US embassy cable - 05ATHENS2742

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 002742 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/SE FOR PARENTE/YOUNTCHI 
INL/CTR 
G/TIP FOR DONNELLY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, GR, TIP 
SUBJECT: GREECE/TIP: NEW SHELTERS OPENED, BUT FEW VICTIMS 
BEING PROTECTED 
 
REF: 2004 ATHENS 2199 
 
1.  SUMMARY: The GoG continues to make progress on 
trafficking in persons (TIP) infrastructure, but has so far 
protected few victims.  Probable causes are inadequate NGO 
involvement until now in the screening process and limited 
understanding on the part of the police and TIP victims of 
the protections available under Greece's legislation.  Two 
NGO shelters for victims of trafficking in persons and 
domestic violence opened in Athens in October with close GoG 
cooperation.  Meanwhile GoG shelters that opened in early 
2005 have "temporarily" closed after sitting empty for 
months.  In a major October bust that freed 31 victims of 
forced labor trafficking, none were reported to have sought 
shelter.  The GoG has committed to increase GoG-NGO 
cooperation, and we will continue to push for greater victim 
protection.  Comprehensive TIP developments from Athens and 
Thessaloniki will be reported septels.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Care NGO Opens TIP Shelter in Athens 
------------------------------------ 
2.  On October 13, the new international NGO "Care/DESO: The 
International Society for Family Support" inaugurated its 
hilltop shelter for victims of domestic violence and 
trafficking in the Athens suburb of Melissia.  Care is headed 
by the energetic and well-connected activist Irini Dorkofiki, 
whose previous church-affiliated NGO and shelter, "KESO," 
closed in Spring 2005.  Dorkofiki plans to offer full victim 
support services, violence prevention for men who commit 
domestic violence, and pro-adoption shelter for unmarried 
mothers at the 22-bed Melissia site, as well as shelter for 
16 additional victims at sites in Galatsi and Marathona. 
Care's building was provided by the Ministry of Health. The 
popular Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis declared at the 
opening, "Our cultural development is not measured by our 
art, poetry, or music, but by how we treat our minorities and 
less fortunate." 
 
Solidarity NGO Opens Shelter 
---------------------------- 
3.  On October 8, the Church of Greece's NGO, "Solidarity" 
opened the doors of its 50-bed shelter for abused women and 
children and victims of trafficking in the Kypseli suburb of 
Athens.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Hellenic Aid 
provided one million euros of its 3.1 million euro anti-TIP 
budget for 2004 to Solidarity, in large part for the 
construction of the shelter, and there is probably no NGO 
closer to the GoG.  At the shelter's ribbon-cutting, Deputy 
Foreign Minister Evripidis Stylianidis hailed the shelter as 
a way to "provide relief to the victims of modern-day 
slavery."  Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos 
called the six-story structure a "marvelous and healthy 
collaboration between the Church and State."  The shelter, 
which had its groundbreaking June 2004, (reftel) is staffed 
to provide psycho-social support and legal advice to victims 
of trafficking. 
 
Meanwhile, GoG and NGO Shelters Closed or Underfunded 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
4.  The Ministry of Health's Center for Urgent Social Aid 
(EKAKV) opened TIP shelters in both Thessaloniki and Athens 
in 2005, then "temporarily" closed them after very few 
victims were sheltered and costs ran high.  Present at the 
opening of the Care shelter was Andreas Milios, Director of 
EKAKV, which operated the GoG's Athens shelter until its 
closure.  Milios commented to poloff that compared to the 
huge budget of his shelters, including for full-time staff 
and 24-hour security, the Care shelter will be more 
sustainable.  Notably, the Care and Solidarity shelters are 
likely to regularly shelter domestic violence victims, who 
are not in short supply in Greece.  Meanwhile, the most 
active TIP shelter in Athens, run by Doctors of the World 
(MdM), was closed in August after allocated GoG funding was 
delayed and there was a change in the NGO's administration. 
And the psychiatrist/NGO activist who runs the only shelter 
in Thessaloniki, Stavros Boufidis, reported Oct 19 that he is 
40,000 euros out-of-pocket after delays in allocated funding 
from MFA's Hellenic Aid. 
 
Major Labor Trafficking Bust 
---------------------------- 
5.  In one of Greece's first major labor trafficking busts, 
police from the anti-trafficking division arrested 17 
Romanian traffickers and freed 31 Romanian TIP victims on 
October 1.  The victims had been lured to Greece under the 
false promise of 35 euros per day employment in return for a 
500 fee to cover travel expenses.  Upon arrival in Greece, 
the migrants were "charged" another 800 euros, resulting in 
the confiscation of their daily wages.  According to the 
police, the victims worked as day laborers in agriculture and 
construction, and begged at traffic lights when day labor was 
scarce, always supervised by their traffickers.  In the 
evenings, they were locked in two basement apartments guarded 
by the traffickers, some of whom were married couples.  The 
victims were allegedly tortured, threatened with a pistol, 
and given minimal sustenance.  The traffickers were 
reportedly charged, but neither the head of the 
anti-trafficking division nor the director of IOM had any 
details about the status of the victims. 
 
6.  COMMENT:  Greece's challenge remains to comprehensively 
and systematically implement its prevention, protection, and 
prosecution strategies, translating its good police work into 
more victim protection.  With two church-affiliated 
organizations, Care and Solidarity, NGOs with excellent GoG 
relations and large shelters are in place to do just that. 
Care's Dorkofiki is a tireless advocate for victims and, 
despite her sometimes unorthodox methods, she has a history 
of receiving many victim referrals from the police.  Police, 
IOM, and the GoG, however, maintain that close to 100 percent 
of TIP victims they identify ask to be repatriated 
immediately, so the state has been unable to offer them 
shelter or protection.  If police and victims better 
understood the benefits available to TIP victims, they might 
choose to receive it.  We will continue to follow up on TIP 
cases and trials, and urge the GoG to develop a mechanism 
that better screens, identifies and truly protects all of its 
victims.  END COMMENT. 
RIES