A shelter “for women in difficult life situations,” run by the Russian Orthodox Church, continued to accept victims and offered them food, housing, and psychological care, although not medical assistance; the government did not provide financial support for the shelter. Article 127 of the Russian Criminal Codeprohibits both trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Russian investigators press human trafficking charges against four doctors Surrogacy is not illegal in Russia but investigators insist that the doctors have broken the law. The government did not report screening specifically for indicators of trafficking, but media reports indicated the children received counseling. The government did not screen laborers for trafficking indicators or identify any North Korean trafficking victims, despite credible reports that the DPRK operated work camps in Russia and subjected thousands of North Korean workers to forced labor. Traffickers exploit workers from Russia and other countries in Europe, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, China, and the DPRK in forced labor in Russia. However, inconsistent with the definition of trafficking under international law, these articles established the use of force, fraud, or coercion as aggravating factors, rather than essential elements of the crime. As in previous years, the government did not draft a national strategy or assign roles and responsibilities to government agencies. Additional troubleshooting information here. Although government representatives publicly stated authorities asked DPRK workers to leave voluntarily, it was not evident that authorities screened workers for trafficking indicators or offered them options to legally remain in the country. The government continued the repatriation of Russian minors, including potential trafficking victims, whose parents were alleged fighters with ISIS. Your IP: 95.110.169.160 Some publicly available data was likely duplicative or contradictory of information from other sources, as no single agency was responsible for maintaining comprehensive law enforcement statistics. In recent years, criminal cases have involved Russian officials suspected of allegedly facilitating trafficking by enabling victims’ entry into Russia, providing protection to traffickers, and returning victims to their exploiters; in some instances officials have engaged directly in trafficking crimes. Protocol for Identification and Assistance to Trafficked Persons and Training Kit. International organizations estimate there are between six and 12 million foreign workers in Russia, of which approximately three million lack proper work authorization. Although informal cooperation between law enforcement and NGOs at the local level resulted in some victims receiving limited services, NGOs reported a significant number of cases go unreported due to the lack of a formal referral mechanism, victims’ fears, and the lack of government assistance to victims. 2020-07-01 With US backing, Kazakh NGOs, police combat human trafficking Kazakh police recently uncovered 50 incidents of human trafficking during a country-wide operation in which they raided saunas, hotels, sublet apartments, farms and construction sites. The “Yarovaya” package of anti-terror laws made it a crime for individuals or organizations to provide material assistance to people considered to be in Russia illegally; authorities could prosecute NGOs who assisted unlawfully present victims of trafficking. The government issued 16,613 tourist and 10,345 student visas to North Koreans in 2019, compared with 2,035 tourist and 2,610 student visas in 2018. The government maintained a readmission agreement with the EU to assist in the repatriation of Russian trafficking victims, but did not keep official statistics on how many victims it assisted in this way; NGOs reported authorities referred few returning victims to them for services. Routledge. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took some steps to address trafficking, including by convicting some traffickers, facilitating the return of Russian children from Iraq and Syria, and identifying some victims, including foreign nationals. 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report: Russia RUSSIA: Tier 3. There were anecdotal reports the government provided anti-trafficking training to some of its diplomatic personnel. Women had been disproportionately affected by the transition away from communism and toward the free market. International organizations estimate up to 40 percent of these migrants were working unofficially and vulnerable to both forced labor and sex trafficking; most identified victims of forced begging in recent years are Ukrainian. ... recruiters for trafficking Ukrainians into a drug-trafficking ring in Russia, and a teacher at a government-run boarding school for orphans in Kharkiv who attempted to sell one of her students. Russia’s federal-level Investigative Committee publicly reported three new investigations (two sex trafficking and one labor trafficking) in 2019, as well as three ongoing sex trafficking investigations, a decrease from 14 reported in 2018. Traffickers have been known to pose as landlords renting rooms to migrant laborers in order to recruit victims and coerce them into forced labor. • Provide victims access to legal alternatives to deportation to countries where they face hardship or retribution. The government maintained negligible efforts to protect victims. The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. September 24, 2020. Implement a formal policy to ensure identified trafficking victims are not punished or deported for unlawful acts their traffickers compelled them to commit. ... December 31, 2020 0. July 25, 2020. This could indicate an expired SSL certificate or a certificate that does not include the requested domain name. 20 November 2020. The Sri Lanka Embassy in Moscow has warned Sri Lankans to refrain from falling victim to human trafficking, operated under the guise of job and education opportunities in Russia. Ryszard Piotrowicz, Conny Rijken, and Baerbel Heide Uhl. Law enforcement training centers provided instruction on trafficking identification. January 11, 2021 0. Human trafficking is a severe crime and refugees and forcibly displaced people are particularly at risk of being trafficked. • Increase efforts to raise public awareness of both sex and labor trafficking, including among minors. Russian investigators press human trafficking charges against four doctors Surrogacy is not illegal in Russia but investigators insist that the doctors have broken the law. Child Soldiering in Relation to Human Trafficking. It is difficult to say if new laws or implementation plans will better combat this problem, because ultimately, these are only effective if countries are willing to implement and enforce them. The government did not develop or employ a formal system to guide officials in proactive identification of victims or their referral to available services, nor did it have a program to protect or support victims who participated in the investigation or prosecution of their alleged traffickers. The ILO Committee of Experts noted its deep concern in 2016 that some provisions of the Russian criminal code, which include compulsory labor as possible punishment, are worded broadly enough to lend themselves to application as a means of punishment for the expression of views opposed to the government. Moreover, DPRK authorities reportedly arrested, imprisoned, subjected to forced labor, tortured, and sometimes executed repatriated trafficking victims. ... victims of human trafficking who committed actions subject … The cost of a human life in Russia is just 18,000 rubles (US$235). Senate report shows Hunter Biden paid women who were linked to human trafficking, prostitution. There were reports authorities often prosecuted trafficking crimes under related statutes, including Articles 240 (involvement in prostitution), 240.1 (receiving sexual services from a minor), and 241 (organization of prostitution), the penalties for which were generally lower than the penalties prescribed for trafficking offenses. The Framework … While human trafficking and slavery have always been an issue in most areas of the globe, human trafficking in Russia became exacerbated with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. • Develop and implement formal national procedures to guide law enforcement, labor inspectors, and other government officials in identifying and referring victims to service providers, particularly among labor migrants and individuals in commercial sex, and screen for trafficking indicators among individuals arrested for commercial sex or immigration violations. ... (2020) Russia’s Private Military Forces: A Dual Layer of Human Trafficking?. Belarus’ Tier 3 status makes it one of the worst places for human trafficking in the world, despite its consistently slowing rate. ISIS was known to use child soldiers and perpetrate other forms of trafficking. The government continued to operate regional migration centers where migrants who did not also need visas to enter the country could obtain work permits directly from the government; however, an international organization estimated only half of eligible migrants obtained these permits as they entailed large upfront and monthly fees and sometimes required multiple time-consuming trips to the center. By Paul Goble. ‘It is a privilege to honor those leading the fight against human trafficking and our 2020 TIP report heroes,’ U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said as he presented the newly released document. It did not report comprehensive data on trafficking criminal cases, making it difficult to assess the adequacy or effectiveness of law enforcement efforts. An estimated 200 children had returned to Russia since this program first became public in 2017; media reports indicated the government repatriated 122 children in 2018-2019. ... just weeks away from the hotly-contested 2020 Presidential campaign, of which Joe … NGOs provided all protection services, including shelter, food, legal services, basic medical and psychological support, interpretation, facilitating the return of documents or wages, and assisting in the resettlement or repatriation of victims, although few were able to provide specialized assistance specifically for trafficking victims. Authorities penalized victims for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking. The Government of Russia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking... PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS:. Homeless children are exploited in sex trafficking. by Charlie Spiering September 24, 2020, 4:25 pm 999 Views. ... human trafficking ring.” ... a documented fact that Hunter Biden has sent funds to nonresident alien women in the United States who are citizens of Russia and Ukraine and who have subsequently wired funds they have received from Hunter Biden to individuals located in Russia and Ukraine. Please contact your hosting provider to ensure that an up-to-date and valid SSL certificate issued by a Certificate Authority is configured for this domain name on the origin server. The government decreased already minimal law enforcement efforts. • Article 127.1 prescribed penalties of up to five years’ prison labor or up to six years’ imprisonment for offenses involving adult victims, and three to 10 years’ imprisonment for those involving a child victim. Public records showed courts convicted six individuals (two cases) under article 127.1 and two (one case) under article 127.2, compared with 18 convictions under article 127.1 and three under 127.2 in 2018. Authorities reportedly prosecuted Russian citizens returning from Syria and Iraq, where some were subjected to trafficking, under anti-terror laws without being screened for indicators of trafficking. Observers noted authorities often did not recognize foreign victims as such when they were unlawfully present in Russia, which resulted in the penalization of foreign victims rather than their referral to care. 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