VZCZCXRO3025
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHRO #0209/01 0561217
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251217Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3319
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE 4063
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN 0505
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 4292

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 ROME 000209 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PGOV PHUM PREF
SMIG, KMCA, PREL, IT 
SUBJECT: 2009 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT FOR ITALY PART 1 
 
REF: SECSTATE 02094 
 
ROME 00000209  001.3 OF 006 
 
 
 
¶25. Below are responses to the TIP questions for 2009. 
 
¶25. A Sources of information include government and NGO 
officials, research projects contracted by the government and 
prepared by social research organizations, government 
statistics and reports, international conferences, and media 
reports. The Ministry of Equal Opportunity promoted the 
creation of a national observatory on TIP--which is not fully 
operational yet--in cooperation with Transcrime, an 
independent research center. (see 26.D.) 
 
¶25. B Italy is a country of destination and transit for 
internationally trafficked men, women and children. There is 
no evidence that Italy is a country of origin. 
 
Both NGO and government TIP experts agree that the number of 
TIP victims remained stable in 2008.  According to NGOs and 
government officials, the majority of sex workers from 
Eastern Europe arrive and work voluntarily, and thus cannot 
be classified as TIP victims.  Of those trafficked, about 40 
percent of trafficked sex workers come from Romania, 
according to the Italian Ministry for Equal Opportunity. 
Other continuing trends include a large number of women who 
enter the country voluntarily, and an increasing number of 
victims trafficked for labor outside of the sex industry. 
 
In 2009, the mayors of a number of large cities implemented 
measures designed to limit street prostitution based on the 
security decree enacted by the government in 2008. These 
measures included barring individuals from congregating along 
certain streets and from dressing in provocative ways that 
were identified with prostitutes. Local authorities enforced 
such rules, especially in big cities. As a consequence, 
beginning in the second half of 2008 and continuing 
throughout 2009, some sex workers moved to nearby villages or 
to apartments and clubs, and those who remained on the street 
often did so further away from urban centers, and dressed 
less provocatively. With prostitution increasingly hidden 
from the public eye, the identification of victims of 
trafficking is becoming more difficult. 
 
According to PARSEC, the only social research institute that 
collects reliable statistics on TIP, the number of TIP 
victims remained stable in 2009 at 2,500. A senior researcher 
at PARSEC maintained that there are approximately 28,000 sex 
workers (overwhelmingly foreign) working the streets, around 
80 percent Romanian and Nigerian. Between 50 and 60 percent 
of sex workers--especially those coming from Romania, 
Moldova, and Ukraine--agree on a certain degree of 
exploitation in exchange for protection; 30 to 50 percent of 
their income goes to traffickers and pimps. Alien smuggling 
often entails elements of exploitation; in some instances, 
smuggled immigrants accept to be exploited and then find 
themselves trapped in slavery. 
 
PARSEC estimates there are approximately 16,000 sex workers 
active in apartments or clubs, mainly Eastern Europeans. 
Approximately 8,000 sex workers move in and out of the 
country every year, especially in the summer. The security 
package approved by Parliament in 2009 made entering or 
staying in Italy without permission a crime punishable by a 
fine of 5,000 to 10,000 euro, expedited expulsions of illegal 
immigrants, and stiffened penalties for landlords to up to 
three years of prison if they rent to undocumented migrants. 
Its implementation led to a drop in the number of street sex 
workers in major cities like Rome and Milan. Most of them 
moved to the outer suburbs of the same cities, small towns, 
or clubs and private apartments, where they are more 
susceptible to violence and other abuse. According to IOM and 
independent experts, criminalization of illegal immigration 
made screening for trafficked victims a daunting challenge 
and police were more inclined to expel aliens, often failing 
to screen them to see if they had been victims of 
trafficking. Government sources acknowledge that police 
should be better trained and apply legislation on trafficking 
and illegal immigration more evenly through the country, in 
cooperation with NGOs. 
 
Minors represented 10 percent of the total number of victims, 
and 13 percent of Romanian and Nigerian victims. According to 
the Ministry of Labor, at the end of 2009 there were about 
6,100 unaccompanied minors registered by the government; only 
23 percent of them held documents. The top three countries of 
origin were Morocco, Egypt, and Albania. 
 
The Ministry of Interior announced that 810 victims received 
 
ROME 00000209  002.3 OF 006 
 
 
residence permits in 2009, compared to 664 in 2008. In 2007, 
health care, shelter and job training services were provided 
to victims from Nigeria (50 percent), Romania (15 percent), 
China (5 percent), and Moldova (4 percent). Four out of five 
victims were sexually exploited, with most of the rest 
victims of labor exploitation or, in a few cases, compelled 
to beg. 
 
In June 2009, police found 18 Nigerian women kept in 
captivity and reduced to slavery, some of whom were minors, 
and arrested eight people accused of abetting illegal 
immigration, slavery, exploitation of prostitution and 
trafficking in drugs. The criminal organization was led by 
two brothers from Benin who smuggled the women from Nigeria 
through Libya and forced them into prostitution in Italy. 
 
There are no specific statistics for other trafficking 
victims, including forced domestic or agricultural labor for 
adults and trafficking in children. In general, a significant 
percentage of workers (10-15 percent) in these fields are 
hired illegally and a small percentage of them are exploited 
or trafficked. According to experts, of the 70,000 foreign 
men who arrived in the country illegally in 2009, up to 
30,000 were exploited. An increasing demand for cheap goods 
and services resulted in a growing demand for unskilled 
immigrant labor to fill undesirable jobs in sectors such as 
agriculture--particularly harvesting crops, house-cleaning, 
construction, hotels, and restaurants. PARSEC estimates that 
about 500 victims of labor trafficking work outside the sex 
industry. 
 
Major problems with forced labor occur primarily in the 
agricultural sector and mostly in southern Italy, where the 
vast majority of migrants work without a legal contract. In 
2009, labor inspectors found 98,400 unregistered workers 
employed by 80,000 of the 100,600 farms under scrutiny. They 
were recruited by middlemen--called "caporali"--who select 
the workforce for the farm owners and make sure the job gets 
done. Recruiters are often foreigners and linked to organized 
crime based in southern Italy. In some instances, foreigners 
are employed by fake employers as seasonal workers and then 
become overstayers exploited in different regions. The top 
source countries for agricultural workers are Romania, 
Poland, Albania, Morocco, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Senegal, 
Ghana and the Ivory Coast. 
 
In January 2010, violence erupted in Rosarno, a small town in 
the province of Reggio Calabria, during demonstrations by 
hundreds of Africans, after an incident in which unknown 
assailants shot at two of them with a pellet gun. About 2,000 
seasonal workers and 500 permanent workers had been employed 
illegally in the Rosarno valley; their recruiters and 
exploiters were part of a Mafia-run employment system. A 
large number of them held temporary residence permits while 
others were granted asylum. Of the 1,000 immigrants 
temporarily hosted in immigration centers run by the Ministry 
of Interior, only eight requested residence permits as 
trafficking victims. 
 
Declining EU subsidies to southern farmers caused rising 
unemployment of seasonal workers in Rosarno where the African 
migrants were perceived as a burden by the 15,000 town 
residents. 
 
In July 2009, an IOM team assisted 700 migrants living in 
abandoned buildings without water and electricty near Naples. 
The majority of them came to Italy with a regular visa, but 
then the employers with whom they had contracts failed to 
offer them work. 
 
In January 2010, the government adopted a plan to combat 
undeclared work in construction and agriculture sectors, in 
four southern regions: Campania, Apulia, Calabria and Sicily. 
About 20,000 companies are being inspected by a task force 
composed of 550 officers. 
 
The Labor Ministry promoted partnership between local 
authorities, NGOs, and religious communities with the aim of 
providing seasonal agricultural workers with housing in the 
South. 
 
In some cases, prosecutors are not able to prove the crime of 
trafficking in persons for lack of evidence and charge 
offenders with other crimes, such as abetting illegal 
immigration. In most cases, laborers receive some payment for 
their work, though they generally cannot refuse to work. 
There are also reports of smuggled immigrants who enter Italy 
freely to obtain seasonal employment and become trapped after 
exploiters confiscate their passports. 
 
ROME 00000209  003.3 OF 006 
 
 
 
¶25. C Most children and women victims are trafficked into 
commercial sex slavery. Trafficked children work primarily in 
the sex industry and as beggars. Exploiters often seize their 
documents and most of their earnings. Victims are segregated 
and obliged to work long hours and move frequently to other 
cities or abroad. Men are trafficked into low-paid hard jobs 
in agriculture or in the service sector and are subject to 
debt bondage and slavery. 
 
Social workers reported that in big cities there were 
isolated cases of male children rented out to clients who pay 
a fee in advance to traffickers. 
 
Chinese men and women are exploited in Italy as forced labor. 
They usually arrive in Italy via Russia into Greece where 
they board small ships that also carry drugs into Italy. 
Chinese women are separated during these trips and usually 
end up performing forced labor in Milan, Florence, and Naples. 
 
¶25. D Persons trafficked to Italy primarily come from 
Nigeria, Romania, and Eastern Europe. Other countries of 
origin include Russia, China, Uzbekistan, East and North 
African countries and South America (particularly Peru, 
Colombia, and Brazil). Most trafficked Nigerians enter 
northern Italy legally, via air, from other EU countries. 
Their estimated 
cost of travel is approximately 6,000 euro. Victims from 
North and East Africa arrived illegally, via sea routes, 
especially from Libya, where the journey costs approximately 
2,500 euro. 
 
Between May 1 and September 22, the Ministry of the Interior 
identified 1,800 individuals who came ashore illegally from 
North Africa, compared to 18,800 in the same period of 2008. 
The Italian government attributes this decline to accords 
signed with Libya and other African countries, as well as 
increased sea patrols. Hunger, wars and lack of jobs drove 
these immigrants to leave their countries. They were allowed 
to stay in temporary centers around the country and wait for 
a final decision on their asylum applications. Some, who fled 
the shelters, were at risk of being trafficked for sexual or 
labor exploitation.In February 2010, the Minister of Interior 
signed bilateral agreements aimed at fighting trafficking and 
illegal immigration with Ghana and Niger. The Italian 
government offered Niger 11 four-wheel drive vehicles to 
patrol trafficking routes, portable metal detectors, and 
training in Italy for police officers. Reportedly, there were 
episodes in which drivers hired by smugglers abandoned their 
trucks in the desert and some immigrants died as a result of 
thirst and hunger. 
 
As the majority of trafficked victims in Italy are women and 
female children forced into prostitution, they face all the 
attendant risks of unsafe or unprotected sex. The majority of 
Nigerian women arrive willingly, often unaware of actual 
working conditions. Eastern Europeans frequently arrive in 
search of legitimate jobs but find themselves in debt and 
exploited by the co-nationals who loaned them money for the 
trip. Traffickers enforce compliance by seizing the victims' 
documents and subjecting them to imprisonment, beatings and 
rape. Increasingly, Eastern European sex workers are arriving 
and working voluntarily, especially those from Romania and 
Bulgaria. 
 
Nigerian minors are subject to psychological coercion using 
voodoo rituals, and police report that some Nigerian parents 
sell their children into slavery. The number of sex workers 
working on the streets is decreasing while the number working 
in private residences where it is more difficult to monitor 
or to assist victims is growing. 
 
In June 2009, Carabinieri officers arrested 30 people, mainly 
Nigerian, and investigated another 30 people in Italy, 
Nigeria and other European countries suspected of 
trafficking, slavery, and exploitation of prostitution. A 
transnational organization exploited young Nigerian women, 
who were victims of violence while their families were 
threatened in their home country. The organization included 
two Italian physicians who practiced illegal abortions. 
 
¶25. E Victims from the Balkans and Eastern Europe are 
controlled by organized crime groups, frequently from Romania 
and Albania. Eastern European young girls are generally 
forced into prostitution by Albanian clans. Although Albanian 
groups continue to participate heavily in trafficking in 
Italy, their role as middlemen has diminished as Romanian, 
Moldovan, Bulgarian and Ukrainian crime organizations traffic 
in their co-nationals. Increasing numbers of women from 
 
ROME 00000209  004.3 OF 006 
 
 
Eastern Europe are involved in the recruitment and 
exploitation of women from their home countries. 
 
According to NGO and police sources, individual unaffiliated 
smugglers from Eastern Europe often traffic women one at a 
time, replacing some of the larger criminal organizations 
that were easier to target because of their size. Each 
trafficker usually has the support of one or two accomplices 
and exploits three or four victims. 
 
In December 2009, police arrested a Romanian accused of 
trafficking and exploitation of a Romanian girl in Terni. She 
had been offered a job as a waitress, and while in Italy was 
kept in captivity and forced into prostitution. 
 
Victims are more reluctant to report crimes and to accept 
assistance, based on Article 18 (see 26.A and 29.A) because 
the smuggler is more likely to be someone she knows from her 
country of origin. Italian analysts expect a decrease in sex 
workers coming from Eastern Europe as a result of improved 
economic conditions in Eastern Europe, especially countries 
now in the EU. 
 
Italian organized crime has been involved in smuggling and 
trafficking, especially for labor exploitation in southern 
Italy. On February 3, 2010, the Interior Ministry announced 
the arrest of 32 Italians and 35 Indians linked to organized 
crime, and charged them with crimes related to illegal 
immigration and smuggling in the province of Reggio Calabria. 
Among those arrested were some businessmen who filed fake 
labor contracts and requests for immigrant laborers. 
Foreigners paid 10,000 to 18,000 euros each to smugglers 
whose revenues amounted to 6 million euro (approximately $8.4 
million). Police found definitive evidence demonstrating the 
links between organized crime and the smuggling of migrants. 
 
Routes and operations tend to follow established methods and 
organizations for moving illegal drugs, weapons and other 
contraband. 
 
Sex workers coming from southern China work primarily in 
apartments with Chinese clients, and in some instances in 
massage and beauty parlors frequented by Italians. Although 
their numbers are growing, the authorities do not consider 
the majority of these Chinese women to be victims. By 
contrast, Chinese sex workers coming from northern areas of 
their home country in most cases work on the streets and are 
more vulnerable to violence and other abuse, according to 
PARSEC. 
 
Incidence of trafficking is more common among Nigerians. 
Nigerian sex workers work individually or are controlled by a 
Nigerian madam, usually a formerly trafficked person, who 
holds the lien on the loan paid by three or four victims 
each. In fact, victims from Africa and the Middle East 
usually are controlled by small, freelance operators who 
generally smuggle individuals for a one-time fee. 
 
¶26. A The government recognizes the problem and has devoted 
significant resources to combating trafficking in persons. In 
2008 the Ministry of Equal Opportunity launched a study on 
trafficking for labor exploitation. 
 
¶26. B In 1998, Italy established an inter-agency committee to 
coordinate the fight against trafficking. Government agencies 
involved include the Ministries of Interior, Equal 
Opportunity, Justice, Labor Social Affairs, Family, and 
Foreign Affairs, as well as an anti-Mafia prosecution unit. 
Regional and municipal governments are also actively engaged 
in efforts to combat trafficking, often with funding from the 
central government. 
 
¶26. C Funding made available to help victims, about 10 
million euro, by national, regional and local authorities is 
adequate, according to independent observers. 
 
¶26. D Italy does not systematically evaluate the results of 
its anti-trafficking policy. Transcrime, an independent 
research center is implementing an appraisal system at both 
national and regional levels that will be regularly updated 
by the Ministry of Equal Opportunity. 
 
Various government agencies collect national data on TIP 
arrests and prosecution, victim assistance programs, number 
of illegal immigrants intercepted, issuance of temporary 
residence permits, and calls to a victim hotline. Most 
national funding is disbursed through grants to NGOs. 
Regional and local governments also fund programs. However, 
there is no central mechanism for monitoring these activities. 
 
ROME 00000209  005.3 OF 006 
 
 
 
26.E Citizenship is derived from one's parents (jus 
sanguinis) and local authorities registered all births 
immediately. 
 
¶26. F At the request of the US Embassy, the Ministry of 
Justice collects data on arrests, prosecutions, and 
convictions for trafficking related crimes. The lack of a 
national plan on trafficking  in persons hinders an 
assessment of effort of different parties designed to improve 
the effectiveness of actions taken. 
 
 
¶27. A The law that prohibits trafficking in persons--enacted 
in 2003--provides for increased sentences of 8-20 years 
imprisonment for trafficking in persons and for enslavement. 
For convictions in which the victims were minors destined for 
prostitution, sentences are increased by one-third to 
one-half (to 12-30 years). The law applies special anti-Mafia 
prison conditions to traffickers designed to limit criminals' 
ability to continue operations from jail. The law also 
mandates strong penalties (4-12 years imprisonment; fines up 
to 15,000 euro for each alien smuggled) to combat alien 
smuggling and human trafficking. 
 
¶27. B See 27. A 
 
¶27. C Labor trafficking is covered under the anti-trafficking 
law. 
 
¶27. D The penalty for rape or forcible sexual assault is up 
to 12 years imprisonment. 
 
¶27. E Italy's anti-TIP law does not require the government to 
maintain statistics on prosecution; however, the Ministry of 
Justice provides national data on investigations, arrests, 
prosecutions and convictions. 
 
Investigations and arrests: According to the Ministry of 
Justice, authorities investigated 2,738 persons for 
trafficking in 2008 and arrested 365; trial courts convicted 
138 persons and appeals courts convicted 148. 
 
Prosecutors are often able to collect evidence and charge 
defendants with other crimes, such as participation in 
criminal association to exploit prostitution, abetting 
prostitution, illegal immigration, etc. The Ministry of 
Interior reported a 17 percent increase in the number of 
people accused of exploitation of prostitution between 2004 
and 2006. 
 
¶27. F The Ministries of Interior and Defense include 
specialized training on identification of victims and 
investigation of trafficking and exploitation in the regular 
curriculum for law enforcement agencies. In 2009, Italy 
continued a 2008 "train the trainers" program for 
magistrates, law enforcement agents and NGOs who work with 
victims of trafficking, funded by the European Union. 
 
The Ministry of Interior regularly updates a book for law 
enforcement officers on TIP laws and best practices for 
assisting victims. 
 
Since May 2008, the Italian Red Cross, IOM, UNHCR, and Save 
the Children have been involved in a project sponsored by the 
Ministry of the Interior, called Praesidium. Adopting a 
multiagency approach, these organizations provided training 
on the identification of trafficking victims to law 
enforcement, and assistance to migrants arriving by sea to 
the island of Lampedusa. In 2009, the partners of the project 
moved to other temporary centers for migrants in Rome, 
Puglia, and Sicily. 
 
¶27. G The government cooperates with other governments in 
investigating and prosecuting trafficking cases. In 2009, the 
government implemented the agreement with Libyan authorities 
aimed at fighting illegal immigration, smuggling and 
trafficking, providing vessels, monitoring systems and 
expertise on border control. In 2004, the anti-Mafia unit of 
the MOJ signed an agreement with the Nigerian MOJ to improve 
the exchange of information on investigations under the aegis 
of the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice 
Institute, though government officers are not always 
satisfied with the level of cooperation with their Nigerian 
counterparts. Italy actively participates in EU-wide 
initiatives to share information on law enforcement, 
especially cross-border crimes, but differences in legal 
systems, law-enforcement organization, and criminal statutes 
impeded cooperation. 
 
ROME 00000209  006.3 OF 006 
 
 
 
In April 2009, Carabinieri officers presented the results of 
"Operation Viola" conducted in cooperation with the Dutch 
police and Nigerian, Turkish, Bulgarian, and Colombian 
authorities. It resulted in 49 arrests and continuing 
investigations of 13 other individuals on charges of 
trafficking in drugs and human beings. The investigation, 
launched in 2007, revealed the existence of a well-structured 
organization based in Castel Volturno, a town in the Campania 
region, which smuggled hundreds of Nigerian women through 
Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Togo to Holland. Victims were 
obliged to request asylum and then to move to Italy, France, 
and Spain, where they were put under control of "mamans" and 
forced into prostitution. The criminals also traded in 
cocaine and heroin produced in Turkey and Colombia, and 
obliged the girls to act as drug traffickers and dealers. 
 
¶27. H Italy has not been asked to extradite people charged 
with trafficking in other countries, nor has it had any cases 
requiring extradition of one of its own nationals charged 
with a trafficking offense. The 2003 law provides a new legal 
basis for such extraditions. 
 
¶27. I. There is no evidence to indicate government 
involvement in, or tolerance of, trafficking on a local or 
institutional level. However from time to time there are 
media reports on cases of exploitation of prostitution 
committed by government authorities. In December 2009, two 
prison guards were arrested and accused of exploitation of 
prostitutes. 
 
¶27. J See 27. I 
 
¶27. K There are no reports of involvement of troops and 
social workers in trafficking related cases. Soldiers 
deployed abroad receive human rights training including 
sessions on trafficking. 
 
¶27. L The NGO ECPAT Italy reports that in recent years, sex 
tourists from Italy have made Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, 
the Czech Republic, northern Russia, and Brazil preferred 
destinations. 
 
Under current law, domestic courts may try citizens, and 
permanent residents who engage in sex tourism, including 
outside the country, even if the offense is not a crime in 
the country in which it occurred. The country has a code of 
conduct for tourist agencies to help combat sex tourism. In 
December 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 
cooperation with UNICEF and some NGOs, launched an 
information campaign called "I am not your toy. Respect me!" 
targeted mainly at Italian tourists and designed to prevent 
child prostitution in Malindi, Kenya. In November, 2008, the 
Undersecretary for Tourism launched a program to fight sex 
tourism including: certificates of Responsible Tourism issued 
to networks of travel agencies, tour operators and airports 
which reach out to clients to try to prevent crimes committed 
abroad, and a communication campaign to promote awareness 
among potential clients. 
 
In April 2009, police arrested four people on charges of 
child pornography and seized videos containing sadistic and 
violent sex games involving children age 4 to 5. 
Investigators believe that they were also guilty of sex 
tourism. Another 69 people who downloaded and exchanged the 
videos are under investigation. 
 
The law punishes with imprisonment and/or stiff fines crimes 
relating to child prostitution and child pornography, even 
when the offense is committed abroad. This law also applies 
to Italian military and police participating in overseas 
operations. 
 
THORNE