Georgian Occupies the First Tier of Modern Slavery

American State Department published the 2007 report on World Trafficking. According to the report, Georgia has moved along with one step regarding the fight against the modern slavery and now it is on the first tier. In 2006 we were in the second tier and earlier we occupied the third one.

As for the criteria for assessment the countries according to the tiers, US State Department is carrying out the process of evaluation according to its legislation. Countries, where trafficking is a serious problem and reaches large scales, are inserted in the third category. Those countries do not do much to eradicate the problem. In the second category, countries cope with the problem and they are carrying out certain activities against it. As for the first tier, the courtiers in it also cope with trafficking; however, the resolution of the problem is one of the principal goals for their policy. Countries from the third tier cannot receive any aid from the USA. Georgia had similar problem five years ago.

As for the report, according to it, Georgia is a source and transit country for women and girls primarily to Turkey and the U. A. E. “These people become victims of the commercial sexual exploitation in destination countries. Women and girl from the Ukraine, Moldova, Russia and other former Soviet states are trafficked via Georgia to Turkey, Greece U.A.E. and Western Europe. Men are trafficked for the purpose of forced labor. Victims are trafficked in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.”

The report reveals the activities carried out by the country to eliminate the problem and it states that Georgian government fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.  “Over the past year, the government made considerable progress in the prosecution and punishment of traffickers. Considerable was the success in protection and assistance for victims and as well as in prevention of trafficking.”

The report appreciates the existence of the trafficking shelter in Adjara, Georgia. It was opened last year and has ten places in it. Small number of beds showed that one shelter is not enough to eliminate the problem and one more shelter is planned to be built. There is one more problem regarding the shelter. Court hearings on traffickers are held in Tbilisi, though there is no accommodation for victims in the capital and their transportation from Adjara causes some complications. Sometimes, trials are postponed and the victim has to arrive in Tbilisi several times. 

Marina Meskhi, the head of the Fund for Protection of Trafficked Victims, said that Tbilisi based shelter is being repaired and it will open late in summer. 

The report positively assesses the adoption of the Law on the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons on April 28 2006. As for the sanction, it prescribes penalties ranging from 7 to 20 years imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and are commensurate with those for other grave crimes.

As for the cases investigated under the Law on Trafficking, in 2006 their number amounted to 28 and sixteen of them were prosecuted. Traffickers received sentences ranging from 4 to 15 years imprisonment; with an average of 10 years.

The report discusses the events in Kodori Gorge where the law enforcers released several victims of trafficking. According to the report “in response to allegations of forced labor in Kodori Gorge, the government assembled a response team to determine the scope of the problem and launched a criminal investigation into seven cases. Although there were no specific cases of officials complicit in trafficking, the government tackled trafficking-related corruption by investigating and prosecuting 12 cases of passport fraud, convicting five officials with average sentence of two years.”
 
The report reveals concrete statistics. According to it in reporting period the government revealed more trafficked victims than in 2005. The data is the following: 29 cases were revealed in 2006 and 18 in 2005.

One more problem which is not discussed in the report is mistrust to the law enforcers. Very often trafficked victims avoid speaking about their problems and do not apply to law enforcement bodies. Experts consider that there is not exact and only approximate statistics on trafficking.

Eka Gulua