Memorandum submitted by the Embassy of
the Republic of Hungary
HUNGARIAN COMMENTS
ON THE
REQUEST OF
THE UK PARLIAMENT
AS REGARDS
COMBATING TRAFFICKING
IN HUMAN
BEINGS
1. Nature and volume of the phenomenon
Hungary is primarily a transit and, to a lesser
extent, a source and destination country mainly for women and
girls trafficked from Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Poland,
the Balkans, and China for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation.
While some of these trafficking victims are exploited in Hungary,
most are trafficked on to Austria, Slovenia, Germany, Spain, the
Netherlands, Italy, France, the Scandinavian countries, the United
Kingdom, Japan, and Mexico.
According to the available domestic statistics
in Hungary 153 cases were revealed as trafficking in human beings
between 2000 and 2005. Most of them were women (72%), 7% of them
were men. 38% of them were young adults (between 18 and 24), 18%
were under 18. 52% of female victims were young adults, 25% was
under 18. 40% of the male victims were adults, the proportion
of babies were about 50%. Generally, 63% of the known perpetrators
were adults, 77% of them were men.
However, it must be underlined that it is very
difficult to accurately estimate the number of persons trafficked
to, through and from Hungary. The relatively law number of investigations
conducted does not mean that the Hungarian Police fails to take
actions when trafficking cases for the purpose of sexual exploitation
come to notice. In many cases the investigation is initiated under
the definition of other associated serious offences such as physical
and sexual abuse, deprivation of liberty, the facilitation of
illegal immigration, aiding prostitution, pandering, living on
earnings of prostitution, production and possession of forged
documents which are often intrinsic part of human trafficking.
It must be highlighted that as Hungary is mainly a transit country
and at this stage, the crime of trafficking in human beings is
hardly possible to identify and properly investigate, because
it is not easily identifiable since the exploitation phase has
not begun yet. At the transit stage it is very difficult to obtain
a conviction for committing, attempting to commit or conspiring
to commit trafficking crime, or pimping, or many of the associated
offences, without the cooperation and testimony of the victim
because in the majority of cases the exploitation has not yet
occurred. The victim is unlikely to know much detail about the
criminal conspiracy or of what is eventually intended for her.
For this reasons logic dictates that the destination countries
offer the best potential for collecting quality evidence against
the traffickers. In the framework of the international police
cooperation our competent units initiate procedure in every case
reported by law enforcement authorities of destination countries.
2. Steps taken by the Government of Hungary
to combat trafficking
Hungary has developed the legal environment
in order to appropriately combat trafficking in human beings.
We incorporated trafficking in human beings as an independent
criminal act with special aggravating provisions if the victim
is under the age of 18 in the Criminal Code in 1998. We have ratified
the main international or regional treaties and agreements such
as the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons
(Palermo Protocol) and signed the Council of Europe Convention
on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.
This year the Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement
has prepared the National Strategy against trafficking in human
beings (see in annex). The Strategy is the basis of a national
coordinating mechanism which is to coordinate, monitor and evaluate
results and challenges of prevention, prosecution and protection.
Pursuant to the Strategy a National Action Plan (NAP) is to be
elaborated. The Strategy establishes the position of a National
Coordinator against trafficking in human beings who is responsible
for coordinating the elaboration, implementation and monitoring
process of the NAP as well as for coordinating the counter-trafficking
activities among the various governmental authorities and NGOs.
The National Coordinator who is the state secretary for law enforcement
in the Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement serves as a contact
point towards international organizations and agencies involved
in the fight against trafficking.
The U.S. Department of State has been publishing
its annual Trafficking in Persons Reports (TIP reports) since
2001. These reports describe changes in trafficking trends, but—more
significantly—they evaluate countries' compliance with the
counter-trafficking "minimum standards" defined in the
U.S.' own counter-trafficking legislation. Despite facing criticism
for not always being sufficiently critical of its sources, the
report remains the only annual global overview on trafficking.
Covering about 170 countries, this year's TIP
report was made public on 4 June 2008. The report annually categorizes
countries based on their efforts to combat trafficking in human
beings. Until 2006, Hungary was listed among Tier 2 countries,
meaning that although the country "does not fully comply
with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking
[|] it is making significant efforts to do so". However,
for the second time since 2007, Hungary has been classified as
a Tier 1 country fully complying with the minimum standards of
counter-trafficking.
In the 2008 TIP report, Hungary is commended
for increasing the number of criminal investigations in the field
of trafficking, for fighting against labour trafficking and for
boosting governmental counter-trafficking funding to help victims.
A significant development was the passing of a national anti-trafficking
strategy in March 2008 and the establishment of the post for a
national counter-trafficking coordinator.
The American-Hungarian Counter-Trafficking Working
Group was established in 2004 following the communications with
the U.S. Embassy in Budapest while the latter was collecting information
for the 2004 TIP report. The Working Group holds two meetings
annually with the participation of the Office of Immigration and
Nationality; the Ministry for Health, the Ministry for Social
Affairs and Labour, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with its Consular
and Justice Services, Police, IOM, Baptist Aid, the U.S. Embassy
in Budapest and its FBI desk.
The Government of Hungary through the Office
of Immigration and Nationality has offered a shelter to a civil
organisation in order to provide protection for victims of trafficking.
An agreement defining the procedures of referral has been elaborated
with the participation of different ministries, a civil organisation
and the IOM. The purpose of the agreement is to set out the rules
of cooperation and communication among the parties in the referral
of victims of trafficking.
A dedicated shelter began its operation in April
2005 in order to protect and provide assistance to victims of
trafficking in human beings. A civil organisation has undertaken
the responsibility of managing the shelter located in a real estate
offered by the Office of Immigration and Nationality and of covering
its operating expenses. Considering the security risks, the information
on the location of the shelter and the fact that it is run by
a civil organisation is handled confidentially. For the same reason,
the shelter is communicated to the public as a safe house for
victims of domestic violence.
The shelter is situated outside of Budapest
in a separated area. The four houses are new, having four rooms,
a kitchen, a bathroom and equipped with security cameras. The
organisation agreed to provide round o'clock assistance to the
victims and is responsible for the operation of the shelter.
Furthermore, the former Ministry of Youth, Family,
Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities has established a Crisis
Management and Information Telephone Service to help victims of
trafficking by either initiating actions or providing them with
appropriate information when immediate intervention is not required.
3. Support from international organisations
in fight against trafficking in human beings
Hungary is in close cooperation with the relevant
international organisations (OSCE, IOM, ICMPD, Council of Europe
etc.), the European Union and its neighbouring and other countries
in the field of trafficking in human beings.
As regards the collaboration with the IOM it
should be underlined that the Hungarian authorities and IOM's
Regional Mission for Central and South Eastern Europe in Budapest
have worked together in the field of counter-trafficking for several
years and jointly implemented a variety of necessary services
and changes in the areas of law enforcement, prevention and assistance
to victims of trafficking.
IOM has been active in the field of counter-trafficking
since the mid 1990s, and is currently running nearly 100 counter-trafficking
projects worldwide. Of these, over 20 projects have been or are
implemented by IOM offices in Central, Eastern and South East
Europe, the region overseen by IOM's regional office in Budapest.
These projects have been carried out with close involvement of
governmental authorities, NGOs and international organizations.
Some of these projects are as follows:
— Information Campaign for Prevention
of Trafficking in Women in Hungary
1999-2000, Donor: EU, Hungarian Ministry of Interior
(MoI)
— Secondary School Education Against
Trafficking in Human Beings
2000-01, Donor: EU, Hungarian MoI
The programme was accredited in 2001 by the Ministry
of Education and was included in the National Curriculum.
— The Regional Conference on Public
Health and Trafficking in Human Beings in Central, Eastern and
South Eastern Europe
2003, Donor: U.S. Government (USAID)
It was initiated at the request of the U.S. Ambassador
to Hungary in co-operation with the Ministry of Health, Family
and Social Affairs. The final result of the conference was so-called
"Budapest Declaration" providing recommendations on
a comprehensive approach to victim protection and health and public
health issues relating to trafficking.
— Training of border guards, border
police and customs officials in identifying of and providing assistance
to victims of trafficking (AGIS 2004)
— Awareness-Raising of Judicial Authorities
Concerning Trafficking in Human Beings (AGIS 2004)
— Between March and June 2006 a regional
training series was performed by the Ministry of Social Affairs
and Labour and IOM for educational, healthcare, child protection
experts and police officers in four regions.
In addition to several transnational and regional
projects, IOM has also been involved in counter-trafficking efforts
at national level. In 2007 IOM performed successfully three projects
via the working group financed and operated by the Ministry of
Social Affairs and Labour in order to implement the priority "Eradicating
Gender-based Violence and Trafficking" of the European Commission
Communication called "Gender Equality Roadmap 2006-10".
Within this framework IOM provided anti-trafficking training assistance
and awareness-raising interventions amongst the two target groups
(child care, education and health experts as well as vulnerable
groups at risk of being trafficked) in order to understand and
respond appropriately to human trafficking issues in the Hungarian
context. This was accomplished through organizing seminars throughout
the country, running information and awareness-raising campaigns
and a "training of trainers" workshop. The project was
funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour.
The awareness-raising and information campaign
helped strengthen the relationship between the Government of Hungary
and IOM, and contributed towards continued joint efforts to integrate
counter-trafficking issues into their daily work. Based on its
extensive multi-year experience of preventive information dissemination
and awareness-raising on trafficking in Hungary and elsewhere,
IOM specifically tailored and implemented the awareness-raising
activities in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs
and Labour, in Hungary. The campaigns were targeted the specific
regions within Hungary at the local level, in order to ensure
that the key message reaches the actual target group.
Moreover, the IOM Regional Mission provides
regular preparatory and awareness-raising courses for the staff
of peacekeeping missions in the Szolnok Military Facility, as
well as in the ILEA and the International Training Centre of the
Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement.
In addition, IOM Budapest has produced and distributed
a variety of training materials and publications relating to several
fields of counter-trafficking (such as trafficking, smuggling,
irregular migration, etc.) These publications cover topics such
as public health issues and mental health assistance to victims
as well as a manual for secondary school teachers on raising awareness
among students on issues of trafficking.
The Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement
is currently taking part in two EU-funded projects. With the Austrian
Federal Ministry of Interior as a leading partner one aims at
developing data collection guidelines on trafficking in human
beings and is implemented by IOM Vienna in close cooperation with
the experts of the ICMPD, the ILO and the OSCE. The goal of the
other project is the development of a transnational victim referral
mechanism. In this project the leading partner is the Italian
Ministry of Interior and is implemented by the ICMPD.
4. Cooperation between the Government of Hungary
and the UK Government
Currently, there is a field level cooperation
between the Anti-trafficking Unit of the National Bureau of Investigation
and the relevant units of the UK police including information
exchange and legal assistance.
5. Possible further steps to strengthen fight
against trafficking in human beings
Although several initiatives and projects to
combat trafficking in human beings have been undertaken both at
national and regional level in the recent years, there is still
a lot to be done. At national level, it should be emphasized that
a good working relationship between NGOs and international organizations
with the relevant government officials is always one of the keys
to success. In our case the positive relationship between NGOs
and international organizations—in particular IOM Budapest—and
Hungarian government officials is long-standing, and has contributed
greatly to the many counter-trafficking projects that have been
completed over the years, despite of the short financial resources.
Furthermore, the fact that the issue of trafficking
has many aspects (such as supply and demand, victim assistance
and rehabilitation, irregular migration, mental and physical health,
etc.) must also be taken into account. For example, very few studies
have been conducted on the demand side of trafficking, since traditionally
the focus has been put on the victims themselves. Campaigns aimed
at curbing the demand for trafficking could be very useful in
the long run, while conducting research that sheds some light
onto previously rather unknown sides of trafficking could prove
to be eye-opening.
However, it is not enough to try to combat trafficking
on a national level, since the problem itself has become transnational
and thus simultaneously affects several countries. Therefore,
the fight against trafficking would be much more effective if
regional initiatives would be granted more funding, especially
by the EU or by Member States' governments.
The EU-accession (or future accession) of many
countries in Central and South Eastern Europe is a significant
step for the fight against trafficking as well, since EU-membership
makes it possible to formulate joint action plans and to set down
common regulations and minimum standards. Because of this, EU-level
efforts are welcome in the field of counter-trafficking.
It is our firm belief that the international
legal environment for counter-trafficking is appropriate, while
the implementation of these documents as well as the bilateral
cooperation between countries of origin and destination—both
at operational and policy level—has not been satisfactory.
For this reason we have found the request of the UK Parliament
extremely important and hope that we can further develop our cooperation.
30 July 2008
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