US embassy cable - 04ANKARA6309

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 006309 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2014 
TAGS: KCRM, PHUM, PGOV, SMIG, PREF, KWMN, TU, TIP IN TURKEY 
SUBJECT: TIP IN TURKEY: ISTANBUL SHELTER REPORTS SUCCESS 
WITH FIRST VICTIMS, BUT MORE CHALLENGES AHEAD 
 
 
(U) Classified by Deputy Political Counselor Charles Blaha, 
E.O. 12958, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY.  Anti-TIP NGOs International Office for 
Migration (IOM) and Human Resources Development Foundation 
(HRDF) reported the first successful repatriation this week 
of 3 Ukrainian trafficking victims through the Istanbul Human 
Trafficking Shelter.  The event simultaneously highlighted 
momentum on GOT-NGO cooperation and exposed prejudices 
against victims that threaten the shelter's survival. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
 
Fist Case a Success 
------------------- 
 
2. (U) According to HRDF Executive Director Demet Gural, 
anti-TIP forces from the Turkish Jandarma conducted a 
November 1 raid in Istanbul's Silivri District, freeing 3 
Ukrainian victims trafficked to Turkey two weeks earlier. 
The Jandarma referred the women to HRDF's Istanbul Shelter 
for Victims of Trafficking, the shelter's first experience 
managing trafficking victims.  According to Gural, the 
victims told an HRDF therapist that they wanted to return 
home despite GOT offers to remain in Turkey for special legal 
and medical assistance.  HRDF contacted IOM and the victims 
were escorted directly to their flights two days after 
arriving at the shelter.  According to IOM Project Manager 
Meltem Ersoy, IOM Ukraine was waiting in Kiev to escort the 
victims to a reintegration center there. 
 
3. (U) "This was a fortunate first case, the victims were 
willing to cooperate with shelter staff," Ersoy said.  Ersoy 
also noted that the shelter's staff members are dual 
Ukrainian-Turkish nationals, speak the same language as the 
victims, and did everything they could to ease the trauma of 
the experience.  Ersoy added that victims subjected to 
longer-term abuse and exploitation are generally aggressive, 
sometimes violent, and would likely prove much more difficult 
to control for the inexperienced, under-trained staff at the 
Istanbul shelter.  "When you look at the current situation at 
the shelter, we're very lucky the women were cooperative; the 
staff couldn't have handled them otherwise." 
 
4. (U) Ersoy said that quick and effective action by Turkish 
Jandarma led to recovery of the victims' passports and 
accelerated the repatriation process by several weeks.  She 
also credits the swift repatriation to IOM's Jandarma 
training programs.  "In most cases, traffickers destroy their 
victims' travel documents, so we can't immediately repatriate 
them.  In this case, the training worked.  The Jandarma knew 
these women were victims and they did everything they could 
to help, including recover their passports." 
 
 
 
TIP Shelter Still a Sensitive, Struggling Enterprise 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
5. (C) Despite success with the Ukrainian victims, Gural 
cautioned that the TIP shelter, which will be housed in a 
temporary residential building until the lease expires in 
June 2005, remains a sensitive issue for the community and 
the target of "AKP religious hard-liners" in the Istanbul 
municipality "who view victims as less than human, non-Muslim 
prostitutes who get what they deserve."  Gural noted the 
shelter is struggling to remain anonymous to avoid alerting 
1) traffickers about the location of their victims; and, 2) 
local government officials who hope to stir anti-victim 
sentiment in the neighborhood. 
 
6. (C) IOM Chief of Mission Marielle Lindstrom noted that the 
shelter currently operates without security officers -- a 
dangerous situation that, in addition to protecting victims 
against "traffickers who may attempt to reclaim their 
property", exposes staff members to the risk of injury by 
violent, uncontrollable victims.  "There are a lot of 
problems that wouldn't pass inspection in the U.S., but we're 
working on them," Lindstrom said.  Examples cited by 
Lindstrom range from access control issues to items of 
shelter furniture which are made of materials (such as glass) 
that pose safety issues for victims and staff.  IOM plans to 
gather GOT, NGO, and other key participants in early December 
2004 to finalize an anti-TIP ESF grant proposal which, among 
other components, includes money for shelter management. 
 
 
 
GOT Moves Closer to IOM Membership 
---------------------------------- 
 
7. (U) The semi-official Turkish Anatolia News Agency 
reported November 3 that the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 
Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) approved draft 
legislation paving the way for the GOT's full membership to 
IOM.  Turkey is currently an observer state.  The legislation 
now goes to the full TGNA for consideration.  MFA DG for 
Consular Affairs Murat Ersavci and Security Directorate 
Foreigners Department Head Mehmet Terzioglu have 
independently asserted to us that Turkey will begin paying 
the annual 154,000 Swiss Franc IOM membership fee after IOM 
processes Turkey's application in December. 
EDELMAN