Human Trafficking, Smuggling and Irregular Migration from

Ukraine to Canada

Natalya Timoshkina, Alla Galych School of Social Work, Lakehead University-Orillia

Lynn McDonald School of Social Work, University of Toronto

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF SLAVISTS ANNUAL CONFERENCE

University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, 1–3 June 2013

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HUMAN TRAFFICKING “Trafficking in persons” [TIP] shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs … The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation … shall be irrelevant…” (UN Palermo Protocol, 2000a, Article 3)

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Source: Action Coalition on Human Trafficking (ACT Alberta) http://www.actalberta.org/about-human-trafficking.php 3

SMUGGLING

«Smuggling» shall mean the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident. (United Nations, 2000b, 63-64) 4

IRREGULAR MIGRATION

• Involves violation of at least one of the following:

- Legal entry into the country

- Legal residence in the country

- Legal employment in the country

• Common scenario in Canada: person enters the country legally on a visitor visa, but works illegally in the informal economy; then overstays visa, and both works and resides in the country illegally.

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UKRAINE AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING

• Ukraine is a country of origin, transit and destination for human trafficking.

• An estimated 100,000 Ukrainians have been trafficking annually since 1991, which makes Ukraine one of the largest “suppliers” of slave labour in Europe.

• Few victims are identified and even fewer cases of human trafficking are prosecuted.

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Human Trafficking in Ukraine: Statistics

Victims of Human Trafficking Assisted by IOM Ukraine 2000–2010

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Prosecution of Human Trafficking Cases in Ukraine, 1998-2010

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Countries of Destination

Reported victims of human trafficking from Ukraine, 2000–2010

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Common Characteristics of the Victims of Trafficking (based on the 2004-2010 data)

• Most victims from Ukraine are females, 22-27 years of age, trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

• A new trend in the gender structure of trafficking has been observed recently, as a share of men is increasing (14% in 2004 and almost 34% in 2010).

• There is an increase in the number of minors, aged 16-17, trafficked for the purposes of commercial sex and pornography, forced labour and other economic exploitation, participation in criminal activities, begging, and even organ removal. But the vast majority of minors are being trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation and begging. 10

Number of victims of trafficking by types of exploitation, 2004-2010

Types of

exploitation

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Sexual 403 558 597 581 392 337 369

Labour 190 232 319 500 404 397 612

Mixed 24 28 15 33 7 23 30

Begging 9 10 5 4 14 16 61

Other * - - 1 - 3 - 13

*Cases of involvement into low level criminal activity and 7 cases of organ trafficking. 11

Top sectors of labour exploitation of trafficking victims

from Ukraine, 2007-2010

Sector of labour

exploitation

Number of victims

2007 2008 2009 2010

Construction 224 132 126 664

Agriculture 119 163 78 448

Industry 77 54 82 349

Housework 27 21 10 72

Services 16 21 11 58

Care 21 4 11 38

Timber processing 10 5 10 26

Trade 2 1 7 10

Fishing 2 3 - 7

Shipping - - - 7

Testing 2 - 2 4

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Identification of Trafficked Victims in Ukraine

• Almost 70% of trafficked persons were identified by NGOs.

• About 37% of them - by law enforcement agencies.

• Almost 11% were identified jointly by NGOs and law enforcement agencies.

• Under 4% were identified as trafficked persons by others.

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HUMAN TRAFFICKING FROM UKRAINE TO CANADA

• Eastern Europe and the former USSR, esp. Ukraine and Russia, are named as the 2nd (after Asia) principal source region for trafficking in persons to Canada – particularly sex trafficking of women (Oxman-Martinez et al., 2005; Perrin, 2010; RCMP, 2004).

• 1991 – The “Gorby Girls” case: 11 Soviet women recruited for modeling jobs and trafficked into Toronto’s strip clubs; were detained during police raid on Pro Café. Four of these women self-identified as (ethnic) Ukrainian and were released into the custody of the Canadian Ukrainian Immigrant Aid Society (Godfrey & Welsh, 1991).

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• February 19, 2000 – The Globe & Mail publishes an exposé on trafficking of women from Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe into the Canadian strip clubs; provides a detailed story of one Ukrainian woman, 2 other women mentioned (Oziewicz, 2000).

• 2004-06 – IOM (2005; 2006) surveys rank Canada as a preferred destination country for potential labour migrants from Ukraine (#4 in 2004; # 7 in 2005; # 5 in 2006); most of these migrants are considered at high risk of being trafficked.

• 2007 – Savelia Curniski, representative of Nashi, an advocacy group focused on the sex trade in Ukraine, states: "It is estimated that 15,000 girls from the Ukraine have been trafficked into Canada" (Munroe, 2007), presumably since 1991. It is unknown where this estimate came from.

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• In 2010, the Embassy of Canada in Kyiv issued about 8,500 temporary visas to visitors, students, and temporary workers (Government of Canada, 2011).

• Of all the former socialist countries of Eastern, Central, and Southern Europe and the former USSR, Ukraine is the top supplier of temporary workers to Canada (CIC, 2010).

• Many foreign temporary workers (e.g., domestic and farm workers) are subjected to extreme exploitation and could be classified as trafficked.

• The Agriculture Workers’ Alliance notes a significant increase in the number of male migrant agricultural workers from Ukraine in Canada, specifically in Ontario.

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Numbers of Temporary Workers from Ukraine in Canada (CIC, 2010)

Year Entries Present on December 1

2001 205 297

2002 190 274

2003 203 309

2004 233 357

2005 251 402

2006 367 494

2007 910 1,064

2008 1,117 1,598

2009 791 1,780

2010 823 1,374

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McDonald, L., Moore, B., & Timoshkina, N. (2000). Migrant Sex Workers from Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union: The Canadian Case. Ottawa:

Status of Women Canada.

• Interviewed 18 female migrant/trafficked sex workers and 2 Canadian trafficked ex-sex workers; 15 service providers; and 15 key informants (all resided and worked in the Greater Toronto Area)

• Sample included 5 Ukrainian participants:

1 female massage parlour worker (smuggled)

1 service provider from an ethnic Ukrainian agency

1 journalist from an ethnic Ukrainian newspaper

2 paralegals who worked as immigration specialists

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• Ukrainian participants suggested that the issue of sex trafficking - from Ukraine to Canada in particular - has been greatly exaggerated, that nobody forced women to be in the sex trade, and that they didn’t need any help.

• They believed that women worked in the sex trade due to limited economic opportunities (no Canadian experience, limited English language skills, etc.). Sex work offered high income and many women were (single) mothers who were hoping to build a better life at least for their children.

• They also suggested that some women’s immigration experience might leave them feeling lost, especially in light of marriage breakdown; women may struggle to find their place in society and to feel desirable.

• One participant said that sex workers were simply “fallen women who got seduced by money.”

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• Participants suggested that many irregular migrants from Ukraine may work in informal economy in Canada.

• One paralegal, in particular, reported that many women come to Canada from Ukraine on visitor visas in order to work in massage parlours: they stay with friends and know exactly where to go for work. They would come for a few months, with a goal of making a certain amount (e.g., $10,000) in order to buy a large item, such as a car or a mink coat. After they make the money, they go home.

• However, the researchers didn’t find any evidence of that. Massage parlour owners and sex workers interviewed for the study suggested that maybe that’s been the case in the past, but “now everybody wants to stay in Canada.”

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Timoshkina, N., & McDonald, L. (2009). Building Partnerships for Service Provision to Migrant Sex Workers. Toronto: The Wellesley

Institute.

• Targeted telephone inquiry, with a standardized set of screening questions, of 92 health and social service organizations in the GTA that were expected to deal with migrant sex workers

• 3 focus groups with a total of 19 representatives from 13 organizations, most of whom had direct experience with the population in question

• Ukrainian sex workers were mentioned by several providers, but few details were available.

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“Human Trafficking from the Former Eastern Bloc to Canada” (2011-13; funded by SSHRC)

PI: N. Timoshkina ; Co-PI: L. McDonald Project Coordinator: A. Galych

Ukraine:

• Reports, documents, media and academic articles (in English, Ukrainian, Russian) pertaining to trafficking in/from Ukraine were reviewed

• 49 workers from all 25 counter-trafficking NGOs operating in Ukraine were contacted via email & phone

• 2 NGO workers who had direct experience with persons trafficked to Canada were interviewed

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• Only 3 cases of trafficked victims returned from Canada were found: 2 female, forced marriage; 1 male, labour trafficking (the male and 1 female victim were trafficked through the U.S.).

• Possible explanations:

Canada is too far and expensive to go to. It’s now difficult to get temporary visa to Canada +

people know more about legal options for permanent immigration.

Persons trafficked from Ukraine remain in Canada/ North America.

Victims who return to Ukraine don’t seek help from NGOs.

Victims may not define themselves as trafficked or may not be classified as such under the official definition of human trafficking.

Returned victims are being re-trafficked or migrate to other countries.

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CASE EXAMPLES

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CASE A: SMUGGLING

• 1997: Oksana and her husband David decide to leave Ukraine because of escalating anti-Semitism.

• Oksana, who is not Jewish, refuses to move to Israel. Through word-of-mouth, David learns about a way to migrate to Canada.

• ‘Agents’ arrange fake visitor invitations and plane tickets to Canada for USD $800 (Oksana has to take out a mortgage on her mom’s apartment), provide the couple with a ride from Montreal (where the flight has landed) to Toronto, and tell them where to go to claim refugee status.

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• Oksana and David stay at a shelter for refugees for a while and rely on social assistance.

• David starts working as a truck driver, Oksana goes to work in a massage parlour.

• They soon move out of the shelter and rent an apartment.

• Their refugee claim is successful and they become landed immigrants.

• 1999: Their life is “fine”; they make enough money to pay off the mortgage they’ve taken on mom’s apartment and also are able to send money to relatives back in Ukraine. Both are trying to improve their English. David wants to go into business for himself. Oksana wants to become a cop.

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CASES B & C. MARRIAGE TRAFFICKING

• 2004-05: 2 female victims, 35 and 41 years old, approach a counter-trafficking NGO in Ukraine for help.

• Few years prior, both were widows seeking stable marriage abroad. They met their future husbands through marriage ads and correspondence. Their husbands were immigrants from Dagestan and Chechnya.

• Both women have arrived to North America on fiancé visas: one to Canada, one to the U.S. – she was later moved to Canada by her husband.

• Both women found themselves in situations of extreme exploitation as domestic labour.

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• Their passports were taken away from them and they were kept under ‘house arrest’: not allowed to go outside without an escort, talk to anybody or use the phone.

• They were forced to accept Islam and pray several times a day.

• They were subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse: repeated rapes, beatings, one was handcuffed to a bed.

• There were death threats to their children; threats to the women themselves and their relatives back home; threats of deportation, blackmail (threats to tell people back home that they were prostitutes). 28

• One woman suffered miscarriage, but was not taken to a hospital – only to a walk-in clinic.

• Financially, both women were completely dependent on their husbands.

• One woman managed to escape during visit to Moscow.

• The other woman was allowed to go back to Ukraine on the condition that she would recruit other women. Instead, the woman went into hiding.

• One of the women is still in Ukraine, but not in her native town; the other is in Russia.

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CASE D. LABOUR TRAFFICKING

• Around 2005: man in his early 50s, married, with 3 children, lost his job at an auto shipping company due to its bankruptcy; started going abroad as a labourer – to Russia, Israel, then to Canada.

• He was recruited for work in Canada by private ‘recruiters’ who posed as lawyers helping people with immigration to/work in Canada. He was promised high earnings: $1,000-$2,000/week (10-hour workdays), free room and board (3 meals a day), free health care, and possible work for his wife and kids. Was advised that after several years of good work and upon payment of high legal fees to the ‘lawyers,’ he would be able to obtain permanent residency in Canada.

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• He was put on a plane to New York, then moved across the border to Canada (somewhere near Buffalo) in a truck with 3-4 other men, hidden behind big boxes. His passport was taken away from him the moment he landed in NY.

• He ended up as a ‘slave’ labourer in fish processing and later in construction.

• He worked in a hangar with other men from different countries.

• They worked around the clock, without pay, were not allowed to use the phone or leave the hangar; slept in bunk beds in a partitioned section of the hangar.

• It appeared to be a very well organized, large-scale, Mafia operation. The workers were watched 24/7, and psychologically and physically abused by ‘bodyguards.’

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• The man escaped with the help of “good people”, ended up working virtually for free in construction for 6 months.

• Then he was taken to the US and worked on a farm for about a year trying to make enough money for a ticket home and an immigration fine.

• He returned to Ukraine empty-handed; his wife left him and took the kids.

• In 2008, he approached a local counter-trafficking NGO; was in denial about being trafficked (like most victims), blamed himself for not being more careful, but kept asking if there was a way to find and punish his recruiters.

• He received counseling and employment assistance for about 5-6 months. He ended up working as a driver for an advertising agency.

• His recruiters were never identified. 32

REFERENCES

• Godfrey, T., & Welsh, M. (1991, April 3). Gorby’s Gals dance away from slammer. The Toronto Sun, p. 4.

• Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). (2010). Facts and figures 2010: Immigration overview, permanent and temporary residents. Ottawa: CIC.

• Government of Canada. (2011). Canada-Ukraine relations. http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/ukraine/bilateral_relations_bilaterales/index.aspx?lang=eng&view=d

• IOM. (2005). Labour migration intentions and assessments of risks of trafficking in persons in the context of perception of labour migration and trafficking in persons in the Ukrainian society. Kyiv, Ukraine: IOM Ukraine.

• IOM. (2006). Human trafficking survey: Belarus, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine. Kyiv, Ukraine: IOM Ukraine.)

• Munroe, D. (2007, April 28). International human trafficking – local problem. The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon), p. A1.

• Oxman-Martinez, J., Lacroix, M., & Hanley, J. (2005). Victims of trafficking in persons: Perspectives from the Canadian community sector. Ottawa: Department of Justice Canada.

• Oziewicz, E. (2000, February 19). Canada’s bare essentials. The Globe and Mail, p. A1

• Perrin, B. (2010). Invisible chains: Canada’s underground world of human trafficking. New York & Toronto: Viking Canada, Penguin Group.

• Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). (2004). Environmental scan-June 2004. Feature focus: Human trafficking. Ottawa: RCMP.

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