Human Trafficking in [Poland Street Children in [Poland] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Poland] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the
first ten years of the 21st Century -
2000 to 2009
Poland is a source country for men and women trafficked to
Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and
Israel for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. It is also a
transit and destination country for women trafficked from Moldova, Ukraine,
Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus, Russia, Sudan, Senegal, Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti,
China, and Vietnam for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Women
from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Mongolia, and Vietnam are trafficked to Poland for
purposes of forced labor, forced begging, and debt bondage. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in
Persons Report, June, 2009 [full country report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Poland. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity
or to verify their content. ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Human Trafficking Ring Raided in Italy "Gangsters working in Poland recruited
people looking for seasonal jobs picking fruit and vegetables in Italy
through announcements in local newspapers," Bienkowski
told a news conference. He said workers had to pay travel costs and a
one-time work-finders fee of up to $280. But once in Italy, their situation
quickly deteriorated. The workers were promised $6.30-$7.50 per hour before
leaving, but received only $1.25 an hour after arriving, Bienkowski
said. They were quartered in barracks with horrible sanitary conditions
and had to pay for food and board, which pushed most of them into debt. Tales of sex and sadness from inside Britain's oldest profession 'I'D BEEN DREAMING OF A FUTURE AS A WIFE AND A MOTHER' - ALMA, 26 - Alma (not her real name) fell in love with a man she met in Poland seven months ago. He said he wanted to introduce her to his family. Under this pretence, he ended up kidnapping her. He used a false passport to bring her to Manchester and force her to work in a brothel. 'I had been working as a waitress, dreaming of a future as a wife and mother,' Alma says. 'This man shared my Muslim religion. I trusted him. When he locked me in his house, took away all my money and possessions, I was terrified. But when he forced me into a car and had a friend drive me to a foreign country where I didn't speak the language or know anyone, I was beside myself . My family went to the police but after a week I knew they wouldn't take me back because, according to our religion, I was ruined. 'He beat me and made me live with another girl who spied on me. She wouldn't leave me for a second and reported to this man if I did anything that looked like trying to escape. He forced me to work in the brothel, but the clients complained because I just cried all the time. The manager asked me what was wrong. I didn't have the language to express myself, but eventually I managed to explain. I don't think she felt sorry for me, but she saw that I wasn't going to earn her brothel any money because I would never willingly work. She helped me to escape and I went to the police. This has damaged my life in all directions. I have no dreams now and no hopes. I have nothing.' ***
ARCHIVES *** U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs GOVERNMENT
POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - In September 2003, the Government of Poland approved a
national plan to combat trafficking that coordinates the efforts of the
government, the private sector, and NGOs.
In cooperation with the Global Program Against Trafficking in Human
Beings of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the government has
also started a project against trafficking in persons. The project aims is to
strengthen criminal justice responses to trafficking and to enhance the
coordination among the criminal justice system, civil society, and other
organizations to prevent trafficking and control the involvement of organized
crime. INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - There are also reports that girls are trafficked to and from Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – Traffickers
targeted young, unemployed, and poorly paid women, particularly those with
weak family ties and support networks. Traffickers attracted victims through
methods including fake employment offers, arranged marriages, fraud, and
coercion. Some victims believed that they were accepting employment abroad as
waitresses, maids, or nannies. While traveling to their purported
destinations, traffickers confiscated their passports and identity papers and
exerted control over them through fear and intimidation. Traffickers
threatened victims with violence, and those who resisted or tried to flee
were raped, beaten, or intentionally injured. As many as 90 percent of those
trafficked in the country had false travel documents, and the trafficking
operation usually involved a network of criminals. One criminal would recruit
the victim; a second would provide false travel documents and traffic her
across the border; and a third would supervise her work with clients,
functioning as a pimp. Arrest statistics indicated that approximately 25
percent of traffickers were non-citizens. Unlike in previous years, there
were no reports of large-scale auctions of women in Concluding
Observations Of The Committee On The Rights Of The Child (CRC) - 2002 [48] While noting the increased
efforts of the State party to cooperate in regional programs to prevent
trafficking and repatriate victims, the Committee is nevertheless concerned
that Human
trafficking in Poland on the rise www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw20090529193948940C426747
Human trafficking in Poland has
worsened since the country joined the European Union and Europe's borderless Schengen zone, a UN independent expert said Friday. Trafficking for labour and prostitution is already endemic in Poland,
said Ezeilo, adding that data from the police
indicates that cases of human trafficking are "growing by the
day." Despite the growth,
inspectors did not have the "necessary capacity" to deal with the
issue. Tales
of sex and sadness from inside Britain's oldest profession 'I'D BEEN
DREAMING OF A FUTURE AS A WIFE AND A MOTHER' - ALMA, 26 - Alma (not her real name) fell in
love with a man she met in Poland seven months ago. He said he wanted to
introduce her to his family. Under this pretence, he ended up kidnapping her.
He used a false passport to bring her to Manchester and force her to work in
a brothel. 'I had been working as a waitress,
dreaming of a future as a wife and mother,' Alma says. 'This man shared my
Muslim religion. I trusted him. When he locked me in his house, took away all
my money and possessions, I was terrified. But when he forced me into a car
and had a friend drive me to a foreign country where I didn't speak the
language or know anyone, I was beside myself . My family went to the police
but after a week I knew they wouldn't take me back because, according to our
religion, I was ruined. 'He beat me and made me live with
another girl who spied on me. She wouldn't leave me for a second and reported
to this man if I did anything that looked like trying to escape. He forced me
to work in the brothel, but the clients complained because I just cried all
the time. The manager asked me what was wrong. I didn't have the language to
express myself, but eventually I managed to explain. I don't think she felt
sorry for me, but she saw that I wasn't going to earn her brothel any money
because I would never willingly work. She helped me to escape and I went to
the police. This has damaged my life in all directions. I have no dreams now
and no hopes. I have nothing.' Combating Trafficking for Forced Labor Purposes in the OSCE Region www.csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContentRecords.ViewTranscript&ContentRecord_id=397&ContentType=H,B&ContentRecordType=H&CFID=18849146&CFTOKEN=53 www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/rm/07/93496.htm Last year, press reports indicated
that in Poland, announcements in local newspapers lured workers to Italy for
seasonal jobs picking fruit and vegetables. They were promised an hourly wage
of up to $7.50, only after paying a finder’s fee and travel costs. Once in
Italy the reality was much different. Nearly 100 Polish workers were forced to
live in barracks with no sanitation or running water, fed only bread and
water and were paid just $1.25 an hour. With these meager wages, they were
unable to pay the room and board and were pushed into debt. Attempts to
resist were met with severe beatings and torture. Suspected
human trafficking gang leader nabbed in Poland In July, a joint operation saw
Italian and Polish police free more than a hundred Polish citizens that were
being held in Nazi-style labour camps in Italy's
Apulia region, close to the cities of Bari and Foggi. Polish
prosecutors investigating the Italian slave labour
camps using Polish nationals began questioning victims in the case in mid-
October. Polish justice officials
believe that up to 1,000 Poles may have been used as slaves in Nazi-style
agricultural labour camps in the Apulia region that
forms the heel of Italy's boot. Human
Trafficking Ring Raided in Italy "Gangsters working in Poland
recruited people looking for seasonal jobs picking fruit and vegetables in
Italy through announcements in local newspapers," Bienkowski
told a news conference. He said workers
had to pay travel costs and a one-time work-finders fee of up to $280. But
once in Italy, their situation quickly deteriorated. The workers were
promised $6.30-$7.50 per hour before leaving, but received only $1.25 an hour
after arriving, Bienkowski said. They were quartered in barracks with
horrible sanitary conditions and had to pay for food and board, which pushed
most of them into debt. UK anti-human trafficking campaign The United Kingdom has launched an awareness campaign on the trafficking of women from Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. The problem in Eastern Europe is reaching alarming proportions, as more and more naïve females leave their homeland in the hope of making a successful living for themselves in the West. Unfortunately many are roped into a life of crime and prostitution. British authorities argue that Poland’s accession to the EU has made it that much easier for traffickers to recruit their victims.” It’s estimated that roughly 10,000 Polish women have been the victims of domestic and international human trafficking mills. Jolanta Plakwicz from the Polish Feminist Union thinks that the figure is much higher. Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 1 Status: Free Human Rights Overview
by Human Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide Stop
Violence Against Women – Country Page U.S. Library of Congress
- Country Study Human trafficking and slavery are
not a thing of the past; they are a frightening reality of today. The number of detected cases of trafficking
in women and children forced into prostitution is growing. Over the past nine
years various organizations and police in Poland have been approached by
1,511 women; in 2003 alone, there were 261 reports WHOM THEY SEEK - Ideal victims for recruiters
are women who cannot speak foreign languages, have never been abroad and have
no knowledge of the law, so that when they are expelled from Poland, they
will be helpless. Procurers know well
where to look for such women. They choose first and foremost those who are
greatly affected by a lack of money and those who have looked for a job for a
long time. The best candidates come from broken homes or have poor contact
with their parents. That provides a kind of a protection for the pimp: when
problems arise, the woman has no one to turn to. The candidates do not have
to be young and beautiful. Procurers recruit both 16-year-olds and women over
45. ENAWA Annual Report on Violence Against Women in 10
Countries www.iiav.nl/european-womenaction-2000/scripts/wwwopac.exe?database=brief&isutf8=1&%250=100397 In Poland, it is estimated that as
many as 10,000 women and girls are trafficked out to foreign countries every
year and 60% of the prostitutes in Poland are suspected of being trafficking
victims. New Polish law on providing
protection for refugees staying in the territory of Poland that came into
force in November 2003 includes an innovative regulations on
procedure of admitting a refugee status to unaccompanied minors. The
act obliges the state authority among others to: * creating a special “friendly”
conditions of minors interviewing * guarantying the presence of
psychologist during a minors interview * preparing by psychologist an
opinion about the interviewed minor’s psycho-health
condition Research based on case studies of victims of trafficking in human beings in 3 EU Member States, i.e. Belgium, Italy and The Netherlands [PDF] www.ontheroadonlus.it/rootdown/RapIppocra.pdf At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
2.8.1.4. THE 2.8.1.4. THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN
ROUTE - In this case
we can trace out two different routes. The most important runs via Poland, the Czech Republic and
Germany to Belgium. The alternative route runs to Serbia in order to end up
finally in Belgium through the Albanian route. The vehicles, which are mainly
used during the transport, are train, bus and car. The planned final
destination was for 10% of the victims the UK but they were on their way over
dumped in prostitution in Belgium. World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children www.usemb.se/children/csec/feature5.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] CHILDREN OF EASTERN EUROPE - Those in institutions are not
necessarily better off. Children are bought, or adopted in Poland, Romania
and other eastern countries by British, Swiss and Scandinavian paedophiles. Reports indicate that healthy Polish
children can be bought outright for $25,000. Others are adopted from
cash-strapped orphanages whose directors may accept bribes to concoct the
legal documents, or else let their charges be taken. And so the trafficking of children
from Eastern Europe into the countries of the West has grown. Once in Western
Europe, the children are often passed through paedophile
networks until they effectively disappear. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin,
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Human Trafficking in [Poland Street Children in [Poland] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Poland] [other countries]