18th October: EU Anti-Trafficking Day

PRESS RELEASE

Athens, 18 October 2017

18th of October: EU Anti-Trafficking Day
“The Smile of the Child”, member of the EU Civil Society Platform against THB supports the pan-European effort against trafficking in Human Beings

On the occasion of the 18th of October, EU Anti-Trafficking Day "The Smile of the Child" marks the 11th EU Anti-Trafficking Day supporting the efforts of all relevant actors and authorities at the EU-level in order to raise awareness on the phenomenon and offer through its actions support to victims or potential victims of trafficking.

Sadly, the phenomenon of trafficking in human beings takes various forms of exploitation and violence and implies a devastating effect on the victims and society as a whole. Traffickers exploit people’s vulnerabilities, which may be exacerbated by factors such as poverty, discrimination, gender inequality, violence against women and children, ethnic conflicts and lack of access to education. The life of these men, women, and children has no value for the organized crime rings exploiting their dreams and vulnerabilities by promising a better life for the sake of profits.

Since 2015 a global humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Greece due to the mass influx of thousands of refugees and migrants who risked their own lives in search for a better future. In the midst of this crisis migrant and refugee children are extremely vulnerable to the risks of trafficking, while missing children and unaccompanied minors are particularly vulnerable to the risks of smuggling, trafficking and other forms of crime in the context of the current refugee crisis in Europe.

“The Smile of the Child” has repeatedly pointed to the fact that cases of missing refugee and migrant minors are not reported in most of the cases and as a result, the search and rescue mechanism of the European Hotline for Missing Children 116 000 and the Amber Alert Hellas is not activated. As several sources confirm recruiters deliberately target migrants in refugee camps and most migrants and asylum- seekers are believed to rely on smugglers at some point during their journey.

It is worth mentioning that almost 20.000 refugee children are currently in Greece and 1 out of 3 are under the age of 4. At the same time, about 2.300 children are unaccompanied out of which 1.218 are still on the waiting list for shelter (EKKA, UNCHR, July 2017).

The National Helpline for Children SOS 1056 operated by “The Smile of the Child”, has received reports from citizens according to which minors, mainly from Afghanistan, engage in survival sex in Athens. As always, “The Smile of the Child” has informed the competent prosecutorial authorities on these reports requesting for their immediate actions.

Furthermore, “The Smile of the Child” implements a wide-range of actions to ensure that children at risk of trafficking, whether they are minor refugees and migrants, Greek children or children of any other origin who have been removed from their biological parents due to serious abuse and neglect, enjoy not only a shelter and food, but also holistic support, true care and love and new opportunities for their future lives. Only through quality and not opportunistic solutions, runaway cases of children ending in trafficking situations can be prevented.

“The Smile of the Child” praises the recent Political Declaration on Trafficking adopted by the UN General Assembly and hopes that this decision will offer an enhanced platform for concrete policies from the Member States with a victim-oriented approach and particular attention to children. The Organization contributed to this process following an invitation of the UNODC held at the UN headquarters in New York in June and September 2017. “The Smile of the Child” put emphasis on the need to ensure friendly justice to the victims and their proper re-integration to society based on quality solutions.

On the national level “The Smile of the Child” continuously cooperates with the Office of the National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking, the law enforcement authorities, as well as all the competent authorities and agencies involved in prosecution, protection and prevention of the phenomenon.

On the European and international levels, “The Smile of the Child” contributes to the fight against trafficking in persons as member with consultative status at UN ECOSOC, associated member at UN Department of Public Information, member of the BoD of the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), member of the BoD of the European Federation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children (MCE) and member of the EU Civil Society Platform against Trafficking in Human Beings.

What is the scale of trafficking?

The scale of trafficking in human beings is difficult to quantify reliably, and figures are seldom comparable. Estimated numbers of people trafficked, per year:
● globally 2.45 million (UN Office on Drugs and Crime)
- of which, 1.2 million children (UNICEF)
● across international borders 800,000, with many more trafficked within their own countries (International Organisation for Migration).
● to or within the EU several hundred thousand people (mainly women and children Europol).

For more information, please contact our press team at press@hamogelo.gr or +30 210 3306 140.