TRAFFICKING AT SEA. THE EXPLOITATION OF FISHERS REBECCA SURTEES SENIOR RESEARCHER NEXUS INSTITUTE.

TRAFFICKING AT SEA.THE EXPLOITATION OF FISHERS

REBECCA SURTEESSENIOR RESEARCHERNEXUS INSTITUTE

Lost at sea. The traffi cking of Indonesian fi shers (forthcoming 2016)

Fighting traffi cking at sea: The international legal framework (forthcoming 2015)

Identifying and assisting traffi cked seafarers and fi shers: Tools and strategies for protection at sea (forthcoming 2015)

In African waters. Traffi cking of Cambodian fi shers in South Africa (2014)

At sea. Traffi cking of seafarers and fi shers from Ukraine (2014) Trapped at sea. Using the legal and regulatory framework to

combat the traffi cking of seafarers and fi shers (2013) After traffi cking. Challenges in the reintegration for traffi cked

persons in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (2012) Traffi cked at sea. The exploitation of Ukrainian seafarers &

fi shers (2012) Traffi cking in men from Ukraine & Belarus, a trend

unconsidered (2008)

SOME NEXUS RESEARCH ON TRAFFICKED FISHERS & SEAFARERS…

Research from the perspective of both traffi cked persons and practitioners

Research about traffi cked fishers in different countries, regions

Research with different sub-groups of traffi cked persons, to offset sampling bias – e.g. identified & unidentified; assisted and

unassistedEngage with various institutions and agenciesOperationalize research – to improve

prevention, protection and prosecution Technical assistance, program implementation,

training

KEY ASPECTS OF NEXUS’ WORK…

The United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Traffi cking in Persons , the primary source of international anti-traffi cking law, defi nes traffi cking in human beings:

[…] 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.

WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?

I f one element in each category is met, this is human traffi cking. For chi ldren, consent is i rrelevant, which means that any exploitation of chi ldren that occurs through one of the processes l isted is human traffi cking.

Source: ACILS/ ICMC Indonesia

CASES AND EXPERIENCES OF TRAFFICKED FISHERS

How traffi cking within the fishing industry takes place

(Non)identification of traffi cked fishers

Assistance and reintegration of traffi cked fishersPhoto credit: Anonymous Ukrainian

traffi cked fi sher

HOW TRAFFICKING TAKES PLACE - ORIGIN COUNTRIES FOR TRAFFICKED FISHERS

Sources: NEXUS research; US State Department TIP report

Photo credit: BY-ND Indonesia Fishing Vessel Crew Agency

Formal and informal recruitment (and sometimes both)

Deception at recruitment; promises diff erent from terms of the contract

Heavy debt incurred to agency prior to departure

Heavy penalties in the contract if leaving vessel early

HOW TRAFFICKING TAKES PLACE – RECRUITMENT OF TRAFFICKED FISHERS

“I was called by the supervisor, ‘Your ticket is already issued, you will got 150 dollar salary’. I confronted him about why my salary was only 150USD, because my sponsor said that it would be 300 to 600USD. He said that I was tricked by my sponsor… I did not want to go but the agency threatened that I have to pay 20 million Rupiahs fi ne [approx. 1700USD], to cover the ticket and visa cost”. (Indonesian fi sher)

“One day before departure, we were given a working contract. I read that contract and I was concerned about my salary… My salary was only 2 million Rupiah [approx. 170USD]… and many clauses were not fair for the fi shermen. [We] refused to sign the contract. However, we were under pressure and had already spent our money for administration. The agency said, ‘If you don’t want to sign the contract, you have to pay to the agency about 25 million Rupiah [approx. 2100USD], if did not pay, we will report to the police and you will be jailed’. They threatened us. We didn’t have any choice then; we had to sign that contract” (Indonesian fi sher).

HOW TRAFFICKING TAKES PLACE – RECRUITMENT OF TRAFFICKED FISHERS

HOW TRAFFICKING TAKES PLACE – ORIGIN, DESTINATION & INTERNAL TRAFFICKING

Sources: NEXUS research; US State Department TIP report

Cases of traffi cked fi shers in Africa

HOW TRAFFICKING TAKES PLACE

One Indonesian fi sher’s journey while traffi cked

HOW TRAFFICKING TAKES PLACE

Photo credit: Peter Biro

Poor and inhumane living conditions

“We went on str ike after c lean water was out of stock… we could not work wi th no dr ink ing water. We used sea water to bathe” ( Indonesian fi sher) .

“We had a place to s leep but there were so many bugs, [ i t was] so hard to s leep. There were ten people in my room, so crowded, just enough space for our body” (Cambodian fi sher) .

“We drank f resh water and took showers with sa l t water. Dr ink ing water was somet imes not enough…If we wanted to dr ink, we had to ask permiss ion”(Cambodian fi sher) .

HOW TRAFFICKING TAKES PLACE – LIFE AND WORK AT SEA

Long hours, no rest

“One group worked from 3 unti l 7am, group 2 worked unti l 11 am, then took a rest for an hour then we worked together, from 1pm to 1am without rest. We fi shed every day and worked without days off ” ( Indonesian fi sher).

“Even when we were sick or injured, they st i l l forced us to work… It was more brutal than the Pol Pot regime. Pol Pot gave us t ime to rest, at least one or half an hour to rest, but this not. [On the fi shing vessel] i f they saw that we were free, they made us busy. My legs and arms were so sore, so st iff ”(Cambodian fi sher).

“The work was real ly diffi cult , we didn’t have t ime to sleep. We worked day and night. Two years plus of untying fi shing l ines, my fi ngers became curled” (Cambodian fi sher).



Photo credit : Peter Biro

Workplace injuries and illness

“I pulled buoys and fi sh... I hauled the buoys and the radar alone, no switching shifts. My arms were swollen. When I held a cigarette or spoon or chopstick, it would fal l from my hand without me feeling it. . . I f we got wounded... the wound would get rotten because it always got wet with salt water. It could not heal properly” (Indonesian fi sher).

Violence and abuse

“If we did not work, they would beat us…They beat me on my head, the scar is sti l l here now… There were four of them… they hit me on my head with a long metal [rod]” (Cambodian fi sher).


Photo credit : Peter Biro

Limited opportunities for identifi cation: Long per iods at sea Limited movement in ports Limited contact with author i t ies

“…we were standing there surrounded by coast guards but i t was impossible to ta lk to anybody” (Traffi cked fi sher) .

Language barriers inhibit: Abi l i ty of v ict ims to seek help Finding and rescuing vict ims Abi l i ty to screen for traffi cking

“We are sometimes searching on Google Earth for where they say they are and we just can’t fi nd i t . I t ’s not the r ight name. We cal l the embassy, they say i t doesn’t exist and we need to cal l around and try to guess. I t can take a week to get the correct name… and they can move in th is t ime or are at r isk” (Pol ice offi cer) .

(NON)IDENTIFICATION OF TRAFFICKED FISHERS


No screening at destination – ports, police, immigration,…

Legislation does not include labour or men

Lack of training/capacity Focus on i l legal catch;

not on exploitation of fi shers

Non-identifi cation even in approaching authorit ies

“We asked [the authorit ies] to assist our fi shers and they said that they are not traffi cking victims because they had a work contract. But a work contract is no excuse; we don’t even know if it is legal or not…” (NGO staff )



Don’t recognise their situation as traffi cking

“The police asked: “Are you a traffi cking victim?” The man said, “No. I just want my money”. So then no protection because the victim didn’t bel ieve he was traffi cked.. . . But when we explained about the law, then he says: “Oh, I may be a traffi cking victim”.

“They don’t think they are traffi cking victims because they are men”.

Avoid identifi cation b/c: shame forced assistance compulsory legal cases inabil ity to work don’t trust authorit ies



Traffi cked fi shers often require assistance to recover and reintegrate

Each fi sher has a unique experience of exploitation and returns to a highly specifi c family setting

Limited assistance available to fi shers

ASSISTANCE AND REINTEGRATION OF TRAFFICKED FISHERS

“When I arrived home, I was happy and nervous. I almost cried because I arrived home and brought nothing back. What are my kids going to eat to survive?! My family was starving, my kids were skinny.. . When I was here, at least I could earn for them to eat. But when I was away, they were crying with hunger” (Cambodian fi sher).

“[My biggest challenge] was debts, trapped in debts. We departed leaving debts[…] Just think, we came home with no money” (Indonesian fi sher).

“I kept working and tried to provide for the family but my wife felt that it wasn’t enough. We often argued. She felt that during my three years away I never gave her updates or money. My family thought I was dead since they never heard from me for two and a half years” (Indonesian fi sher).

ASSISTANCE FOR TRAFFICKED FISHERS – ECONOMIC ISSUES


“My hand ran into the fi shing net machine, my fi nger was broken. In spite of my hand being swollen, they forced me to [work]” (Cambodian fi sher).

“ I cannot go to sea because I have chronic bronchit is and actual ly they wil l not let me to work at sea due to my health condit ion” (Ukrainian fi sher).

“ I have diffi culty to breath. I usual ly have a headache. I often drink sugar cane to gain more power. I buy medicine too” (Cambodian fi sher).

“[On the boat], I caught cold because my legs were in water al l of the t ime. I have chronic prostatit is; once a year I go through treatment” (Ukrainian fi sher).

ASSISTANCE FOR TRAFFICKED FISHERS – HEALTH ISSUES AND NEEDS


“Mentally, it hurts… It’s very tough. I can’t return to how it used to be … Maybe the family or neighbours can be casual about it , but it was inside of me that cannot return to my usual self, it ’s not possible. If I returned and I didn’t have that much faith, probably I would have gone out of my mind” (Indonesian fi sher).

“I was ashamed after my return home as I had not been able to bring home any money. My friends invited me to social ise in the evenings but I do not l ike going out. I feel small because I lost my house and am in debt and am facing many economic and personal problems”. (Myanmar fi sher)

“We went home and it was a huge embarrassment. I didn’t want to go out of the house. My self-confi dence was plunged. I couldn’t bear to meet my friends out of shame because of our condition. So there was no harmony with the family. I also didn’t want to meet my neighbours. I was ashamed!” ( Indonesian fi sher).

“Some of the men got left behind by their girlfr iends [while traffi cked]. Some others found out that their wives had divorced them and married other men. Some of the parents passed away. Such lost is powerful enough to shock us. And we found it out after what happened with us for 2 or 3 years at the sea” (Indonesian fi sher).

ASSISTANCE FOR TRAFFICKED FISHERS – PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL IMPACTS OF TRAFFICKING


Assistance is limited (one-off or short term) but need long term, tailored, comprehensive assistance

Assistance is underfunded, underconsidered (but it requires resources)

Origin countries bearing costs (limited responsibility of destination, fl ag states)

Assistance can be at home or for safe work at sea

Risk of re-traffi cking, chronic vulnerability

Assisting fi shers assists the family and community

ASSISTANCE FOR TRAFFICKED FISHERS – SUPPORTING REINTEGRATION

NEXUS Institutewww.nexusinstitute.netOffi [email protected]@NEXUSinstitute

Rebecca SurteesSenior [email protected]

Photo credit:Peter Biro

FOR INFORMATION, COOPERATION & COLLABORATION…

TRAFFICKING AT SEA. THE EXPLOITATION OF FISHERS REBECCA SURTEES SENIOR RESEARCHER NEXUS INSTITUTE.

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Transcript of TRAFFICKING AT SEA. THE EXPLOITATION OF FISHERS REBECCA SURTEES SENIOR RESEARCHER NEXUS INSTITUTE.