Human traffickers Prey on Ukrainian Refugees. What Immediate EU Actions are Needed?

As war is waged in Ukraine, thousands and thousands of people seek safety and cross the border in hope to find it. Humanitarian organizations at the Ukrainian-Romanian border are crying for help, because at the Romanian border, human traffickers prey on vulnerable Ukrainian women, children, elderly and handicapped people. Also from organizations from the republic of Moldova I have received similar alarming signals. Already, accounts of missing people and rape have been reported. Help is needed to guarantee the protection of refugees. The European Union is preparing different measures and actions to help. Humanitarian organizations fear it takes too long, as help is needed right away.

Humanitarian organizations raise their voices of concern. Ukrainian refugees are vulnerable to human traffickers and criminals seeking to lure them into prostitution. The refugees often do not speak Romanian or English and do not have a passport. As most of the refugees are women, children, elderly and handicapped, the risk of falling victim to traffickers and smugglers poses a serious threat.

Action at the European level

The EU takes action on the current situation of refugees in Ukraine and at its borders with neighboring countries. The recently adopted resolution 2022/2564(RSP) by the European Parliament stresses the special protection of vulnerable refugees and reminds all member states of their responsibilities to respect the fundamental rights of asylum seekers. Furthermore, the European Commission and the French Presidency of the Council called for the activation of the Temporal Protection Directive which must be approved by the Justice and Home Affairs Council on Friday, March 4^th. The Temporal Protection Directive provides minimum standards of protection and rights to displaced persons for a period of one year, which can be extended. The Directive also allows for access to suitable accommodation, social welfare, medical assistance, and has provisions for family reunification.

The Justice and Home Affairs Council must take the decision to activate the Temporal Protection Directive tomorrow, as it can help to reduce the risk of refugees to be lured into human trafficking. Once received help, refugees become less vulnerable.

Not enough. More action is needed

The adopted resolution and the activation of the Temporal Protection Directive can be helpful, however, more action is needed to ensure the protection of Ukrainian refugees and keep them from exploitation by traffickers, smugglers and other criminals.

The EU must urgently implement the Renewed Action Plan Against Migrant Smuggling. This plan of action provides several measures to counter migrant smuggling. It accommodates measures for the identification of victims and provides support by EU agencies to member states for this purpose. Measures to prevent families form separation are included, as are search mechanisms to find missing migrants. The action plan also calls for the sanctioning to those who employ illegal migrants. Also, the EU Strategy on the eradication of human trafficking 2021-2025 contains several measures that should be implemented such as the training for health care workers on the need of human trafficking victims. Furthermore, the Commission must urgently proceed with assessing the imposition of minimum EU rules for criminalizing the use of exploited services of trafficking victims (especially on the field of sexual exploitation) as laid down in the strategy.

These measures will help now and in the future victims of the war in Ukraine. The EU should stay alert on their situation, continuously seeking to ensure the protection and safety of these vulnerable women, children, elderly and handicapped people. Local authorities, police forces and humanitarian organizations are alert. The EU should be too!

(This article was written with help of Koen Struik and Lefteris Kaloterakis)