Human Trafficking Around the World (52 page)

Upon ratifying the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime in November 2001, Poland was obligated to take appropriate measures to conform its domestic legislation to that of the convention. In 2010 Poland amended Article 115 of its Penal Code to provide a clear and comprehensive definition of human trafficking, and Article 189a replaced a previous prohibition on trafficking in persons and introduced criminal liability for preparations to engage in human trafficking (CRIN, 2011). The new law prohibits all form of human trafficking through Articles 115.22, 115.23, and 189a, which replace Articles 253, 204 Sections 3 and 4, and 203, respectively. Penalties prescribed under Article 253 range from 3 to 15 years’ imprisonment, and penalties prescribed under Articles 203 and 204 range from 1 to 10 years’ imprisonment (U.S. Department of State, 2011; European Union, 2012). The trafficking of human organs and tissue is prohibited under the Trafficking in Human Organs and Tissue Act (OHCHR, 2009b).

POLAND AS A DESTINATION AND TRANSIT NATION

With the fall of communism—and with law-enforcement and other agencies busy with the transformation and reorganization of Poland’s political system—came less regulation and porous borders that made the nation vulnerable to a variety of organized crimes, including human trafficking. Freedom of movement replaced stringent policies, and at the same time prostitution changed form in Poland, shifting from a primary existence in hotels and restaurants to massage parlors and revival clubs. The demand for prostitution expanded at an estimated rate of 3,200 or 3,300 per year (Wiśniewski, 2010). These factors, along with accession to the European Union in May 2004 and the Schengen Agreement in 2007, transformed Poland from primarily a source nation to also a destination and transit nation for human trafficking.

Determining the exact number of people affected by human trafficking as it relates to Poland—as a nation of origin, transit, and destination—is a challenge. The European Institute for Crime Control and Prevention estimates the number of trafficking victims to exceed 15,000 persons annually, whereas the National Public Prosecutor’s Office states that there were 3,170 victims between 1995 and 2008 (Wiśniewski, 2010). This discrepancy probably arises, at least in part, from the fact that before 2010 a variety of laws were used to prosecute traffickers in Poland, but only two—Articles 253 and 203—were frequently included in released trafficking data on convicted traffickers (U.S. Department of State, 2010). Another reason is that forced labor is just beginning to be identified, and although there have been some highly publicized cases of the trafficking of Poles in other nations, forced labor is generally unidentified (Wiśniewski, 2010). According to Stana Buchowska, co-founder of La Strada and national coordinator of La Strada Foundation Against Trafficking in Persons and Slavery, based in Poland, the identification of trafficked persons for the purpose of forced labor remains a significant challenge. “There were cases reported when the border guards [in Poland] wrongfully identified a group of exploited migrant workers as irregular migrants rather than trafficked persons,” Buchowska wrote. “An efficient system of monitoring and evaluation … to measure the impact of anti-trafficking activities implemented is also lacking in Poland” (Buchowska, 2011).

Persons are trafficked to and through Poland from other nations in Europe, Africa, and Asia for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. During the 15-year period of 1995–2010 the majority of foreign victims were from Ukraine (350), Belarus (311), Bulgaria (87), Romania (24), Moldova (21), and Russia (15). Other nations of origin were Latvia (8), Vietnam (8), Bangladesh (7), Lithuania (6), Sri Lanka (4), Mongolia (3), Costa Rica (2), Kenya (1), Senegal (1), Niger (1), Uganda (1), Djibouti (1), Germany (1), the Dominican Republic (1), and the Philippines (1) (Ministry of Interior and Administration, 2010). In 2008 alone, 315 persons were identified as victims of human trafficking by the National Public Prosecutor’s Office; 65 were of Ukrainian origin (IOM, 2010). Foreign victims made up 20.3 percent of identified trafficking victims between 1995 and 2008. The majority—80.6 percent—were from Ukraine and Belarus (Ministry of Interior and Administration, 2010, 2011). Since 2010 the National Consulting and Intervention Centre for Victims of Trafficking has collected data on victims. Of those interviewed, most forced-labor victims were from Ukraine (49 percent), Thailand (16 percent), and Nepal (7 percent). Others were from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Victims were discovered in the agricultural, fishing, transport, and domestic sectors as well as in cigarette production. Some victims were also forced to perform physical work in marketplaces (European Union, 2012).

Select human trafficking cases give a glimpse into the types of human trafficking that are identified in Poland. One case, discovered in 2009 by the Metropolitan Headquarters of Police, involved a syndicate that allegedly trafficked women from Bulgaria and forced them to prostitute in Poland and other European nations. Over 40 persons were detained, and more than 30 were charged with forcing persons to prostitute, extortion, participation in an organized-crime group, and robbery with violence. Twenty persons were held in pretrial custody (General Headquarters of Police, 2010). Another case, led by the Rzeszów Central Investigation Bureau in 2007, involved an organized-crime group that forced women and children from Ukraine and Moldova to beg for money in Polish cities. Four persons were charged with participation in an organized-crime group engaged in human trafficking—recruiting, transportation, violence against women and children, and forced begging (General Headquarters of Police, 2010). At the end of 2009, 12 trafficking victims from Bangladesh were transported to Poland to work in the fish-processing industry. Traffickers forced the victims to work in a shipyard, did not pay them, threatened them, and subjected them to poor living conditions. In relation to this case, one person was detained and charged with participation in an organized-crime group dealing with human trafficking and infringement of the labor law. An international warrant was also issued in this case (General Headquarters of Police, 2010).

While most of the identified cases of human trafficking in Poland involve commercial sex, Ezeilo says trafficking for forced labor is on the rise and that labor inspectors appear to lack the necessary training for effective oversight (OHCHR, 2009a). Migrant workers are often deported without a proper evaluation as to whether they are trafficking victims. One such case involved at least 58 Thai migrant workers who faced forced labor in Poland’s agricultural sector in 2010. The workers paid money to Kitti Brothers Recruitment and Thai Syntax Travel Service, two primary recruitment companies who send Thai workers to Poland. Once in Poland, the victims were sent to work under the supervision of two local recruitment agencies, NOBA and East West. The workers were each charged between $3,695.15 and $12,317 in brokerage fees in order to reserve supposed jobs that paid between $1,848 and $2,771 per month—wages that the workers never received (Bunnag, 2010; Charoensuthipan & Tansubhapol, 2010). Once in Poland, the victims were forced to work without a permanent employer—in direct violation of Polish law. Some of the workers claimed that they were misled about the type of work they would be doing. One worker was promised that he would work in a noodle factory but instead was forced to work on a farm. The majority of workers were forced to work on swine, chicken, strawberry, and flower farms (Bunnag, 2010; Charoensuthipan & Tansubhapol, 2010). “Several workers were forced to work on the farms for 24 hours a day, but did not get overtime for months in a row,” said Janya Yimprasert, chairwoman of the Union of the Thai Overseas Workers. “Their living conditions are also bad” (Bunnag, 2010).

The recruitment firms took various measures to deter the workers from filing suit against them. The wife of one of the workers stated that the recruitment firm told her that if her husband did not take any legal action against their organization, the firm would help him get home to Thailand (Charoensuthipan & Tansubhapol, 2010). Thirty-three of the workers were arrested and detained by Polish police, and at least 20 were charged with not having work permits and were ordered to leave the country. Not only did Polish officials not identify the workers as victims of human trafficking, but also the workers were charged with illegal entry even though they had allegedly entered Poland legally with appropriate work permits and documents (Bunnag, 2010; Charoensuthipan & Tansubhapol, 2010).

Yimprasert filed a petition on March 19, 2010, with the Polish Embassy in Bangkok, asking it to solve the problem of Thai worker exploitation in Poland by recruitment firms and employers. Yimprasert discussed with labor officials the possibility of obligating the Thai and Polish recruitment companies to compensate the 58 forced-labor victims. She asked that labor officials compel Polish employers who hire Thai laborers to follow the employment law and recommended—as a possible means to hinder exploitation—that the Polish Embassy temporarily stop granting visas to Thai workers in order to pressure employers to improve the working conditions that they offer their migrant workers. She also urged cooperation between the Thai and Polish governments in aiding victims of forced labor (Bunnag, 2010).

Common techniques used by traffickers are false job promises, high fees or alleged debts, rape, and withholding of the victim’s documentation. One case demonstrating the use of many of these techniques involves a 23-year-old woman trafficked from Uganda to Poland in 2009. The young woman met a Polish trafficker who offered her well-paid employment in Europe. He informed her that she did not need money or documentation and that he would arrange the entire journey. During the trip from Uganda to Poland the woman was raped multiple times (Polish Radio External Service, 2009a). These techniques—such as the false offer of employment and withholding documentation—allow traffickers to lure in victims and exert control over them. The use of rape also allows traffickers control over their victims and creates fear that they will suffer physical harm if they disobey or attempt to escape. Upon arrival in Warsaw, the woman was able to escape when her trafficker left her alone in a vehicle. Police believe that she then spent the night underground near the city’s central train station before contacting the Department for Foreigners at the local border-guard office. The woman received medical treatment from a clinic and also received services from the Ministry of the Interior and Administration’s Program for the Support and Protection for Victims of Human Trafficking (Polish Radio External Service, 2009a).

It is not just migrant forced-labor victims who are deported without a thorough investigation as to whether they are victims of human trafficking, but also foreign sex-trafficking victims. According to Poland’s Ministry of Interior and Administration, it is difficult to impossible to determine the number of sex-trafficking victims who arrive in or pass through Poland. The ministry states that the deportation policy may well contribute to the problem, as foreign women staying in Poland illegally are immediately deported. As a result the victims are unable to incriminate and testify against the perpetrators. Of women who were identified as victims of sex trafficking, those from Bulgaria were most commonly forced to perform roadside prostitution; Ukrainian women were typically sold to escort agencies. In nearly all identified cases, a citizen in the country of origin cooperated with the traffickers. Most commonly the victims accepted false offers of employment in sales or agricultural work, but sometimes they migrated to Poland on their own and then faced exploitation upon arrival. Those who are trafficked into Poland are often resold, so that discovering their whereabouts is difficult to impossible. The primary destinations for sex trafficking are Warsaw, Płock, Żyrardów, Radom, Rzeszów, and Białystok (Ministry of Interior and Administration, 2008).

TRAFFICKING WITHIN POLAND AND TRAFFICKING ABROAD

Citizens of Poland are trafficked to Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation (U.S. Department of State, 2012). In 2008, 179 Polish victims of human trafficking were returned to Poland from Kiev, Ukraine (IOM, 2010). In 2006 Poles made up 5 percent of detected victims in the Netherlands, 10 percent of detected victims in Germany, and 13 percent of forced-labor victims in France, primarily in the agricultural sector (UNODC, 2009b). Forced labor of Poles abroad, or at least the identification of the practice, appears to be on the rise. In 2006, under the Polish and Italian operation Terra Promessa, police uncovered a case of more than 100 Polish workers who had been recruited by newspaper and Internet advertisements for attractive and well-paid agricultural jobs in Foggia, southern Italy. Upon arrival the workers faced appalling conditions and were forced to work for nominal pay under supervision by armed guards. They were charged excessive fees that placed them in a position of servitude and faced physical and psychological abuse; they were sometimes beaten until they passed out, threatened or attacked by dogs, and deprived of food and water as punishment. At night they were locked in the premises, where they slept with no running water, electricity, or furnishings. The rescued workers were given assistance by Italian and Polish NGOs, while Italian and Polish police—with the assistance of Europol—made arrests (Plant, 2009; Ministry of Interior and Administration, 2008).

Like people in many other nations, most Poles associate human trafficking with prostitution. As a result, victims tend to be reluctant to come forward. “Trafficking in persons is not only trafficking into forced prostitution and the sex business, but also forced labor, slavery-like practices, trafficking into begging, petty crimes, transplantation of organs, and many other purposes,” Stana Buchowska told the Polish Radio External Service (Bielawska, 2008). In 2008 La Strada International, which provides trafficking victims with therapy, legal services, and job training, launched an awareness campaign called “On the Right Track” to highlight the realities of human trafficking in the hopes of chipping away at the marginalization and stigmatization of human trafficking victims (Bielawska, 2008). Buchowska said that societal assumptions perpetuate these misconceptions: “There is a stereotype that trafficked persons are victims [of] their own wish. It is necessary to increase the knowledge about the problem and … to educate society [on] how to prevent this situation, what are the safe steps of job migration. Around 2 million Poles migrated in search [of] job[s], and job migration is one of the factors conducive to trafficking. People are not aware enough and they do not double-check the job offers” (Bielawska, 2008).