Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the
hands of traffickers Published
reports & articles from 2000 to 2025 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Germany.htm
Germany is a transit
and destination country for men and women trafficked for the purposes of
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Victims were trafficked to
Germany from other parts of Europe, Africa (primarily Nigeria), Asia, and the
Western Hemisphere. Approximately one-quarter of sex trafficking victims were
German nationals trafficked within the country. Twelve percent of
trafficking victims were younger than 18 years old. The majority of
identified sex trafficking victims were exploited in bars and brothels.
Reported incidents of forced labor occurred mainly in restaurants, catering,
and the domestic work and agriculture sectors. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009
Check out ta later country
report here or a full TIP Report here |
|
|||||||||||
|
CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Germany. 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. HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of
particular interest to you. Would you like
to write about Forced-Labor? Debt
Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to include precursors of trafficking such as poverty and hunger. There is a lot to
the subject of Trafficking. Scan other
countries as well. Draw comparisons
between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. HELP for Victims International Organization for
Migration ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Exposed: the myth
of the World Cup ‘sex slaves’ Bruno Waterfield,
Spiked, 14 February 2007 www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/2850/ [accessed 6 February
2011] www.spiked-online.com/2007/02/14/exposed-the-myth-of-the-world-cup-sex-slaves/ [accessed 4 February
2019] Last summer, lurid headlines claimed that 40,000 women would be smuggled by sex slavers into Germany to be prostituted to World Cup football fans. The truth is very different indeed. Newly unrestricted European Union documents reveal that the German police uncovered just five cases of ‘human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation’ related to the international football tournament. ***
ARCHIVES *** Germany slow to
tackle human trafficking, rights evaluators find Deutsche Welle DW-WORLD.DE, 20 June 2019 www.dw.com/en/germany-slow-to-tackle-human-trafficking-rights-evaluators-find/a-49279005 Permalink p.dw.com/p/3Klif [accessed 21 June
2019] GRETA, a 16-member
team, said the 671 trafficking victims identified in 2017 by Germany's
Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) "do not reflect the real scale of
the phenomenon of trafficking in human beings (THB) in Germany." Of 513 child
victims identified over that period all but two were sexually exploited, the
GRETA team said, adding that trafficked persons identified came predominantly
from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Nigeria. "Young girls
and women, in particular, are groomed through online chat rooms and fall prey
to so-called "loverboys" who manipulate
and force them into prostitution," the GRETA report said. Germany sex
trafficking: Thai forced prostitution trial begins BBC, 21 May 2019 www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48350961 [accessed 21 May
2019] Five people have
gone on trial in Germany for allegedly trafficking up to 200 Thai women and
forcing them to work in a nationwide network of brothels. The victims,
several of whom are transgender, allegedly had passports confiscated and
salaries withheld. The victims were
smuggled into the country on fake tourist visas and initially forced to work
in three brothels in the western city of Siegen before being moved elsewhere,
it is alleged. 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Germany U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/germany/
[accessed 7 June
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR In March media
outlets released findings from a detailed investigation regarding migrant
workers in the country who were lured under false pretenses and forced to
work in squalid conditions with barely any pay. One media outlet reported
that workers “described a sophisticated operation which kept tight control
over their livelihoods. The men picked them up when they arrived, ran their
accommodations, set rules for their workdays, and … decided when and how they
would be paid.” Further, the workers “described deductions for everything
from up-front ‘bureaucratic costs’ to monthly rent to gasoline for the car
they were driven to work in, even the special safety boots they had to wear.” There were reports
of forced labor involving adults, mainly in the construction and food service
industries. There were also reported cases in domestic households and industrial
plants. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT The government
effectively enforced the applicable laws, and penalties were commensurate
with those of other serious crimes. Isolated cases of child labor occurred in
small, family-owned businesses, such as cafes, restaurants, family farms, and
grocery stores. Inspections by the regional inspection agencies and the
resources and remediation available to them were adequate to ensure broad
compliance. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/germany/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 27 April
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? According to the US
State Department’s 2019 Trafficking in Persons report, migrants from
Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia are targeted for sex trafficking and forced
labor. Asylum seekers, especially unaccompanied minors, are also particularly
vulnerable to exploitation. Brides for sale:
European women lured for sham marriages Sylvia Hui And Karel
Janicek, Associated Press AP, 25 May 2015 uk.news.yahoo.com/brides-sale-european-women-lured-sham-marriages-011848832.html [accessed 24 January
2016] apnews.com/c43d3419d631461da8d8e15aa7e6cb86 [accessed 27 April
2020] Most brides get
paid-for trips to Britain, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands, and some
don't fully realize what they've gotten themselves into until they arrive.
Women have been held captive until their marriage papers are signed, abused
by their "husband" and his friends, used for sex and drug
trafficking or even made to marry more than once, according to European authorities
and charities. "Depending on
the case, a woman can be sold for thousands of euros," said Angelika
Molnar, an anti-trafficking specialist at Europol. "I can tell you it is
lucrative." Finding the ‘human’
in human trafficking Anna Patton,
cafebabel.com, 03/07/08 www.cafebabel.co.uk/article/25358/finding-the-human-in-human-trafficking.html [accessed 6 February
2011] cafebabel.com/en/article/finding-the-human-in-human-trafficking-5ae0052af723b35a145dd570/ [accessed 4 February
2019] "If someone
done for drugs trafficking can get a more severe punishment than someone who
traffics humans, there must be something wrong with this society."
Sadly, this is often the reality, explains Barbara Eritt,
since cases against human trafficking often end up in probation or acquittal
due to insufficient evidence Access to women has
become much more difficult, even though prostitution has been legal in
Germany since 2002. Brothels are increasingly being replaced by apartments or
hotels, and women cannot leave, except when they are driven to their clients’
homes or hotel rooms. Going to the police can be extremely difficult.
Even if escape is possible, the women may be subject to threats or
intimidation; their captors might know where the women’s families live, for
instance, and use this against them. Added to this are the practical difficulties
of being in an unfamiliar country where one doesn’t speak the language. As Eritt explains, many prefer to hope that once they have
paid off their debts, they’ll be free to go. Expert: Germany Can
Do More For Victims of Human Trafficking Emma Wynne
interviewed Katrin Adams, Deutsche Welle DW-WORLD.DE, 23.07.2007 www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2702064,00.html [accessed 6 February
2011] WHAT SORT OF CHANGES
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENT TO PROTECT WOMEN WHO HAVE BEEN
TRAFFICKED TO GERMANY?
- What we would like to see is women who have been trafficked become entitled
to permanent residency in Germany. At the moment the legal conditions are
quite strict when it comes to getting residency. Secondly, coverage of basic
needs including medical treatment and psychological help is often not
provided. We would like them
to have a legal right to this basic coverage. Another important point is
access to further education, especially language courses, so that women who
decide to stay here once they have been released have an opportunity to build
a normal life. We are lobbying too for access to the labor market. Falling Short of
the Mark: An International Study on the Treatment of Human Trafficking
Victims
[PDF] The Future Group,
March 2006 www.oas.org/atip/canada/Fallingshortofthemark.pdf [accessed 6 February
2011] lastradainternational.org/lsidocs/13%20Falling%20short%20of%20the%20mark%20(Future%20Group).pdf [accessed 4 February
2019] GERMANY - Germany is
generally complying with international standards under the Trafficking
Protocol for the protection of victims of human trafficking, and it is a
signatory to the European Trafficking Convention. In addition to providing
victims with a .reflection period. and the possibility of temporary
residency, a network of government funded recovery centres
has been implemented, together with provisions to address the unique needs of
trafficking victims during investigations. However, Germany has yet to ratify
the Trafficking Protocol and there are serious concerns that its recent
legalization of prostitution will exacerbate the plight of victims of human
trafficking RESIDENCE - Amendments to Germany.s immigration and victims. rights legislation in
2004 grants a four-week .reflection period. for victims of human trafficking,
after which those who agree to testify against their traffickers may obtain a
temporary residence permit. New study shames human traffickers Patrick Mathangani, The Standard, May 11, 2007 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5
September 2011] International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) says Kenyans were also trafficked to Germany, Italy and South Africa for domestic labour and prostitution. Its report, ‘Trafficking in Persons — The Eastern Africa Situation’, notes that women and children were favourite targets for well-organised trafficking rings, which operate freely for lack of solid laws against the vice. Romanian Police
Break Up Human Trafficking Ring dalje.com,
Bucharest, March 28, 2007 dalje.com/en-world/romanian-police-break-up-human-trafficking-ring/30589 [accessed 6 February
2011] arhiva.dalje.com/en-world/romanian-police-break-up-human-trafficking-ring/30589 [accessed 29 January
2018] Romanian
authorities have dismantled a human trafficking ring that transported women
to Germany and sold them to Turkish citizens for about 5,000 euros ($6,700)
each, border police said on Wednesday. Police said the
six-person gang recruited women in bars in villages in west Romania by
promising them well-paid jobs abroad. They took them out of the country
legally and sold them to Turks in the German towns of Stuttgart and
Ludwigsburg. Human trafficking a
Games pitfall, researcher warns D.E. Penner, The Vancouver Sun, November 2, 2007 www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=c8b93773-4373-465c-92a3-4c5af740bec7 [accessed 6 February
2011] In its report, the
Future Group said German
authorities employed a coordinated effort to combat human trafficking related
to an increased demand for prostitution during the 2006 World Cup of soccer.
It involved public education, cooperation with social agencies and tight
border controls. In the end, while officials did see an increase in
prostitution, they did not detect a rise in trafficking. However, in Greece, in 2004 -- the same year the
country hosted the summer Olympics -- the country did not adopt measures that
were as strong and a 95-per-cent increase in human-trafficking cases was
recorded. No rise in human
trafficking in Germany due to World Cup humantrafficking.org,
July 15, 2006 -- Source: Associated Press. "Report: No rise in human
trafficking in Germany due to World Cup." www.humantrafficking.org/updates/382 [accessed 6 February
2011] Researchers say
German authorities boosted raids on sex shops and brothels ahead of the World
Cup. The European Union, the U-S and the Vatican had pressured Germany to
act. IOM Battles Human
Trafficking During World Cup Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty RFE/RL, Prague, June 15, 2006 www.rferl.org/content/article/1069191.html [accessed 6 February
2011] To warn about the
risk of human trafficking and forced prostitution during the World Cup in
Germany, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched a
joint awareness campaign with the MTV-Europe music channel and the Swedish
government. IOM spokesman Jean Philippe Chauzy says
the campaign’s focal point is a public-service announcement (PSA), which
directs viewers to a website where they can obtain information for
anonymously reporting to the German authorities any cases of trafficking and
forced prostitution they may encounter. Europe-Wide
Human-Trafficking Ring Cracked Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty RFE/RL, May 29, 2006 -- Sources: AP, Reuters www.rferl.org/content/article/1068749.html [accessed 6 February
2011] Authorities across
Europe say they have arrested 41 Bulgarians in recent days after Italian
police uncovered a trafficking network that exploited hundreds of
children. The arrests were in northern
Italy, Bulgaria, Germany, and
Austria. Italian police say another 75 people have been placed under investigation.
Charges against the suspects include enslavement, human trafficking, and drug
smuggling. Battling Human
Trafficking in Germany Spiegel Online
International, 02/22/2005 www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,343160,00.html [accessed 6 February
2011] With German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on the hot seat for allegedly ignoring gaping holes in Germany's visa distribution policies, a major trial against a huge forced prostitution ring opens in eastern Germany. Germans Bust Sex
Smuggling Ring Agence France-Presse AFP (dre), 18.02.2005 dw3d.de/dw/article/0,,1493904,00.html [accessed 6 February
2011] German police smashed a major international human trafficking ring allegedly dealing in drugs, prostitution, extortion and money laundering. Wrapping up a nearly five-year probe, investigators captured 21 suspects believed to be involved in a network smuggling women coerced into the sex trade into Germany and managing an underworld empire. Woman judge 'ran
sex ring that killed boy aged five' Hannah Cleaver in
Berlin, The Telegraph, 01 Mar 2003 [accessed 6 February
2011] The abuse took
place in the back room of a pub run by the former judge, named only as
Christa W. The bar was a well-known meeting place for drug dealers and
prostitutes. Some press reports suggest that Christa W took money from
customers for access to the children. He was removed from
her care after complaining that she, her partner and his own mother and her
boyfriend sexually abused him. It is thought that Pascal, whose home was 100
yards from the pub, was beaten while being abused, to keep him quiet. But, say police, he was hit so hard that he
died. The abusers panicked, put his body in a car, drove across the border
and buried it. Wikipedia:
Prostitution in Germany – Human Trafficking From Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Germany#Human_trafficking [accessed 6 February
2011] The trafficking in
women from Eastern Europe is often organized by gangs from that same region.
(The BKA, the German equivalent to the FBI, reported in 2003 that 60% of the suspects
in trafficking cases were foreigners, with another 8% being foreign born
Germans. Most of the women know from the start that they are going to work in
prostitution even though they often don't know about the working conditions;
some others hope for a job as waitress or au-pair; some are simply abducted.
Once in Germany, their passports are taken away and they are informed that
they now have to work off the cost of the trip. Sometimes they are sold to
pimps or bar owners, who then make them work off the purchase price. They
work in bars, apartments or as escorts and have to hand over the better part
of their earnings. Some women reconcile themselves with this situation, as
they still make much more than they could at home; others rebel and are threatened
or abused. They are often told that the police have been paid off and will
not help them, which is false. They are also threatened with harm to their
families at home. Helping Victims of
Human Trafficking Iris Ollech / DW staff (sms),
Deutsche Welle DW-WORLD.DE, 23.09.2004 www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1335876,00.html [accessed 6 February
2011] Dreams of a better
life often end in a brothel for the victims of human trafficking, with the
people smugglers and slave traders who bring them there making a lucrative
living from their misery. Women like Oxana (name changed), whose boss in the Ukraine told her
he organized a job for her in a Spanish bakery, and that a friend of his in
Germany would help her get a plane ticket.
EVERYTHING
IS DIFFERENT AWAY FROM HOME - But once in a foreign environment, the situation
changes. Human Trafficking: The Forced Labour Dimensions [PDF] Roger Plant, Head,
Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, International Labour
Office, Presentation to Sixth Meeting of the Stability Pact Task Force on
Trafficking in Human Beings, Belgrade, 23 March 2004 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 5
September 2011] [page 3] We are also
completing a report on this issue in Germany, based on extensive interviews
with victims, and also with a range of law enforcement authorities and other
experts. Once again our researcher has come out with a far higher figure for
forced labour victims than we would have expected
beforehand, mainly because of the extended interpretation given to forced labour practices. For example only 2.5% per cent of an
estimated one million migrant workers (85% of these women) have experienced
the use of open violence in order to enforce the acceptance of unfavourable conditions of work and pay. This is
primarily the case of women in forced prostitution. But far higher numbers
are seen to have submitted to sub-standards conditions of work and pay,
because of the threat of arbitrary dismissal, reporting to the police, or
some form of intimidation against workers and their families. Sex slaves often
come from Russia, go to Germany - UN Louis Charbonneau,
Reuters, Vienna, May 13, 2003 www.russialist.org/archives/7181-17.php [accessed 6 February
2011] Russia is where
people forced to become sex workers most commonly come from and Germany the
place they most often end up working, the United Nations said Tuesday after
studying thousands of cases of human trafficking. Trafficking in
unaccompanied minors for sexual
exploitation in the European Union [PDF] International
Organization for Migration IOM, December 2002 www.rcmvs.org/documentos/IOM_EMM/resources/IOM_EUMinorsTrafficking.pdf [accessed 29 January
2018] www.infomie.net/IMG/pdf/Trafficking_unaccompanied_minors_European_Union_en.pdf [accessed 4 February
2019] PROJECT BACKGROUND
AND OBJECTIVES 3.3. EXPLOITATION OF
MINORS IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR In Germany,
children are trafficked almost exclusively for the purpose of sexual
exploitation. Although there are suspicions about trafficking for economic
exploitation (market stalls, fastfood, etc.), there
is no evidence to support these allegations. In Italy, minors trafficked for
economic exploitation are found mainly in the
informal sector and on the black labour market,
performing a variety of activities such as street peddling and begging. This
is, for example, the case in France with young Romanians who are recruited to
steal from city parking meters and young Asians (mainly Chinese) working in
illicit clothing sweat shops. Stealing and
begging are the two main activities in which criminal networks are known to be
exploiting minors. In Germany, for instance, police work has dismantled an organised ring of traffickers in Romanian minors. This
action was taken following a sharp observed increase in the number of
offences committed by Romanian minors in several cities in Germany. Most of
the children involved came from poor areas in north-eastern Romania and had
been handed over by their families to unscrupulous traffickers. Some of them
were smuggled in from Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. It is reported that
nearly 250 children and adolescents were trafficked for economic exploitation
from Romania to Germany in 1998 alone. Trafficking in
unaccompanied minors for sexual
exploitation in the European Union [PDF] International
Organization for Migration IOM, May 2001 s3.amazonaws.com/rcpp/assets/attachments/408_454_EN_original.pdf [accessed 6 February
2011] [page 97] TRAFFICKING IN
CHILDREN AND MINORS
- The trafficking of UAMs with the intention of exploitation or abuse has
been an issue in Germany but only sporadically during the last few years and
the authors of this report believe, it is still widely considered to be of
minor importance. The first signs of an increase in the level of trafficking
of minors, mainly of very young children and infants from Asia or Africa to
Germany, appeared as early as the 1980s with illegal adoptions. The opening
of frontiers between the East and West, the breakdown of political, social
and economic systems and the resultant social conflicts, has led to initial
cases of trafficking in minors from Eastern Europe in addition to the
trafficking in adult human beings (and in particular women). There are
alarming incidents of such trafficking: the smuggling of young Eastern
European girls to German brothels through prostitution rings, the
exploitation of Romanian children as thieves in German cities, the
exploitation of children of different nationalities as drug couriers, and
especially of African girls as prostitutes. As yet however, no detailed
analysis of all aspects of the phenomenon exists. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61650.htm [accessed 9 February
2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– The country was both a destination and transit country for trafficked
persons. The BKA reported in their annual report on trafficking in persons
that the numbers of known and registered victims in 2003 was 1,235, and the
percentage of registered victims under age 18 continued to be in the 5
percent range. Of the registered victims, 80 percent came from Eastern Europe
and the countries of the former Soviet Union, primarily Russia, Poland,
Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Slovakia, Latvia, Bulgaria, and the Czech
Republic. Non‑European victims came mostly from Africa and Asia. The
BKA reported that most trafficking victims were women and girls between the
ages of 16 and 25 who were forced to work as prostitutes. Traffickers used a
range of intimidation techniques to ensure the compliance of victims,
including threats to "sell" the victim, threats of deportation,
misrepresentation of victims' legal rights and status, physical violence, and
withholding travel and identification documents. 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, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - Germany",
http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Germany.htm, [accessed <date>] |
||||||||||||
