05/10/2004

In Liberia, crime has returned with vigor after the civil war. In addition to street crime and burglary, there are increasing reports of Ukrainian and Moroccan women being trafficked into Monrovia to serve as prostitutes in popular bars that double as brothels. The UN Mission in Liberia, UNMIL, says it is taking the problem seriously. UNMIL’s Civilian Police (CIVPOL) has hired an officer to address human trafficking. However, by not coordinating her efforts with NGOs and other supporting organizations, her independent actions may actually be exacerbating the problem.  

Human trafficking, essentially a modern form of slavery, is one of the largest violations of human rights in the world. Its main victims are women and children. The International Organization on Migration has estimated that approximately 700,000 women around the world are transported over international borders each year to act as prostitutes. Human trafficking undermines the rule of law and supports the corruption of power structures, thus impacting on efforts to build sustainable peace. It is often closely tied to the arms and drug trades, and has strong links to organized crime.

The “wild west” environment of post-conflict countries is particularly conducive to trafficking, especially when international peacekeepers are present, as in Liberia. The humanitarian community has criticized previous UN peacekeeping missions for not taking the issue of trafficking seriously. Since peacekeeping operations introduce thousands of unattached males into a chaotic and conflict-ridden environment, mission planners should expect to find trafficking and exploitation emerging in its areas of operations.

The UN Department of Peacekeeping Organizations (DPKO) has stated that it is committed to confronting trafficking in peacekeeping missions, despite the fact that peace operations are generally not well-suited nor directly mandated to deal with the challenges of combating human trafficking. The Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) in Liberia, Jacques Paul Klein, told Refugees International, “I have the most aggressive program. In Bosnia, we did raids. We have 5 investigations going now. I declared two clubs off-limits [to UN personnel]. I have no qualms about doing that. I will investigate. My trafficking [officer] is tough.” A senior CIVPOL officer told us that “there are seven officers assigned to [the CIVPOL trafficking officer] who have arrived in the past two weeks. She is working with my support and not putting up with any nonsense.”  

While RI appreciates the focus on the trafficking problem, the aggressive approach may be exacerbating it. UN policy on trafficking states that “[t]rafficking cannot be addressed in a template fashion.  It must be structured to ensure close integration with national and local partners. In particular, the adoption of an overly aggressive law enforcement approach with limited understanding of the complexities of trafficking in the host country is not a model to be replicated.”

The director of CIVPOL Liberia’s anti-trafficking department is not acting in accordance with this policy. According to people that RI interviewed and Liberian news reports, the trafficking officer and her staff raid nightclubs and “rescue” trafficked women, who are then dropped off with NGOs with no prior warning or preparation.  According to a Liberian that RI interviewed, “The people who own the brothels in Liberia are the same ones who are drug runners and arm dealers. You need to investigate these things together.”  

By engaging in high profile raids of clubs and “rescues” of trafficked women, UNMIL may actually be putting these women in higher risk of danger. "Rescued victims” of trafficking are often expected to provide information to police or even testify in order to receive assistance. In many of the countries or origin of the victims, there is no adequate witness protection to protect women who choose to testify against traffickers. Criminal networks involved in trafficking span from origin to destination countries and threats against the victim and family members back home are very common and very real. After a failed raid (or a successful raid where the girl chooses to return), brothel owners may punish women that they think tipped off the police.  High profile raids can also drive the industry more underground, making it more difficult to get to the root of the problem. As UNMIL has made some clubs off limits to UN personnel, brothels are reported to be moving from public clubs to private homes.

Victims of trafficking often require special counseling, safe accommodation, and medical and social support. Effective counter-trafficking programs are extremely complex and success requires a high level of coordination with the different organizations who are involved. Once the victim is "rescued", who becomes responsible for this very vulnerable person?  If there aren't any services available for the victim, then the "rescued" person may get dropped at the border or repatriated to an unsafe environment, a situation that may find them returning to the very place from which they were “rescued.” Providing services requires the cooperation of other organizations beyond the CIVPOL trafficking team, organizations that CIVPOL is not consulting with prior to the raids. NGOs point out that CIVPOL expects them somehow to repatriate the trafficked women and protect them from the organized crime racketeers who sold them in the first place, a job that they are currently unprepared to do.

RI is also concerned about the lack of female officers in the CIVPOL trafficking taskforce to interview victims. Aside from the woman who leads the anti-trafficking taskforce, all of the officers assigned to the unit are male.  

Liberian women are working alongside foreign nationals in these clubs. The number of Liberian women working as “forced prostitutes” is unknown, but RI is concerned that this may be a big problem. RI urges CIVPOL to work with other organizations to ensure that Liberian women forced into prostitution have access to protection services from health and social services as well as law enforcement.  

Therefore, Refugees International recommends that:

• UNMIL modify its law enforcement approach to human trafficking by working more collaboratively with NGOs and supporting organizations, in compliance with UN policy.
• SRSG Klein instruct the CIVPOL trafficking officer to follow all UN policies regarding human trafficking.
• UNMIL begin sensitizing CIVPOL and other staff on the many dimensions of trafficking.
• CIVPOL ensures that any interviews with women be conducted in a safe and secure environment by a female police officer. CIVPOL should recruit more women officers to work on its trafficking team.
• CIVPOL begin working with other organizations to address the issue of Liberians working in brothels and to provide them with equal access to protection.