VZCZCXRO8719
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTH #0362/01 0671518
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071518Z MAR 08 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1408
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHAST/USO ALMATY 0002
RUEHAE/AMEMBASSY ASMARA 0069
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 0067
RUEHCH/AMEMBASSY CHISINAU 0230
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0621
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 0250
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0269
RUEHTL/AMEMBASSY TALLINN 0071
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT 0124
RUEHYE/AMEMBASSY YEREVAN 0125
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 ATHENS 000362 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EUR/SE, EUR/PGI, G/TIP, INL/HST, G, DRL, PRM, IWI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREL PREF ELAB GR
SUBJECT: GREECE TIP REPORT SUBMISSION 2008- PART 1 
 
REF: State 2731 
 
ATHENS 00000362  001.2 OF 006 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitiv but Unclassified -- Protect Accordingly. 
 
2.(SBU) Below are Embassy Athens' responses to the 2008 TIP report 
questionnaire.  Text is keyed to Ref A request for "Overview" 
Section.  This is the first of four cables. 
 
¶3. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Greece continued domestic and regional efforts to 
combat TIP in 2007-08.  Greece shared comprehensive conviction 
statistics on arrests made in 2007.  In 2007 Greece identified 100 
victims, (27 more than the 83 identified last year).  The government 
provided assistance to 35 of the victims (four less than last year) 
and arrested 121 traffickers (a decrease from the 206 arrests last 
year).  The number of investigations also dropped in the past year 
from 70 in 2006 to 41 this year. 
 
Greece continued to fund numerous important programs to prevent 
trafficking and to provide for domestic shelters, legal aid, and 
other victim services.  It has sponsored, hosted, and funded major 
TIP-focused international and domestic conferences and has funded 
and implemented training for law enforcement authorities and others. 
 Formal interministerial cooperation was suspended for approximately 
nine months due to elections in September 2007 and the consequent 
reorganization of the government, but the new government has voiced 
its commitment to continue anti-trafficking cooperation.  The MFA 
completed a Child Repatriation Agreement with Albania in 2006; 
however the agreement remains unratified even while it appears to be 
followed in practice.  Greece signed the Council of Europe's 
Convention against Trafficking on 17 November 2005 and government 
officials affirm that Greece will ratify it in 2008.  Problem areas 
still remain, however.  The process by which victims are identified 
needs to be strengthened, there must be further progress in ensuring 
traffickers serve their sentences rather than receiving suspended 
sentences, and there is a continuing dearth of reliable statistics 
on a wide range of matters related to TIP in Greece.  It is the 
Embassy's judgment based on the progress made this year and 
reflected in this report, and the need for continued improvement in 
key areas, that Greece should remain in Tier Two.  Looking ahead, 
septel will analyze how best to build momentum in the government and 
in public opinion for 2008-2009 with the aim of reaching Tier One 
before publication of the next annual TIP report. END SUMMARY. 
 
Overview of Greece's activities to eliminate TIP: 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
-- A. Is the country a country of origin, transit, and/or 
destination for internationally trafficked men, women, or children? 
Provide, where possible, numbers or estimates for each group; how 
they were trafficked, to where, and for what purpose.  Does the 
trafficking occur within the country's borders?  Does it occur in 
territory outside of the government's control (e.g. in a civil war 
situation)? 
Are any estimates or reliable numbers available as to the extent or 
magnitude of the problem?   What is (are) the source(s) of available 
information on trafficking in persons or what plans are in place (if 
any) to undertake documentation of trafficking? How reliable are the 
numbers and these sources?  Are certain groups of persons more at 
risk of being trafficked (e.g. women and children, boys versus 
girls, certain ethnic groups, refugees, etc.)? 
 
Greece is a destination and transit country for international 
trafficking in women and children, and to a smaller degree, men.  In 
2007 the GoG identified 100 victims of TIP and provided assistance 
to 35 of them.  International organizations such as IOM and 
authorities from other destination countries report that Greece is 
sometimes a transit country, with victims being moved on to Italy 
and other EU countries.  There are no official estimates of the 
extent or magnitude of TIP in Greece.  In January 2005 sociologist 
and criminologist at Panteion University Grigoris Lazos estimated, 
based on field research, 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," estimated in 2003 
that there were 20,000 TIP victims in Greece.  Lazos remains the 
only person in Greece who has made an effort at estimating the scope 
of the TIP phenomenon in Greece.  He has attributed the decrease in 
 
ATHENS 00000362  002.2 OF 006 
 
 
trafficking to decreased demand for prostitution, due to lower 
discretionary income of Greeks.  (Note: Whether actually true or 
not, at the time of the Lazos' study, anecdotal polling results 
showed Greeks believed their discretionary income had decreased and 
that inflation was outpacing wage increases.  End Note.)  Other 
anecdotal evidence and some NGO workers support the belief that the 
high rates of trafficking seen in the earliest parts of this decade 
have begun to subside.  Without an analysis conducted in accordance 
with accepted statistical norms, it remains impossible to verify or 
refute this assertion. 
 
Anti-child trafficking NGOs estimated in 2008 that "hundreds" of 
children, mainly Roma from Albania, remain victims of trafficking 
for labor exploitation; typically selling small items (packs of 
tissue or flowers), begging, or stealing. NGOs report that 
trafficking of children has decreased due to police efforts in 
Greece and because it has become easier for Albanian parents to 
immigrate to Greece with their children rather than "rent" their 
children to traffickers as was done in the past.  There are teenaged 
girls trafficked to Greece for commercial sexual exploitation.  Last 
year one volunteer NGO offering medical services to aliens awaiting 
deportation at the Petrou Ralli police detention center said that it 
identified one suspected child trafficking victim.  The 14 year-old 
child, however, refused to testify against the traffickers or to 
take advantage of the protections eligible to victims of 
trafficking.  This year, the same organization said it did not 
identify any child trafficking victims in the detention center. 
 
The bilateral Child Repatriation Protocol with Albania, signed in 
Tirana in February 2006, will address some of the problems with the 
protection of child victims.  The Protocol is designed to bring 
about cooperation between Albanian and Greek authorities in 
returning Albanian children from Greece, in locating the families of 
returning children and of placing children in the hands of 
appropriate caregivers when families cannot be located immediately. 
It also aims at assisting Greek and Albanian NGOs to closely monitor 
the reintegration and rehabilitation of the children following their 
return to Albania.  The agreement remains signed but not ratified, 
although authorities assert that it is being followed in practice. 
In the meantime, some NGOs allege that only a few of the children 
deported to Albania are actually returned to their families.  NGOs 
claim that many of these children are literally imprisoned in 
Albania and slip back into Greece at the first opportunity.  Greek 
Government officials affirm that the Greek Parliament will ratify 
the agreement in 2008. 
 
-- B. Please provide a general overview of the trafficking situation 
in the country and any changes since the last TIP Report (e.g. 
changes in direction).  (Other items to address may include:  What 
kind of conditions are the victims trafficked into?  Which 
populations are targeted by the traffickers?  Who are the 
traffickers/exploiters?  Are they independent business people? 
Small or family-based crime groups?  Large international organized 
crime syndicates?  What methods are used to approach victims? 
(Are they offered lucrative jobs, sold by their families, approached 
by friends of friends, etc.?)  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 police reports indicate that Greek and Eastern 
European criminals and mafia are the primary movers in illegal 
trafficking rings, though the size and nature of trafficking 
organizations is said to vary widely.  In Thessaloniki, for example, 
trafficking networks are small-to-medium sized, mostly involving 
"night" entrepreneurs (bar and club owners) and when there is 
connection to Mafia organizations, it is with lower-ranking members. 
 MPO statistics show that 121 perpetrators were arrested and charged 
in 2007 with violations of Article 323A and 351 of the anti-TIP law 
(3064/02). NGOs in Greece and abroad, the media, and police report 
that some travel agencies, especially those that deal with Eastern 
Europe, are involved in trafficking rings.  NGO activists and 
journalists have reported in the recent past that some Greek 
consular officials abroad facilitated trafficking by granting visas, 
possibly via bribery or coercion, to TIP victims.  There are no 
reports to indicate profits going to terrorist organizations; 
 
ATHENS 00000362  003.2 OF 006 
 
 
information from arrests indicates that most profits go to criminal 
entrepreneurs. 
 
The Greek Government demonstrated political will at high levels in 
2007-2008 to address trafficking in persons.  The GoG updated its 
Action Plan for 2007-2008 to include plans to ratify the Palermo 
protocol and the Bilateral Agreement with Albania for Minor Victims 
of trafficking, although these were already part of the previous 
year's plan, and announced in early January its intention to ratify 
the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in 
Human Beings. 
 
In 2007 it improved regional police cooperation initiatives 
including cross-border cooperation through the Southeast European 
Cooperative Initiative (SECI) and by further enhancing the "Ilaeira" 
Project, launched in December 2006, -- a regional police cooperation 
program involving more than twenty countries.  The GoG also has 
several ongoing multilateral, regional programs to combat 
trafficking.  One program, begun in 2006, is conducted in 
cooperation with USAID and UNICEF in Albania.  Another project is 
designed to establish a clearing house for missing Children in 
southeastern Europe in cooperation with the NGO 'Smile of the 
Child;' and another i  The GoG extended 
its cooperation with NGOs by including one new organization in the 
2005 Memorandum of Cooperation signed by 12 NGOs.  The thirteenth 
NGO to sign the MoC is Nea Zoi.  It continued to consult with 
diplomatic and consular authorities from victims' countries of 
origin.  It has structures in place for the protection of victims 
and ongoing support and prevention projects in victims' countries of 
origin. The Greek government asserts that it lobbies and promotes 
trafficking awareness in international organizations including NATO, 
the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Human Security Network. 
 
Some examples of the GoG's resolve to combat TIP are below: 
 
-- Since 2005, Hellenic Aid and IOM are signatories to a 
humanitarian repatriation and social integration contract to ensure 
the humane repatriation of trafficking victims and to provide for 
their social reintegration into their countries of origin. 
 
-- In May 2007, the Secretariat for Gender Equality, the Research 
Centre on Equality Issues and the IOM held a three-day seminar in 
Ioannina, Northern Greece, for Public Administration officers, 
including social workers, psychologists, nurses, police personnel 
and judges.  The focus was on the combating of human trafficking and 
the support of women victims of sexual exploitation. 
 
-- IOM Greece participated as a coordinating partner in the 
Developmental Venture for the Promotion of Equal Rights for 
Trafficked Individuals.  The project was set up to implement an EU 
Equal Initiative project, co-financed by the Employment and Social 
Protection Ministry and the European Social Fund.  One of the 
results of the Project was the preparation in May 2007 of a Press 
Guide on "Human Trafficking and the Mass Media," the scope of which 
is to inform journalists about issues related to the presentation 
and communication of human trafficking. 
 
-- As part of the National Action Plan to Confront Trafficking in 
Persons, the Union of Public Prosecutors in Greece and the IOM held 
a second 3-day conference in November 2007 to train 300 Judges and 
Prosecutors in applying the protections guaranteed to victims under 
the Greek anti-trafficking legislation.  The conference entitled 
"Combating Human Trafficking" was financed by the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs Hellenic Aid Division (YDAS). 
 
-- The Ministry of Public Order continued working on the "Ilareira" 
police regional cooperation project in 2007. Within its framework, 
it held a map exercise on combating human trafficking in April 2007 
in the Thracian city of Komotini.  The conference was under the 
auspices of the European Commission Vice-President Mr. Frattini and 
included exercises in victim recognition and referral to shelters, 
legal aid and assistance as well as victim protection services. 
 
-- The Hellenic Aid Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
 
ATHENS 00000362  004.2 OF 006 
 
 
(YDAS) provided funds for a consultation forum between Greece and 
nine South-Eastern European countries along with the U.S.  The event 
was co-organized by YDAS and the International Center for Missing 
and Exploited Children.  In October, YDAS also financed a four-day 
training seminar for police and judicial personnel from Greece and 
South-Eastern European countries organized by the Ministry of Public 
Order and the International Center for Missing and Exploited 
Children. 
 
-- YDAS and IOM participated in a consultation forum with the 
diplomatic and consular authorities from victims' countries of 
origin -- including Nigeria.  The scope of which is to further 
promote coordination and regional cooperation as well as cooperation 
between NGOs, International Organizations and representatives of the 
GoG. 
 
-- The Federation of Police Personnel continued training all levels 
of police personnel in 24 Greek cities in the recognition and 
referral of victims.  The project was accomplished through 
cooperation with the NGO "Antigone," the Greek representative to the 
European Union Monitoring Center on Racism. 
 
-- The GoG continued implementing the Transnational Action Against 
Child Trafficking (TACT) as a means for combating child trafficking 
from Albania to Greece.  The project is financed by USAID, Hellenic 
Aid, UNICEF and other international donors.  Project activities take 
place in Greece and Albania and include street-work, establishment 
of shelters and protection structures, as well as the humanitarian 
repatriation of children to Albania. 
 
-- Secretariat for Gender Equality produced informative materials in 
Greek, English, Albanian and Russian about the support services 
available for victims. 
 
-- IOM and Hellenic Aid continued to produce an information card in 
Greek, English, Romanian and Russian to alert potential victims to 
the law enforcement resources available to help them.  The card 
continues to be distributed at all check points to women entering 
Greece from specific countries, and is posted in at least some 
police stations. 
 
-- In 2006, the Secretariat for Gender Equality launched a 
development assistance project in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo 
entitled "Support of Regional Policies Against Illegal Trafficking 
of Women."  The program has a total budget of 100,000 euros and aims 
at providing direct counseling support to victims in Sarajevo and 
Pristina.  It includes an education campaign in schools in both 
cities and support to the IOM structures in both Sarajevo and 
Pristina which are already providing assistance and protection to 
victims of trafficking in the Balkans. The project is still 
on-going. 
 
Some NGOs including Amnesty International and the Greek Helsinki 
Monitor expressed concern about legal and practical shortcomings in 
the process of identifying trafficked women.  Others, including 
KEPAD, European Women's Network, and Klimaka recognized that the GoG 
had the political will to combat human trafficking but cited the 
need for more effective implementation of the tools now in place. 
 
Based on the array of activities carried out by the GoG, only some 
of which are shown above, it is the assessment of the Embassy that 
the government is demonstrating the political will to continue to 
address this issue, by focusing not only on the "benchmarks," but 
also on self-generated anti-TIP initiatives and ideas. 
 
TIP Trends in Greece 
-------------------- 
 
--As in past years, NGOs and police agree that most victims 
trafficked to Greece are women from former Soviet states, the 
Balkans and Africa.  These victims work in bars, brothels, and strip 
clubs.  In 2007, Greek law enforcement authorities identified the 
following numbers and nationalities of TIP victims: from Albania (1) 
victim), 
Bulgaria (26), Lithuania (1), Moldova (2) Nigeria (5), Ukraine (3), 
Romania (43), Russia (18), Sudan (1). 
 
ATHENS 00000362  005.2 OF 006 
 
 
 
--Most victims continued to enter Greece with legal documentation, 
including work permits.  Some recognized victims also have legal, 
but fraudulently obtained documentation.  For example, at least four 
Russian victims over the past few years have reported to NGOs that 
their traffickers falsified visa applications to obtain visas in the 
victims' legal names. 
 
Police and NGOs report that most, if not all, victims in 2007 were 
found in Greece with legal visas, which according to NGOs who work 
with victims in most cases were expedited by traffickers and issued 
without personal interviews. 
 
--There was an increasing trend of immigrant smugglers locking 
smuggled immigrants for labor trafficking in apartments once they 
arrived in Greece, and demanding a "ransom" from family members in 
origin countries. 
 
--There were reports of debt bondage both by victims and by source 
country diplomatic representatives in Greece. 
 
--In 2007, the trend continued of increasing numbers of 
African, especially Nigerian, women trafficked to Greece for sexual 
exploitation.  Some of these women believe they are under a "voodoo 
spell," and will not, therefore, speak to police and/or NGOs about 
their possible victimization, and refuse assistance offered to them. 
One NGO, Nea Zoi, was working to combat the effects of these 
so-called voodoo curses and held a one-day seminar on the topic. 
 
-- TIP victims are subjected to withholding of documents and 
physical and psychological violence and threats.  The trend 
continued of victims being trafficked into more so-called "humane" 
conditions, with some freedom of movement, communication, and small 
stipends, but increased psychological abuse. For example, some 
victims' lives and the lives of their families were threatened, and 
traffickers told some victims they would be arrested, deported, or 
even killed if they went to the police. 
 
--Some victims were forced to marry traffickers or traffickers' 
associates to "legalize" their status in Greece. 
 
--NGOs report that increasing numbers of women were acting as 
traffickers. 
 
Ultimately, the identification of trends becomes more difficult in 
the absence of reliable statistics and beyond recounting the 
anecdotal evidence above, little can be said reliably. 
 
-- C.  Which government agencies are involved in anti-trafficking 
efforts and which agency, if any, has the lead? 
 
There are eight national ministries with responsibility for 
antitrafficking efforts.  Nine Secretaries General (SG) from those 
ministries comprise the Interministerial Committee on TIP, of which 
the SG of the Ministry of Justice is the president.  The Ministry 
of: 
 
--Health (MOH) has responsibility for medical care for victims, 
operation of shelters, operation of a telephone hotline, 
coordination of repatriation program with IOM, and coordination of 
emergency services. 
 
--Public Order (MPO) has responsibility for TIP police task forces, 
conducting TIP raids, arresting traffickers, producing police 
reports as the basis for prosecutions, screening and identifying 
victims, and education of police.  The MPO has the lead in actively 
investigating trafficking cases.  The Hellenic Police have deployed 
specialized anti-trafficking units in Athens and Thessaloniki since 
¶2003. 
The Greek police have 15 active anti-trafficking police units 
throughout Greece. The units are specially trained to conduct all 
TIP operations and respond to all TIP incidents encountered by other 
officers. Further to their operational role, the mandate of the task 
forces also includes the exchange of intelligence and other 
information with prosecutors, NGO shelters and health authorities. 
 
 
ATHENS 00000362  006.2 OF 006 
 
 
 
--Justice (MOJ) has responsibility for prosecutions, convictions, 
education of prosecutors and judges, assignment of prosecutors to 
TIP cases, amendment of the legislative framework and keeping a 
database on prosecution of trafficking crimes.  Prosecutors have a 
special responsibility to formally grant (or deny) victim status. 
 
--Foreign Affairs (MFA) coordinates the diplomatic/NGO/GoG working 
group, coordinates and negotiates bilateral and multilateral 
agreements, such as the Child Repatriation Agreement with Albania, 
and acts as a liaison between interested parties.  Th spokesman of 
the Interministerial 
Committee on TIP is an MFA employee with the rank of ambassador. 
Hellenic Aid, a part of MFA, funds NGO and IO programs and shelters, 
provides legal aid to victims through NGO funding, funds training of 
police, judges and prosecutors, and is cooperating with USAID to 
contribute to the Transnational Action against Child Trafficking 
(TACT) program in Albania. 
 
--Interior (MOI) (including the SG for Gender Equality) has 
responsibility for amendment of the legislative framework regarding 
migration policy which includes residence permits and reflection 
periods, granting of residence permits, nationwide public awareness 
campaign, and vocational training, counseling, and social support 
for victims. 
 
--Education and Employment ministries have responsibility for 
education, vocational training, and job placement of victims. 
 
--Finance has responsibility for authorizing funding for TIP 
efforts. 
 
-- D. 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? 
 
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.  Resources to address 
support and assistance needs of victims are more than adequate when 
considering the limited number of identified victims in the last 
year.  The government funds NGOs to maintain shelters and to provide 
assistance, aid and other services to victims.  However, corruption 
within the Greek bureaucracy and a slow judicial system continue to 
contribute to limitations on the GoG's ability to address 
trafficking in practice.  GoG continued efforts to educate the 
police force and key civil servants.  Plans are in place for 
continued training of police, prosecutors and judges. 
 
-- E. To what extent does the government systematically monitor its 
anti-trafficking efforts (on all fronts -- prosecution, prevention 
and victim protection) and periodically make available, publicly or 
privately and directly or through regional/international 
osments of these anti-trafficking efforts? 
 
TIPs of Justice, Public OrdHealth, Interior and Foreign Affairs actively monitor the 
anti-trafficking efforts of the GoG in prosecution, prevention, and 
victim protection.  Their inter-ministerial group on TIP, however 
failed to hold any meetings between March 2007 and January 2008, due 
to elections held in September 2007 and the subsequent organization 
of a new government.  The GoG makes their assessments available, 
both publicly and privately, directly to regional organizations, 
international bodies, and embassies.  The absence of reliable 
statistics, however, continues to be a barrier to assessing 
anti-trafficking efforts. 
 
In 2008 as in 2007 the GoG coordinated with NGOs and IOM to provide 
information for this report, gathering some statistics directly from 
NGOs and forwarding them as-is. 
 
Greece 2008 TIP Report Submission Continued Septel. 
 
SPECKHARD