The Senate Committee on Homeland … PROSECUTION. 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. Russian officials further stated they were taking steps to fulfill Russia’s obligations under the relevant UNSCR to repatriate all of these workers by the end of 2019, and reported the number of DPRK workers in Russia (11,490 at the start of 2019) declined steadily throughout the year. It indicated Hunter Biden’s private equity firm received $3.5 million from one of Russia’s most “powerful” female oligarchs in 2014. ... Police capacity to address human trafficking continued to improve, but progress was limited amid challenges in interagency coordination. 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report: Nigeria Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ... the government had previously only reported convicting one official for complicity in human trafficking despite 17 years of reports of human trafficking offenses and trafficking-related corruption. 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. Belarus’ Tier 3 status makes it one of the worst places for human trafficking in the world, despite its consistently slowing rate. ... 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 in the Balkans ... demanding that it take measures to more efficiently fight human trafficking. Anton is one of 794,000 people living in conditions of modern slavery in the Russian Federation today. The international organization noted migrants who were not able to complete the permit process were increasingly vulnerable to labor exploitation and trafficking due to their lack of proper documentation. 09/24/2020 / By Cassie B. 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. Coordinator for the Arctic Region, Bureaus and Offices Reporting Directly to the Secretary, Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues, Office of the U.S. 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 SSL certificate presented by the server did not pass validation. The woman, Helen Ehioze , bagged 10 … Despite reports that the government ceased issuing new work permits to North Korean laborers, observers noted many laborers continued to enter the country via fraudulent channels to work informally, for example by obtaining tourist or student visas, which increased their vulnerability to trafficking. 25.Nov.2020 9:00 AM . • Investigate allegations and prevent the use of forced labor in construction projects and North Korean-operated labor camps. NGOs estimated the number of victims to be in the thousands. There were limited examples of government cooperation with civil society. There were no reports of victims assisted in these shelters in 2018 or 2019. The government offered no funding or programs for trafficking victims’ rehabilitation; authorities lacked a process for the identification of victims and their referral to care. Human Trafficking: The Secret to Putin's Economy. The cost of a human life in Russia is just 18,000 rubles (US$235). This chapter describes the cause of prostitution in Russia in the 1990s. Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. The cost of a human life in Russia is just 18,000 rubles (US$235). Despite credible reports of forced labor and slave-like conditions of North Koreans working in Russia, the Russian government did not report any investigations into those conditions. 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. It indicated Hunter Biden’s private equity firm received $3.5 million from one of Russia’s most “powerful” female oligarchs in 2014. 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. Human Trafficking Law: Russia only has one law that criminalizes human trafficking. This could indicate an expired SSL certificate or a certificate that does not include the requested domain name. • Investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses and convict traffickers, including complicit officials and suspected trafficking cases related to North Korean workers in Russia, respecting due process. ... UNFPA, ILO and IOM – to develop joint global initiatives to address human trafficking at large. In Russia, where an estimated one million people are living in what’s known as modern slavery, the politicized nature of human trafficking is also evident but deployed differently, as the Russian government has made the task of assisting trafficking victims a political one. Migrant laborers from the DPRK continued to work in Russia, especially in the Far East, often under conditions of forced labor. As in previous years, the government did not draft a national strategy or assign roles and responsibilities to government agencies. According to law enforcement statistics, of these 61 identified victims, 41 were female sex trafficking victims, four males were victims of forced labor, and 16 were children, although many of these were likely baby-selling cases not considered to be trafficking without the purpose of exploitation in sex trafficking or forced labor. Pocket Widget. Sisters for Sisters’ Education: Aiding Girls’ Education in Nepal. It did not report comprehensive data on trafficking criminal cases, making it difficult to assess the adequacy or effectiveness of law enforcement efforts. Similar to previous reporting periods, the government took steps to limit or ban the activities of civil society groups, including some dedicated to anti-trafficking activities, through measures such as “foreign agent” laws. ... Spain, Austria, and Russia; in 2017, an international organization estimated 80 percent of all female Nigerian … According to an international organization, children of migrant workers are vulnerable to forced labor in informal sectors. In Russia, where an estimated one million people are living in what’s known as modern slavery, the politicized nature of human trafficking is also evident but deployed differently, as the Russian government has made the task of assisting trafficking victims a political one. Russia did not have a national action plan; legislation that would implement a coordination framework continued to languish at the highest levels within the presidential administration. The last dedicated trafficking shelters closed in 2015 due to lack of funding; however, government-funded homeless shelters could accommodate Russian and foreign victims. There were anecdotal reports the government provided anti-trafficking training to some of its diplomatic personnel. Despite the lack of formal cooperation, NGOs reported working with some local government-run centers to provide assistance to potential victims on an ad hoc basis. Authorities did not screen other vulnerable populations, such as migrant workers or foreign women entering Russia on student visas despite evidence of their intention to work or other vulnerabilities to trafficking. Russia passed the law in 2003 under President Vladimir Putin but it does nothing other than label human trafficking illegal. 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. The government did not consistently provide comprehensive information on prosecution efforts, but the limited available data and media reports suggest prosecutions remained low compared with the scope of Russia’s trafficking problem. Traffickers exploited this system to bring foreign sex trafficking victims into the country, especially from Nigeria; NGOs report many victims remain in Russia. UNODC and National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence Against Children. Hunter was linked to a ‘prostitution or human trafficking ring' in the report. The annual U.S. Instances of labor trafficking have been reported in the construction, manufacturing, logging, textile, and maritime industries, as well as in saw mills, agriculture, sheep farms, grocery and retail stores, restaurants, waste sorting, street sweeping, domestic service, and forced begging. ... the declaration they signed calls for the elimination of slavery and human trafficking by the year 2020. • Ensure victim identification and protection measures are not tied to the prosecution of a trafficker and allow all first responders to officially identify potential trafficking victims and refer them to care. Although labor trafficking remains the predominant human trafficking problem within Russia, sex trafficking continued. ... the son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden- has financial connections to what the newspaper describes as “human trafficking rings. ... victims of human trafficking who committed actions subject … • Allocate funding to state bodies and anti-trafficking NGOs to provide specialized assistance and rehabilitative care to victims. Article 152 states that all purchasing or selling of a minor is punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Media reports in the past revealed the government sometimes prosecuted as trafficking cases involving baby-selling, a crime that falls outside the international definition of trafficking. 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. In December 2019, the supreme court issued a clarification on cases including trafficking in persons that highlighted the criminal liability of those who recruit victims into trafficking situations, which experts hoped would increase the use of the criminal code to prosecute and convict traffickers. The government maintained limited efforts to prevent trafficking. 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. 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. As in previous years, the government did not provide funding or programs for protective services dedicated to trafficking victims. • Given significant concerns that North Korea forces its citizens to work abroad, screen North Korean workers, students, and tourists for trafficking indicators and refer them to appropriate services. Additional troubleshooting information here. 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report: Burma / Myanmar. Senate report shows Hunter Biden paid women who were linked to human trafficking, prostitution. With continued external and internal pressure, we can work towards a world where slavery in Russia does not exist. ‘Senate Report Links Hunter Biden to Human Trafficking Ring’ in Russia, Ukraine. The government continued the repatriation of Russian minors, including potential trafficking victims, whose parents were alleged fighters with ISIS. 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. Observers note migrant laborers are also vulnerable to sex trafficking. However, during the report period there was a government policy or pattern of forced labor; the total number of victims identified by the government remained negligible compared with the estimated scope of the issue; and authorities routinely penalized potential victims, including by detaining and deporting potential forced labor victims for immigration violations and prosecuting sex trafficking victims for prostitution offenses, without screening for signs of trafficking. 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. Police regularly avoided registering victims in criminal cases that were unlikely to be solved in order not to risk lower conviction rates. The government had neither a designated lead agency to coordinate its anti-trafficking efforts nor a body to monitor its anti-trafficking activities or make periodic assessments measuring its performance. Other criminal statutes are also used to prosecute and convict traffickers. Traffickers use social media to recruit, monitor, and control victims. July 25, 2020. Media reports and publicly available data revealed some details on trafficking cases investigated and prosecuted, including some conviction information, during the reporting period, although the limited number of cases reported did not constitute an adequate law enforcement response compared with the scale of trafficking in Russia. NGOs filed 1,346 applications to initiate criminal cases on behalf of victims; the amount that actually resulted in official investigations was unknown, compared with 457 in 2018. The government decreased already minimal law enforcement efforts. 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. As delivered by Ambassador James S. Gilmore III to the Permanent Council, Vienna July 2, 2020. In: … Law enforcement training centers provided instruction on trafficking identification. Article 127 prescribes punishments of up to five years' imprisonment for trafficking crimes; aggravating circumstances may extend penalties up to 15 years' imprisonment. The fight against human trafficking has been ongoing for roughly 20 years now, and while some advancements have been made, human trafficking persists as one of the world’s biggest criminal rings. From its policy of silence on human trafficking, the passage of a number of laws aimed at closing shelters that assist trafficking victims, … However, the government reported at least 1,000 DPRK workers remained in the country at the end of January 2020. UKRAINE: Tier 2. On September 23, 2020 a report from the Senate Homeland Security Committee was released. The SSL certificate presented by the server did not pass validation. 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. Human trafficking is a severe crime and refugees and forcibly displaced people are particularly at risk of being trafficked. This year’s report honors the work of 10 heroes from nine countries, including our colleague Sophie Otiende for her leadership in building Kenya’s victim assistance infrastructure and capacity while at … A new report from the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence offers a damning portrait of the people Donald Trump chose as his partners for potential projects in Russia. The Government of Russia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; therefore Russia remained on Tier 3. The government published sentencing information for these convictions that included, for article 127.1, four prison terms (five years and four months, four years and six months, four years and six months, two years) and two compulsory labor sentences (six years and four months, five years and six months) and for article 127.2, two prison terms (four years, three years and six months). The government did not report screening specifically for indicators of trafficking, but media reports indicated the children received counseling. In 2019 and 2020, Iran failed to prevent human trafficking, prosecute its perpetrators or protect victims, the State Department said in the annual report released on June 25, 2020. 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report: Russia RUSSIA: Tier 3. Moreover, DPRK authorities reportedly arrested, imprisoned, subjected to forced labor, tortured, and sometimes executed repatriated trafficking victims. 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. Moscow Ignoring Most Of Over 500,000 Cases Of Human Trafficking In Russia – OpEd. A Benin High Court on Monday jailed a mother and her two children for trafficking a 19-year-old girl to Russia for sexual exploitation. Hunter was linked to a ‘prostitution or human trafficking … Further, the government’s efforts to exert pressure on NGOs through the implementation of restrictive laws also targeted those providing protective services for trafficking victims; the government previously designated two locally registered NGOs working on trafficking issues as “foreign agents” and NGO employees who criticized the government’s anti-trafficking efforts reported receiving verbal threats. There are reports of widespread forced labor in brick factories in the Dagestan region. 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