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Castbox Refugees from Ukrainian – women and children – can become victims of human trafficking. What is the threat and how to protect? „European Club” of radio „FM99” analyzes situation and the threads. We talked with the refugee and human right activist from Kharkiv Maryia Yasenovska. Her life changed a lot, she left Kharkiv after a few weeks from the beginning of war, arrived to Germany and the Brussels, and finally she works at European Disability Forum. Also on our broadcast – Rasa Dičpetrienė, the general director of the „Save the Children” organization in Lithuania, members of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality at European Parliament Aušra Maldeikienė and Vilija Blinkevičiūtė.
War refugees from Ukraine continue to flow to neighboring countries, although at a lower pace – in the first days 200,000 people left Ukraine per day, now – 40,000 per day. Almost a tenth of its population left the country, half of them children.
Overall, half of all Ukrainian children were forced to leave their homes within a month of the war. 35 thousand refugees are registered in Lithuania, about half of the arrivals are children.
The first family – with six children in their arms and one basket
The first family that Rasa Dičpetrienė, the general director of the „Save the Children” organization in Lithuania, met at the Alytus Migration Center – parents and five children aged 10 months to 11 years. The sixth daughter was still in Ukraine with her grandmother. The family traveled to Lithuania for 6 days, they walked the last 15 kilometers in Ukraine to the Polish border, leaving the car behind, realizing that they would not be able to drive anywhere through traffic jams with it. They brought one bag for all, because they had to carry the children on their hands, so everything else was left.
On their way to the border, they constantly ran off the road to hide in the fields or the woods, because the air-raid sirens sounded, and the children told how scary it was. However, even experienced children’s eyes sparkle when they see toys, playrooms, at least for that moment they become happy children, after arriving in Lithuania and being placed in a migration center. The arriving children lack everything from all baby supplies to stationery supplies. Board games, table football and similar things are also very necessary, which will bring children back to normal childhood for at least a few hours.
A separate category is children without parents, both from Ukrainian foster homes, and single children who are brought by friends, acquaintances, and neighbors’ families. War children need a lot of help, even food, not to mention other things, says the head of „Save the Children” Rasa Dicpetriene.
Hunters interviewed females, also volunteers
Another problem is human trafficking. Such cases have been encountered in Lithuania since the beginning.
„Even our volunteers were interviewed by potential human trafficking agents, who retreated when they saw that they were Lithuanians. The tendency is very obvious – young, attractive women are interviewed,” – says R. Dičpetrienė.
„You have to understand how sensitive and unsafe the situation is, mothers come with their children and teenage girls, the mothers are very damaged, they ran away as they stood, they don’t know how to feed the children and it’s extremely easy to take advantage of this situation – a neat, well-dressed man approaches, speaking in a pleasant, cultured manner and says – I will help you find a job and a place to live, here is my car, don’t be afraid, everything will be fine. It’s very easy to fall into those traps, and the moment you get in the car, that’s it.” – Rasa talks about the dangers for Ukrainians who have arrived in what seems to be an already safe environment. The organization also receives reports from international partners that sometimes criminals also use Red Cross vests. As a result, protection also appeared in Lithuanian migration centers, where now only men with Ukrainian documents are admitted.
Thousands of unaccompanied children
Although specific cases of human trafficking are not recorded in the EU yet, there are reports of noticeable criminal machines collecting women. Countries are taking measures, police are checking cars transporting people, houses where newcomers stay. However, even before the war, Ukrainians were among the top 5 victims of human trafficking in the EU. The war in Donbas, which started in 2014, contributed to this.
The EP Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality discussed the dangerous situation and ways to solve it with European Commissioner Ylva Johanson. MEP Aušra Maldeikienė, who works in this committee, says that unaccompanied children are still a bigger problem. There are also increasing reports of rape of women in the occupied territories.
Although 3.8 million refugees have already left Ukraine, half of whom are children, the first arrivals were different from those who are arriving now, because they usually had somewhere and someone to go to, says the MEP. However, even now, people fleeing the war want to stay close to their homeland, they don’t want to leave Poland. Ukrainians do not want to go to France or Canada, which has announced that it will accept an unlimited number of Ukrainians, and which already has the largest Ukrainian community in the world.
This migration crisis is very different from previous ones – refugees from the Ukrainian war hope that they have left for a very short time and will soon return home.
Financial flows have been activated, Cohesion Fund funds are allowed to be used, and the temporary protection directive, which allows Ukrainians to stay in the EU for a year and receive all the necessary support, was activated in 7 days at an unprecedented pace for both – municipalities and the EU, MEP Aušra Maldeikienė told the European Club.
Important information for those in a stressful situation
It is very important for people in a stressful situation to be reminded of the rules of safe behavior and to provide information on what to watch out for and where to get help, says Mariya Yasenovska, a human rights activist who left Kharkiv during the war and now works in Brussels at the European Forum for People with Disabilities.
„In such cases, human trafficking and sexual exploitation flourish, because people in desperate situations often trust strangers whom they would not trust in a normal state. So far, it’s not a mass phenomenon, there are individual cases, but I think people don’t always report it.” – says Mariya. – „Organizations must work well in the host countries, simplified instructions in Ukrainian are needed to tell what not to do, for example, not to hand over your passport. That information must also be available at border crossing points and registration points.”
It is also important to use official contacts for accommodation, not to go anywhere, to use information from reliable organizations, says M. Yasenovska. She reminds how important it is sharing the contacts with potential victims where they can get help, psychological counseling when it is needed, or if somebody has become a victim of a criminal offense – police phones, hotline contacts.
Potential victims of human trafficking must be actively protected by the local law enforcement organizations of the host countries, says Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, a member of the EP Women’s Rights Committee.
„For this, a register of war refugees needs to be created, where the countries could cooperate to have common capabilities to fight human trafficking,” says the MEP.
Funding from the EU is also available – you can use all money from unused funds, including the Regional Development or Social Fund and others, and the funds are 100% financed, no contribution from the country is required, says V. Blinkevičiūtė. Funds can be used to create conditions for housing, education, employment, etc. for war refugees.
„Over 10 billion euros have been earmarked to help refugees from the war in Ukraine,” says V. Blinkevičiūtė.
Poland received the largest number of refugees, 1.5 million of those 2.5 million who arrived, stayed inside the country. Austria is the second largest host country in proportion to its population, followed by the Czech Republic and Estonia. There is a huge burden on Moldova – through which 370 thousand Ukrainians arrived and 100,000 are still there – this is a huge burden on the health system of Moldova, people are transferred to EU countries and aid is provided to Moldova itself.
