The warnings follow one another and resemble each other, always more worrying. For several days, the highest European authorities have been warning of the risk for Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of falling into human trafficking networks. This Monday, March 21, Europol thus urged the countries of the European Union to remain attentive to this phenomenon, indicating that the number of potential victims arriving from Ukraine would be likely to attract “both individual and opportunistic aggressors pass for volunteers, as well as specialized criminal networks” in such trafficking. For the European police agency, the areas of greatest concern are currently borders, reception and accommodation centres, as well as train and bus stations. “In the short term, the highest risks relate to the potential targeting of victims by criminals under the pretext of promising transport, free housing, employment or other forms of immediate support”, explains Europol in a press release.
Thursday, March 17, the Council of Europe was already alerting against this risk of human trafficking at the borders, while the flow of refugees in Europe is experiencing according to the organization “its largest increase since the Second World War”. While more than three million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since February 24, the Council’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (Greta) recalls that 90% of them ” would be women and children”, particularly vulnerable. “In these situations, we know that there is a very high risk for unaccompanied minors of being victims of criminals”, warned on Tuesday the Commissioner for Home Affairs of the European Union, Ylva Johansson. “We are very, very concerned by this potential trafficking in human beings generated by the war in Ukraine”, confirms to L’Express Andrea Salvioni, executive officer in the office of the Special Representative and Coordinator for the fight against human trafficking. of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The specialist recalls that human trafficking follows “the basic rules of the economy”. “That is to say, it is found wherever there is movement of people, money, and demand. However, we are already seeing spikes in online searches for Ukrainian women for sexual services in Europe. We are therefore very vigilant on the subject”, recalls Andrea Salvioni. On March 9, the OSCE published on its website a series of recommendations to the countries hosting Ukrainian refugees, stressing the need to fight against this possible acceleration of human trafficking. “Unfortunately, we must remember that this threat is very real, and that it does not stop at the Ukrainian borders”, insists Andrea Salvioni.
“Under the Radar”
“From the beginning of the conflict, we were worried about such traffic, at the Ukrainian borders and everywhere in Europe, including in France”, says Geneviève Colas, coordinator of the collective “Together against human trafficking” for Secours Catholique and Caritas France. Very quickly, its European partners at the borders informed it of the situation on the ground: in Ukraine, Poland or Romania, some pimps had already tried to approach women traveling alone to recruit them from their networks or would, for example, have offered accommodation to certain refugees in exchange for sexual favours.In the surrounding chaos, many families are also said to have been moved or accommodated without any prior registration with the competent authorities, and without any follow-up by associations. “Malicious people can then present themselves as saviors, then set up trafficking which can take different forms: sexual exploitation, domestic slavery, obligation to beg, forced marriage”, list Geneviève Colas.
According to the specialist, the profiles of these traffickers are multiple. “There are international criminal networks, of course, but also people who act individually, and offer to welcome refugees into their homes in exchange for different services – which is completely illegal”. If in France, such trafficking has not yet been spotted, Geneviève Colas expresses her concern. “Human trafficking exists in our country: we follow around 3,000 victims of this trafficking each year, and this is only the tip of the iceberg”, she recalls. “We fear that this will get worse with the arrival of Ukrainian refugees who could go under the radar and find themselves on their own.”
While solidarity accommodation initiatives are multiplying on social networks, the coordinator of the collective “Together against human trafficking” also deplores the checks “increasingly difficult to do”. “You can imagine the most benevolent welcome, but also the most exploitative. You need a built and serious framework, to avoid opening the door to the wrong people”, she recommends. “The reception of Ukrainian refugees is very spontaneous, so we do not have enough visibility on the profile of each host”, abounds Olivier Peyroux, sociologist specializing in migration and human trafficking and co-founder from the Association Trajectories. “Suddenly anyone can bring a Ukrainian family back in their car, without any follow-up. Very quickly, for people who do not have direct contact with state associations and services or who do not speak not the language, there is a real danger: this is where the different forms of exploitation appear”, he regrets.
“There will always be victims”
Associations and collectives plead for “extremely important” prevention measures on French territory. “We need warning messages for all the refugees who arrive on our soil, flyers, awareness in places of transit, in associations. It is essential”, advises Elisabeth Moiron-Braud, secretary general of the Interministerial Mission for the Protection of Women against Violence and the Fight of Human Beings (MIPROF). The specialist is not fooled: according to her, if no case concrete has so far been identified in France concerning possible trafficking linked to recent Ukrainian immigration, cases will “without a doubt” be made public in the weeks or months to come. “It is an underground crime that will prove to be in the medium term: you have to go find the person, coax them, use them. But it will happen, unfortunately. There will always be victims,” she said.
In the meantime, Elisabeth Moiron-Braud recalls that a platform for connecting refugees and host families has been set up by the government, on which the profiles are checked and monitored by the competent associations. To anticipate and prevent such trafficking, the cabinet of the Minister Delegate for Citizenship Marlène Schiappa specifies for its part to The Express that a prevention committee has been set up, bringing together MIPROF, various associations, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice, in order to “share information and fight against this scourge”. In addition, an operational sheet for police and gendarmes has been distributed to all internal security forces, “to support them in detecting the vulnerability and protecting minors”, adds one in the entourage of the minister.