Cablegate: 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report for Italy Part 1

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RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHRO #0209/01 0561217
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251217Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3319
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE 4063
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN 0505
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 4292

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 ROME 000209

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PGOV PHUM PREF
SMIG, KMCA, PREL, IT
SUBJECT: 2009 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT FOR ITALY PART 1

REF: SECSTATE 02094

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25. Below are responses to the TIP questions for 2009.

25. A Sources of information include government and NGO
officials, research projects contracted by the government and
prepared by social research organizations, government
statistics and reports, international conferences, and media
reports. The Ministry of Equal Opportunity promoted the
creation of a national observatory on TIP--which is not fully
operational yet--in cooperation with Transcrime, an
independent research center. (see 26.D.)

25. B Italy is a country of destination and transit for
internationally trafficked men, women and children. There is
no evidence that Italy is a country of origin.

Both NGO and government TIP experts agree that the number of
TIP victims remained stable in 2008. According to NGOs and
government officials, the majority of sex workers from
Eastern Europe arrive and work voluntarily, and thus cannot
be classified as TIP victims. Of those trafficked, about 40
percent of trafficked sex workers come from Romania,
according to the Italian Ministry for Equal Opportunity.
Other continuing trends include a large number of women who
enter the country voluntarily, and an increasing number of
victims trafficked for labor outside of the sex industry.

In 2009, the mayors of a number of large cities implemented
measures designed to limit street prostitution based on the
security decree enacted by the government in 2008. These
measures included barring individuals from congregating along
certain streets and from dressing in provocative ways that
were identified with prostitutes. Local authorities enforced
such rules, especially in big cities. As a consequence,
beginning in the second half of 2008 and continuing
throughout 2009, some sex workers moved to nearby villages or
to apartments and clubs, and those who remained on the street
often did so further away from urban centers, and dressed
less provocatively. With prostitution increasingly hidden
from the public eye, the identification of victims of
trafficking is becoming more difficult.

According to PARSEC, the only social research institute that
collects reliable statistics on TIP, the number of TIP
victims remained stable in 2009 at 2,500. A senior researcher
at PARSEC maintained that there are approximately 28,000 sex
workers (overwhelmingly foreign) working the streets, around
80 percent Romanian and Nigerian. Between 50 and 60 percent
of sex workers--especially those coming from Romania,
Moldova, and Ukraine--agree on a certain degree of
exploitation in exchange for protection; 30 to 50 percent of
their income goes to traffickers and pimps. Alien smuggling
often entails elements of exploitation; in some instances,
smuggled immigrants accept to be exploited and then find
themselves trapped in slavery.

PARSEC estimates there are approximately 16,000 sex workers
active in apartments or clubs, mainly Eastern Europeans.
Approximately 8,000 sex workers move in and out of the
country every year, especially in the summer. The security
package approved by Parliament in 2009 made entering or
staying in Italy without permission a crime punishable by a
fine of 5,000 to 10,000 euro, expedited expulsions of illegal
immigrants, and stiffened penalties for landlords to up to
three years of prison if they rent to undocumented migrants.
Its implementation led to a drop in the number of street sex
workers in major cities like Rome and Milan. Most of them
moved to the outer suburbs of the same cities, small towns,
or clubs and private apartments, where they are more
susceptible to violence and other abuse. According to IOM and
independent experts, criminalization of illegal immigration
made screening for trafficked victims a daunting challenge
and police were more inclined to expel aliens, often failing
to screen them to see if they had been victims of
trafficking. Government sources acknowledge that police
should be better trained and apply legislation on trafficking
and illegal immigration more evenly through the country, in
cooperation with NGOs.

Minors represented 10 percent of the total number of victims,
and 13 percent of Romanian and Nigerian victims. According to
the Ministry of Labor, at the end of 2009 there were about
6,100 unaccompanied minors registered by the government; only
23 percent of them held documents. The top three countries of
origin were Morocco, Egypt, and Albania.

The Ministry of Interior announced that 810 victims received

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residence permits in 2009, compared to 664 in 2008. In 2007,
health care, shelter and job training services were provided
to victims from Nigeria (50 percent), Romania (15 percent),
China (5 percent), and Moldova (4 percent). Four out of five
victims were sexually exploited, with most of the rest
victims of labor exploitation or, in a few cases, compelled
to beg.

In June 2009, police found 18 Nigerian women kept in
captivity and reduced to slavery, some of whom were minors,
and arrested eight people accused of abetting illegal
immigration, slavery, exploitation of prostitution and
trafficking in drugs. The criminal organization was led by
two brothers from Benin who smuggled the women from Nigeria
through Libya and forced them into prostitution in Italy.

There are no specific statistics for other trafficking
victims, including forced domestic or agricultural labor for
adults and trafficking in children. In general, a significant
percentage of workers (10-15 percent) in these fields are
hired illegally and a small percentage of them are exploited
or trafficked. According to experts, of the 70,000 foreign
men who arrived in the country illegally in 2009, up to
30,000 were exploited. An increasing demand for cheap goods
and services resulted in a growing demand for unskilled
immigrant labor to fill undesirable jobs in sectors such as
agriculture--particularly harvesting crops, house-cleaning,
construction, hotels, and restaurants. PARSEC estimates that
about 500 victims of labor trafficking work outside the sex
industry.

Major problems with forced labor occur primarily in the
agricultural sector and mostly in southern Italy, where the
vast majority of migrants work without a legal contract. In
2009, labor inspectors found 98,400 unregistered workers
employed by 80,000 of the 100,600 farms under scrutiny. They
were recruited by middlemen--called "caporali"--who select
the workforce for the farm owners and make sure the job gets
done. Recruiters are often foreigners and linked to organized
crime based in southern Italy. In some instances, foreigners
are employed by fake employers as seasonal workers and then
become overstayers exploited in different regions. The top
source countries for agricultural workers are Romania,
Poland, Albania, Morocco, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Senegal,
Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

In January 2010, violence erupted in Rosarno, a small town in
the province of Reggio Calabria, during demonstrations by
hundreds of Africans, after an incident in which unknown
assailants shot at two of them with a pellet gun. About 2,000
seasonal workers and 500 permanent workers had been employed
illegally in the Rosarno valley; their recruiters and
exploiters were part of a Mafia-run employment system. A
large number of them held temporary residence permits while
others were granted asylum. Of the 1,000 immigrants
temporarily hosted in immigration centers run by the Ministry
of Interior, only eight requested residence permits as
trafficking victims.

Declining EU subsidies to southern farmers caused rising
unemployment of seasonal workers in Rosarno where the African
migrants were perceived as a burden by the 15,000 town
residents.

In July 2009, an IOM team assisted 700 migrants living in
abandoned buildings without water and electricty near Naples.
The majority of them came to Italy with a regular visa, but
then the employers with whom they had contracts failed to
offer them work.

In January 2010, the government adopted a plan to combat
undeclared work in construction and agriculture sectors, in
four southern regions: Campania, Apulia, Calabria and Sicily.
About 20,000 companies are being inspected by a task force
composed of 550 officers.

The Labor Ministry promoted partnership between local
authorities, NGOs, and religious communities with the aim of
providing seasonal agricultural workers with housing in the
South.

In some cases, prosecutors are not able to prove the crime of
trafficking in persons for lack of evidence and charge
offenders with other crimes, such as abetting illegal
immigration. In most cases, laborers receive some payment for
their work, though they generally cannot refuse to work.
There are also reports of smuggled immigrants who enter Italy
freely to obtain seasonal employment and become trapped after
exploiters confiscate their passports.

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25. C Most children and women victims are trafficked into
commercial sex slavery. Trafficked children work primarily in
the sex industry and as beggars. Exploiters often seize their
documents and most of their earnings. Victims are segregated
and obliged to work long hours and move frequently to other
cities or abroad. Men are trafficked into low-paid hard jobs
in agriculture or in the service sector and are subject to
debt bondage and slavery.

Social workers reported that in big cities there were
isolated cases of male children rented out to clients who pay
a fee in advance to traffickers.

Chinese men and women are exploited in Italy as forced labor.
They usually arrive in Italy via Russia into Greece where
they board small ships that also carry drugs into Italy.
Chinese women are separated during these trips and usually
end up performing forced labor in Milan, Florence, and Naples.

25. D Persons trafficked to Italy primarily come from
Nigeria, Romania, and Eastern Europe. Other countries of
origin include Russia, China, Uzbekistan, East and North
African countries and South America (particularly Peru,
Colombia, and Brazil). Most trafficked Nigerians enter
northern Italy legally, via air, from other EU countries.
Their estimated
cost of travel is approximately 6,000 euro. Victims from
North and East Africa arrived illegally, via sea routes,
especially from Libya, where the journey costs approximately
2,500 euro.

Between May 1 and September 22, the Ministry of the Interior
identified 1,800 individuals who came ashore illegally from
North Africa, compared to 18,800 in the same period of 2008.
The Italian government attributes this decline to accords
signed with Libya and other African countries, as well as
increased sea patrols. Hunger, wars and lack of jobs drove
these immigrants to leave their countries. They were allowed
to stay in temporary centers around the country and wait for
a final decision on their asylum applications. Some, who fled
the shelters, were at risk of being trafficked for sexual or
labor exploitation.In February 2010, the Minister of Interior
signed bilateral agreements aimed at fighting trafficking and
illegal immigration with Ghana and Niger. The Italian
government offered Niger 11 four-wheel drive vehicles to
patrol trafficking routes, portable metal detectors, and
training in Italy for police officers. Reportedly, there were
episodes in which drivers hired by smugglers abandoned their
trucks in the desert and some immigrants died as a result of
thirst and hunger.

As the majority of trafficked victims in Italy are women and
female children forced into prostitution, they face all the
attendant risks of unsafe or unprotected sex. The majority of
Nigerian women arrive willingly, often unaware of actual
working conditions. Eastern Europeans frequently arrive in
search of legitimate jobs but find themselves in debt and
exploited by the co-nationals who loaned them money for the
trip. Traffickers enforce compliance by seizing the victims'
documents and subjecting them to imprisonment, beatings and
rape. Increasingly, Eastern European sex workers are arriving
and working voluntarily, especially those from Romania and
Bulgaria.

Nigerian minors are subject to psychological coercion using
voodoo rituals, and police report that some Nigerian parents
sell their children into slavery. The number of sex workers
working on the streets is decreasing while the number working
in private residences where it is more difficult to monitor
or to assist victims is growing.

In June 2009, Carabinieri officers arrested 30 people, mainly
Nigerian, and investigated another 30 people in Italy,
Nigeria and other European countries suspected of
trafficking, slavery, and exploitation of prostitution. A
transnational organization exploited young Nigerian women,
who were victims of violence while their families were
threatened in their home country. The organization included
two Italian physicians who practiced illegal abortions.

25. E Victims from the Balkans and Eastern Europe are
controlled by organized crime groups, frequently from Romania
and Albania. Eastern European young girls are generally
forced into prostitution by Albanian clans. Although Albanian
groups continue to participate heavily in trafficking in
Italy, their role as middlemen has diminished as Romanian,
Moldovan, Bulgarian and Ukrainian crime organizations traffic
in their co-nationals. Increasing numbers of women from

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Eastern Europe are involved in the recruitment and
exploitation of women from their home countries.

According to NGO and police sources, individual unaffiliated
smugglers from Eastern Europe often traffic women one at a
time, replacing some of the larger criminal organizations
that were easier to target because of their size. Each
trafficker usually has the support of one or two accomplices
and exploits three or four victims.

In December 2009, police arrested a Romanian accused of
trafficking and exploitation of a Romanian girl in Terni. She
had been offered a job as a waitress, and while in Italy was
kept in captivity and forced into prostitution.

Victims are more reluctant to report crimes and to accept
assistance, based on Article 18 (see 26.A and 29.A) because
the smuggler is more likely to be someone she knows from her
country of origin. Italian analysts expect a decrease in sex
workers coming from Eastern Europe as a result of improved
economic conditions in Eastern Europe, especially countries
now in the EU.

Italian organized crime has been involved in smuggling and
trafficking, especially for labor exploitation in southern
Italy. On February 3, 2010, the Interior Ministry announced
the arrest of 32 Italians and 35 Indians linked to organized
crime, and charged them with crimes related to illegal
immigration and smuggling in the province of Reggio Calabria.
Among those arrested were some businessmen who filed fake
labor contracts and requests for immigrant laborers.
Foreigners paid 10,000 to 18,000 euros each to smugglers
whose revenues amounted to 6 million euro (approximately $8.4
million). Police found definitive evidence demonstrating the
links between organized crime and the smuggling of migrants.

Routes and operations tend to follow established methods and
organizations for moving illegal drugs, weapons and other
contraband.

Sex workers coming from southern China work primarily in
apartments with Chinese clients, and in some instances in
massage and beauty parlors frequented by Italians. Although
their numbers are growing, the authorities do not consider
the majority of these Chinese women to be victims. By
contrast, Chinese sex workers coming from northern areas of
their home country in most cases work on the streets and are
more vulnerable to violence and other abuse, according to
PARSEC.

Incidence of trafficking is more common among Nigerians.
Nigerian sex workers work individually or are controlled by a
Nigerian madam, usually a formerly trafficked person, who
holds the lien on the loan paid by three or four victims
each. In fact, victims from Africa and the Middle East
usually are controlled by small, freelance operators who
generally smuggle individuals for a one-time fee.

26. A The government recognizes the problem and has devoted
significant resources to combating trafficking in persons. In
2008 the Ministry of Equal Opportunity launched a study on
trafficking for labor exploitation.

26. B In 1998, Italy established an inter-agency committee to
coordinate the fight against trafficking. Government agencies
involved include the Ministries of Interior, Equal
Opportunity, Justice, Labor Social Affairs, Family, and
Foreign Affairs, as well as an anti-Mafia prosecution unit.
Regional and municipal governments are also actively engaged
in efforts to combat trafficking, often with funding from the
central government.

26. C Funding made available to help victims, about 10
million euro, by national, regional and local authorities is
adequate, according to independent observers.

26. D Italy does not systematically evaluate the results of
its anti-trafficking policy. Transcrime, an independent
research center is implementing an appraisal system at both
national and regional levels that will be regularly updated
by the Ministry of Equal Opportunity.

Various government agencies collect national data on TIP
arrests and prosecution, victim assistance programs, number
of illegal immigrants intercepted, issuance of temporary
residence permits, and calls to a victim hotline. Most
national funding is disbursed through grants to NGOs.
Regional and local governments also fund programs. However,
there is no central mechanism for monitoring these activities.

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26.E Citizenship is derived from one's parents (jus
sanguinis) and local authorities registered all births
immediately.

26. F At the request of the US Embassy, the Ministry of
Justice collects data on arrests, prosecutions, and
convictions for trafficking related crimes. The lack of a
national plan on trafficking in persons hinders an
assessment of effort of different parties designed to improve
the effectiveness of actions taken.

27. A The law that prohibits trafficking in persons--enacted
in 2003--provides for increased sentences of 8-20 years
imprisonment for trafficking in persons and for enslavement.
For convictions in which the victims were minors destined for
prostitution, sentences are increased by one-third to
one-half (to 12-30 years). The law applies special anti-Mafia
prison conditions to traffickers designed to limit criminals'
ability to continue operations from jail. The law also
mandates strong penalties (4-12 years imprisonment; fines up
to 15,000 euro for each alien smuggled) to combat alien
smuggling and human trafficking.

27. B See 27. A

27. C Labor trafficking is covered under the anti-trafficking
law.

27. D The penalty for rape or forcible sexual assault is up
to 12 years imprisonment.

27. E Italy's anti-TIP law does not require the government to
maintain statistics on prosecution; however, the Ministry of
Justice provides national data on investigations, arrests,
prosecutions and convictions.

Investigations and arrests: According to the Ministry of
Justice, authorities investigated 2,738 persons for
trafficking in 2008 and arrested 365; trial courts convicted
138 persons and appeals courts convicted 148.

Prosecutors are often able to collect evidence and charge
defendants with other crimes, such as participation in
criminal association to exploit prostitution, abetting
prostitution, illegal immigration, etc. The Ministry of
Interior reported a 17 percent increase in the number of
people accused of exploitation of prostitution between 2004
and 2006.

27. F The Ministries of Interior and Defense include
specialized training on identification of victims and
investigation of trafficking and exploitation in the regular
curriculum for law enforcement agencies. In 2009, Italy
continued a 2008 "train the trainers" program for
magistrates, law enforcement agents and NGOs who work with
victims of trafficking, funded by the European Union.

The Ministry of Interior regularly updates a book for law
enforcement officers on TIP laws and best practices for
assisting victims.

Since May 2008, the Italian Red Cross, IOM, UNHCR, and Save
the Children have been involved in a project sponsored by the
Ministry of the Interior, called Praesidium. Adopting a
multiagency approach, these organizations provided training
on the identification of trafficking victims to law
enforcement, and assistance to migrants arriving by sea to
the island of Lampedusa. In 2009, the partners of the project
moved to other temporary centers for migrants in Rome,
Puglia, and Sicily.

27. G The government cooperates with other governments in
investigating and prosecuting trafficking cases. In 2009, the
government implemented the agreement with Libyan authorities
aimed at fighting illegal immigration, smuggling and
trafficking, providing vessels, monitoring systems and
expertise on border control. In 2004, the anti-Mafia unit of
the MOJ signed an agreement with the Nigerian MOJ to improve
the exchange of information on investigations under the aegis
of the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice
Institute, though government officers are not always
satisfied with the level of cooperation with their Nigerian
counterparts. Italy actively participates in EU-wide
initiatives to share information on law enforcement,
especially cross-border crimes, but differences in legal
systems, law-enforcement organization, and criminal statutes
impeded cooperation.

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In April 2009, Carabinieri officers presented the results of
"Operation Viola" conducted in cooperation with the Dutch
police and Nigerian, Turkish, Bulgarian, and Colombian
authorities. It resulted in 49 arrests and continuing
investigations of 13 other individuals on charges of
trafficking in drugs and human beings. The investigation,
launched in 2007, revealed the existence of a well-structured
organization based in Castel Volturno, a town in the Campania
region, which smuggled hundreds of Nigerian women through
Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Togo to Holland. Victims were
obliged to request asylum and then to move to Italy, France,
and Spain, where they were put under control of "mamans" and
forced into prostitution. The criminals also traded in
cocaine and heroin produced in Turkey and Colombia, and
obliged the girls to act as drug traffickers and dealers.

27. H Italy has not been asked to extradite people charged
with trafficking in other countries, nor has it had any cases
requiring extradition of one of its own nationals charged
with a trafficking offense. The 2003 law provides a new legal
basis for such extraditions.

27. I. There is no evidence to indicate government
involvement in, or tolerance of, trafficking on a local or
institutional level. However from time to time there are
media reports on cases of exploitation of prostitution
committed by government authorities. In December 2009, two
prison guards were arrested and accused of exploitation of
prostitutes.

27. J See 27. I

27. K There are no reports of involvement of troops and
social workers in trafficking related cases. Soldiers
deployed abroad receive human rights training including
sessions on trafficking.

27. L The NGO ECPAT Italy reports that in recent years, sex
tourists from Italy have made Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam,
the Czech Republic, northern Russia, and Brazil preferred
destinations.

Under current law, domestic courts may try citizens, and
permanent residents who engage in sex tourism, including
outside the country, even if the offense is not a crime in
the country in which it occurred. The country has a code of
conduct for tourist agencies to help combat sex tourism. In
December 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in
cooperation with UNICEF and some NGOs, launched an
information campaign called "I am not your toy. Respect me!"
targeted mainly at Italian tourists and designed to prevent
child prostitution in Malindi, Kenya. In November, 2008, the
Undersecretary for Tourism launched a program to fight sex
tourism including: certificates of Responsible Tourism issued
to networks of travel agencies, tour operators and airports
which reach out to clients to try to prevent crimes committed
abroad, and a communication campaign to promote awareness
among potential clients.

In April 2009, police arrested four people on charges of
child pornography and seized videos containing sadistic and
violent sex games involving children age 4 to 5.
Investigators believe that they were also guilty of sex
tourism. Another 69 people who downloaded and exchanged the
videos are under investigation.

The law punishes with imprisonment and/or stiff fines crimes
relating to child prostitution and child pornography, even
when the offense is committed abroad. This law also applies
to Italian military and police participating in overseas
operations.

THORNE

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