. M.; Acar, H. & Y. B. Acar (2008). Extreme forms of Child Labour in Turkey, Children & Society, May2008, 22 (3), pp.191-200 6. Dying to Leave (2003), PBS, Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/dying-to-leave/human-trafficking-worldwide/turkey/1469/ 7. Dundar, S.E.T. (2006), Human Trafficking and Turkey, Austrian Federal Ministry of Defense, Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Digital-Library/Publications/Detail/?ots591=0C54E3B3-1E9C-BE1E-2C24-A6A8C7060233&lng=en&id=25162 8. Human Trafficking, (2006) United States of America, Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/united_states_of_america 9. Icduygu, A. & S. Toktas, (2002), How do Smuggling and Trafficking Operate via Irregular Border Crossings in the Middle East? Evidence from Fieldwork in Turkey, International Migration, 40(6), pp.25-54 10. IOM CASE STUDIES (n.d.) Trafficking from Caucasus, Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://www.iom.int/armenia/case_studies_caucasus_eng.pdf 11. IOM International Organization for Migration, (2003), Irregular Migration and Trafficking in Women:The Case of Turkey, Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/covers/Irregular_mig_in_turkey.pdf 12. Laczko, F, & Gramegna, M.A. (2003). Developing Better Indicators of Human Trafficking. Brown Journal of World Affairs. Volume X, Issue 1. Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://www.childtrafficking.org/pdf/user/iom_developing_better_indicators_of_human_trafficking.pdf 13. Narli, N. (2002), Migration to Turkey and Human Trafficking, Bianet, Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from:: http://bianet.org/english/people/11645-migration-to-turkey-and-human-trafficking 14. Raymond, J.G., Hughes, .M. and Gomez, C.J. (2001) SEX TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/sex_traff_us.pdf 15. Tully, A. (2008) Experts Say Human Trafficking A Major Problem In U.S., RFERL, Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://www.rferl.org/Content/Experts_Say_Human_Trafficking_A_Major_Problem_In_US/1183179.html 16. U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report (2009), TURKEY (TIER 2), Retrieved on May 7, 2011 from: http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Turkey-2.htm 17. Yildiz, G. B. (2007). Foreign Workers in Turkey, Their Rights and Obligations Regulated in Turkish Labour, Law European Journal of Migration & Law, Apr, 9 (2), p207-227 Read More