A
\nsensational piece of news was making headlines around Europe in 2010; the
\nlargest network of human traffickers in Europe operated from Tandarei, in
\nsouthern Romania, had been dismantled. 25 people were sent to court for having
\nsmuggled 160 Roma children with the purpose of using them as beggars or in
\nother so-called ‘street operations’. The incident was forgotten in a couple of
\nweeks and it soon became water under the bridge in Romania and abroad. Nine
\nyears later, however, on December 10th 2019, a court in Targu Mures
\nacquitted all the 25 people involved in the Tandarei file. In 2019, the
\nabduction, forcible confinement and eventual murder of two girls in Caracal,
\nsouthern Romania shocked the entire country and its legal authorities. The
\nquestion was whether those two girls had been victims of human traffickers but
\nno answer has been provided to this day. Who are the victims of human
\ntraffickers and what is the portrait of the victim like? And do traffickers
\nprefer some regions to others? <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Iana
\nMatei is one of the most involved activists against human trafficking and
\nfounder of an NGO entitled Reaching out Romania. Psychologist Iana Matei has
\nalso drawn up the portrait of the most vulnerable people to human traffickers. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Iana
\nMatei:
\nThe most vulnerable people to human trafficking are mainly children coming out
\nof dysfunctional families or from foster homes. Their degree of education may
\nvary from average to below average but there are even people with higher
\neducation. However, education is unimportant, what is important is the
\ntraffickers’ recruitment methods and expertise.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Oana
\nB\u00eezgan, an independent MP with the 2016-2020 legislature has concrete data on
\nthis phenomenon: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Oana
\nB\u00eezgan: 698
\nvictims were identified in 2019 alone. Out of these 83% are women; 74% of these are being
\ntrafficked for sexual purposes and 40% are minors. Of course the number
\nrepresents only the victims that have been identified and registered, but we
\nknow pretty well that this is only the tip of the iceberg. These are official
\nnumbers, but the real figures, the real dimensions of this scourge remain
\nunknown. Statistics are only informative and according to OSCE estimates, only one
\nout of 9 victims has been identified. Let that sink in and you may get a clear
\npicture of the real phenomenon in Romania. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Referring
\nto the most affected areas, Oana B\u00eezgan says there is a difference between the
\nregions where many victims have been identified and other regions heavily
\naffected by the phenomenon but without many victims reported. So, figures could
\nnot be trusted entirely in such cases. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Oana
\nB\u00eezgan: It is extremely difficult to say which are Romania’s
\nmost affected areas in terms of human trafficking, because we must tell the
\ndifference between the areas with most victims identified and areas, which are
\nheavily impacted by the phenomenon, but where the number of identified victims
\nis not that big. Even the process of identifying these victims is faulty.
\nStatistically, we have the counties of Bacau and Dolj, in southern Romania with
\n67 victims reported in 2019, double than in the previous year, but other
\naffected areas are also Galati, Iasi, Calarasi, Vrancea, Prahova, Constanta,
\nMures, Sibiu and Brasov. The impact is extremely higher and we see this scourge
\nis developing without problems all over the country.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According
\nto Iana Matei, the promise of a well-paid job or a luring love story may have a
\ndevastating effect on those who do not have the ability to see the traps laid
\nbefore them by the cunning human traffickers. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Iana
\nMatei:
\nIf the recruitment method involves a dream job, its authenticity can be
\nverified. If there is no such possibility, those involved can inform a relative
\nabout the contract, destination etc. They can also set up a deadline: ‘if I
\ndon’t call you until this time, something has gone wrong’. It would be better
\nnot to accept a dream job offer unless verified beforehand.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Traffickers
\nhave often capitalized on the lack of love and affection the victim has
\nexperienced in early childhood. So their words of affection may work like charm
\nin this case, but this charm turns out to be only black magic as Iana Matei
\nexplains. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Iana
As we have seen in the Tandarei case, human
Iana
Independent
Oana
How human trafficking is affecting Romania<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":124775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[40683,43827,29222,43825,35559,43826],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-143650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-criminals","tag-culprits","tag-human-trafficking","tag-iana","tag-matei","tag-tandarei"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nMatei:
\nThe recruitment method most employed at present is known as
\nboth in the case of major girls, and in the case of children. Traffickers
\nprefer girls between 10 and 12 years old because they can be easily seduced.
\nAnd since they come from dysfunctional families, they are automatically
\ndelusional and buy into the promise of being loved and that somebody may care
\nfor them.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\ntraffickers often get away with crime as legal procedures have been dragging on
\nfor years. And even when they get to jail, sentences have been ridiculously shortened.
\nHere is Iana Matei again. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nMatei:
\nUnder law 678, this crime of human trafficking used to be severely sanctioned
\nand culprits could get up to 12 years in prison. Unfortunately, the law has
\nbeen amended and these traffickers are indicted as mere pimps nowadays getting
\nridiculously minor sentences of 3 to 6 years, which most of the time are
\nsuspended. We are trying to revert to the old law and get decent sentences for
\nthese criminals, who are running their business even while in jail. We must
\nalso seize all their incomes, because they make big money out of this scourge.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nMP Oana B\u00eezgan already has good legislative news so to say. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nB\u00eezgan: For the first time in the past 12 years, traffickers
\ncan no longer benefit from suspended sentences. I am glad we were able to amend
\nthe Penal Code and tackled this issue seriously. We are still far from being
\nable to punish these criminals as they deserve and for the trauma they created,
\nbut at least no traffickers can avoid prison now. We managed to make a clear
\nstatement here and criminals must become aware that this crime is punishable now
\nand they will go to jail. The law is in effect and hopefully will contribute to
\npreventing and fighting this scourge. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"