Victoria Gryb, member of the Ukrainian Parliament, Head of the Subcommittee on Energy Security

 

At the beginning of May, Finland was shaken by an extraordinary event: the local police exposed a human trafficking network. Migrants, including Ukrainians, were lured into forced labor through violence and threats. Another blatant scheme was exposed in Ukraine, where women were sold into sexual slavery abroad. There are many similar cases. Not all of them fall into the field of view of society and law enforcement agencies. Victims of violence often prefer not to advertise the mess they got into.

Fleeing the war, thousands of Ukrainians abroad face the risk of labor and sexual slavery, as well as human trafficking. Often, scoundrels find a place in the heart of gullible refugees through deception, threats, or even violence. Just as it happened with Ukrainians in Finland.

Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, the number of human trafficking cases has increased. According to the OSCE, since the beginning of the war, searches for sexual services and pornographic images of Ukrainian women and children on the Internet have increased by 600 percent. 

A survey conducted last year by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) proved the vulnerability of Ukrainians. It turned out that 27% of respondents would agree to accept at least one risky offer to work abroad. 13% abroad and 9% in Ukraine are ready to work in closed premises without being able to leave the workplace freely. 4% are ready to give their phone or other things to their employer. There are also those who are ready to give their passport to their employer.

According to IOM estimates, almost 300,000 Ukrainians have suffered from human trafficking since 1991. Potential victims are mostly lured by false promises. Organized crime is often involved in the recruitment of Ukrainians. Loss of work and income due to war increases the risks.

At the end of June, an inter-parliamentary plenum was held in Warsaw. Threats related to the risk of modern slavery for Ukrainian refugees were discussed. OSCE representatives and parliamentarians from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Great Britain were invited to participate. I joined as a parliamentarian from Ukraine.

According to the results of the plenum, we adopted a communique that outlines the main priorities in the work to prevent human trafficking in the conditions of mass migration flows.

The main thing is to strengthen the legislative response to the risks of human trafficking for Ukrainian refugees. National legislation should be amended to guarantee long-term individual assistance to victims of human trafficking and forced deportations.

Secondly, it is necessary to create working groups on the exchange of best practices and technologies. Rapid exchange of information at the national and international levels is crucial.

Third, clear procedures should be established for the rapid exchange of information on people seeking protection, especially children registered in countries of transit and destination.

A separate point of the communique is a call to help stop the genocide against Ukrainians, to return home Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia.

For many years, together with colleagues from the parliaments of European countries, specialized foundations and the public, we have been working to find effective mechanisms for solving the problem of modern slavery. Together with John Randall, a member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament, and Robin Phillips from the Human Trafficking Foundation, last year we laid the foundations for such cooperation between Ukraine and Great Britain, which should be continued at the highest state level.

The outlined problems unite more and more like-minded parliamentarians from different European countries. However, we still need long-term support. Especially Ukrainians who, due to circumstances, are forced to seek protection abroad. At the same time, we must do everything to ensure that Ukrainians have the opportunity to stay and work at home, in Ukraine.

P.S. In Ukraine, there is a state hotline for combating human trafficking at the number 15-47. The EU emergency line is 112.