I wish to thank the Polish OSCE Chairmanship and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights for organizing this meeting and for inviting me to participate in this critical and timely debate about trafficking and conflict.

Introduction

In the last months, conflict has become closer and more real to many in Europe. Its ripple effects reach far beyond the battlefield, compounding the suffering of the most vulnerable populations. The effects of the war are always devastating. But many of them, are often foreseeable. Conflict intensifies vulnerability to trafficking, its prevalence and severity.  Early in the conflict, the UN Secretary-General clearly warned us that “for predators and human traffickers, war is not a tragedy. It is an opportunity”.

The nexus between trafficking, conflict and sexual violence

Recognizing the nexus between conflict and trafficking and sexual violence, in its resolutions 2331 in 2016 and 2388 in 2017 the Security Council specifically condemned trafficking for the purpose of exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation in areas affected by armed conflicts and called upon Member States to address, prevent and respond to this phenomenon, identifying a number of measures that should be put in place. These landmark resolutions were a direct response to the extensive documentation of women and girls trafficked by armed and terrorist groups in the context of conflict and a recognition by the Council that trafficking in persons is a threat to international peace and security and a restoration of peace. But the link between conflict, trafficking and sexual violence in conflict does not start in 2016. In conflict zones, the stories of women and girls abducted and raped by parties to the conflict or compelled to exchange sexual services for food, shelter, protection or safe passage are countless.

The case of Ukraine

Indeed, the link between conflict, trafficking and sexual violence in conflict is evident in Ukraine. The demographic profile of the Ukrainian refugee outflow should put us on high alert. Women and children, the most vulnerable groups to trafficking, in particular to trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, comprise 90 per cent of all those fleeing from Ukraine across borders. In May, the EU had registered over 13.000 unaccompanied and separated children arriving from Ukraine. As of June, IOM reported 6.27 million of internally displaced, in an extremely vulnerable situation. Recognizing these signs, the OSCE, the UN, the Council of Europe, the European Union and many specialized NGOs issued strong warnings and recommendations that must be put in place to address the trafficking crisis. UNHCR and IOM immediately boosted their presence in the region, deploying staff and strengthening services in Ukraine and neighboring countries. UNHCR and UNICEF, in partnership with governments and civil society organizations, set up ‘Blue Dot’ one-stop safe spaces for children and women, while IOM and UNFPA established hotlines. In Ukraine, an Anti-Trafficking Task Force, under the Protection Cluster, co-chaired by IOM and La Strada was also promptly established.

It is important to acknowledge and commend what has been an unprecedented response to an unprecedented crisis. But, as time passed, other indicators of concern emerged.

In May, I visited reception centers at border crossing points in Moldova and Poland. In Przemysl (Che-Mi-Chow), Poland, my team and I visited the site of the Tesco Supermarket that has been converted into a receiving center for Ukrainian refugees. While the range of services being provided was exemplary, there were grave security and protection concerns in a facility run by volunteers, and with only a ‘bare-bones presence’ of United Nations agencies. We heard a number of credible anecdotal accounts from humanitarian staff about the presence of alleged volunteers offering transport and accommodation to women and girls. For example, in Warsaw, during a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Justice, a Judge of the Criminal Court shared with me how while she was in the Rzeszow (Chechov) reception center, she was personally approached by a man who sought her help to have access to eight young women and adolescent girls whom he had identified and wanted to offer transportation to Germany. The OSCE has also reported that, since the start of the humanitarian crisis, data by Thomson Reuters shows that online searches for explicit content and sexual services from Ukrainian women and girls has increased substantially from anywhere around 200%-600%. As reiterated by the OSCE Special Representative for Trafficking, the demand for sexual access to Ukrainian women is an incentive for traffickers to recruit and exploit Ukrainian women at scale.

The demographic profile of the refugee outflow, the security and protection challenges faced by groups at risk, and the increasing demand are indicators that are in public display and that we cannot ignore. Importantly, we must also recall that, early in the conflict, Ukraine notified the Secretary General as depositary of the Palermo Protocol, that it cannot meet its obligations due to the attack by Russia and the state of martial law.

Improving the response

On 3 May, I was in Kyiv and signed a Framework of Cooperation with the Government of Ukraine on the Prevention and Response to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence. Strengthening the overall response to trafficking is a critical aspect of the Framework of Cooperation, which includes specific commitments to raise awareness about the plight and needs of victims of trafficking and conflict related sexual violence. The Framework of Cooperation also reflects the language of Security Council Resolution 2331, prompting the training of relevant officials – law enforcement personnel, border control officers, prosecutors – to identify and address indicators of trafficking.

My Office will work closely with Ukrainian authorities to ensure its prompt implementation. This work will build on the efforts led by UN-partners as well as OSCE, the EU and Council of Europe, which, in the past decade, have supported the fight against trafficking and worked side by side with the relevant Ukrainian institutions, in line with its commitments under the Palermo Protocol and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. But we will need to strengthen and improve our actions, in line with the reality of the war.

At this time, more safe spaces and shelters are needed; humanitarian aid organizations and state officials providing assistance should be adequately trained to recognize, assist and refer victims and potential victims; adequate referral pathways, reflecting the new humanitarian resources must be mapped and made available. And these efforts should integrate and be guided by a human rights perspective that takes into account the particular needs of women and girls. But the urgency for these measures is not unique to Ukraine. It is common to all countries in the region, countries of transit but also countries of destination. After visiting Poland and Moldova, I also visited Belgium, Denmark, Germany with whom I discussed their ongoing response to the trafficking threat, a response that is well-intentioned but dangerously uneven in different Member States. In this respect, the EU anti-trafficking plan was an important positive step, and I look forward working closely with the EU Anti-trafficking Coordinator.

Member States must act promptly to mitigate risks that prevent trafficking from happening. Prevention has one window of opportunity, and that window is now.

  1. We must reduce vulnerabilities. We must prioritize the provision of information and security to those fleeing conflict. Well targeted awareness-raising campaigns in the countries of origin, transit and destination and access to legal and economic security are the best ways to empower women, girls, men and boys who can be approached by traffickers.
  2. We must strengthen safety, protection and assistance in transit pathways. Irregular migration status, for persons displaced across borders, or in a protracted situation of precarious status while seeking asylum, contributes to risks of trafficking, with refugees often targeted by traffickers because of the vulnerable situations in which they remain. Safe migration pathways for persons affected by conflict must be expanded. Additionally, transit and receiving States must ensure the immediate identification, registration, tracing and protection of groups at risk. These actions are especially important to ensure the protection of children, including unaccompanied minors and separated children, who are at particular high risk. In the last months we have all testified and expressed concern with the lack of consistent vetting for volunteers, as well as accommodation and transportation. I understand that Guidelines for vetting and registration of volunteers are currently being developed by the Regional Anti-Trafficking Task-Force, co-chaired by UNODC and IOM. I urge Member States to ensure their adoption and immediate implementation.
  3. We must ensure sustainable protection and assistance services in receiving and transit countries. Immediate assistance at the border is often available, but as time passes, and refugees travel, the level of assistance diminishes and vulnerability to trafficking increases. Sustained assistance to IDPs and refugees, fleeing from conflict, is the most concrete form of prevention and protection we can offer to ensure that trafficking does not take place.
  4. We must identify, disrupt, dismantle and bring to justice individuals and networks involved in trafficking in persons in areas affected by armed conflict. Recognizing the increasing use of technology, we must create and strengthen partnerships with the private sector, including technology companies, encouraging and working with these actors to identify, monitor and proactively address indicators of and trafficking activities.

Finally, in a country at war, we should ensure that the investigation of trafficking in persons for purposes of sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery, is included in investigations of international crimes and in documentation of violations of international humanitarian law and international criminal law. For that specialized training may be required for investigators and prosecutors will be required as well as the existing legal frameworks must be strengthened to be in line with international norms and standards.

While at the normative level the anti-trafficking legal, institutional and policy frameworks currently being brought to bear in the Ukraine crisis are strong, they should not constitute and empty promise. The imminent threat of human trafficking crisis for sexual violence/exploitation in Ukraine requires a prompt, united and unequivocal political commitment from all of us. It is time to close the gap between commitments on paper, at the global and regional levels, and compliance. Our response to trafficking arising out of the conflict in Ukraine may be the litmus test for our commitment to prevent and fight trafficking and sexual violence in conflict. We cannot afford to fail.