How Ukrainian Refugees Become Victims of Human Trafficking?

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has rapidly led to a humanitarian crisis that turned into a human trafficking one in which Ukrainian refugees are being exploited, according to the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten.

Ukrainian women and children are the most exploited as they make up the majority of the refugees fleeing the war.

Patten said there is an urgent need for a “coordinated regional approach” to what she described as “a crisis within a crisis.”

 

Human Trafficking

The war in Ukraine has crystallized human trafficking at Ukrainian borders where traffickers seek to gain by trading in the most vulnerable as they flee their homes.

According to the latest assessment by anti-trafficking organizations, the risk of Ukrainians being victims of human traffickers will continue to increase as the war continues.

UN’s special representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, calls for a “coordinated regional approach.”

U.N.’s representative warned about the incidence of conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine saying: “Although there is never accurate bookkeeping on an active battlefield.”

“It is clear that in the context of Ukraine, all the warning signals for the commission of atrocity crimes, including conflict-related sexual violence, are flashing red,” she added.

Patten spoke at an event at USIP on June 6, which was part of a series of discussions being held by the Institute on “holding perpetrators accountable for crimes against humanity and violations of humanitarian and human rights during the conflict in Ukraine,” said USIP President and CEO Lise Grande.

Russia declared war on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, in an act of aggression. According to The Washington Post, “an estimated 12 million Ukrainians have fled their homes since Russia’s [..] invasion, nearly half of whom have sought refuge outside the country in what has become the largest movement of people in Europe since World War II.”

 

A Risk of Modern Slavery

The Russian military invasion of Ukraine has increased the heightened risk of modern slavery during the conflict.

Slavery, as everyone believes, is the extreme exploitation of other people for commercial gain.

It is where victims are forced into working for little and most of the time no pay and with no choice in how, where, or when they work.

Modern slavery, however, can take many forms, including child labor, human trafficking, forced labor, and bonded labor.

The UN and other bodies have already warned of the new slavery risks that are in relation to the war in Ukraine.

The UN's International Organization for Migration said initial reports from within and outside Ukraine show that human traffickers have begun exploiting people displaced by the war.

Accountants professionals may not directly face modern slavery, but they do play an important role in preventing modern slavery within their organization and supply chains as they are well placed “to identify the risks and red flags associated with this crime,” according to Financial Management magazine.

Human trafficking resulting in the Russian-Ukrainian war was not surprising as several previous wars and conflicts have led to a rise in this kind of trafficking. According to data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the number of identified human trafficking victims from Syria located in Turkey and Europe rapidly increased just a few years after the war in Syria started.

 

A Weapon of War

Russian forces are reportedly using the sexual attack as a weapon of war in their invasion of Ukraine.

Patten said: “We have all seen the harrowing images of this conflict, of the bodies of women and girls strewn naked in the streets, and of women and children killed while trying to flee to safety.

“We have all heard the accounts of horrific acts of sexual violence, reports of gang rape, rape in front of family members, sexual assault at gunpoint, women who have become pregnant as a result of rape, as well as reports of refugee women and children being exploited by traffickers and predators who view this turmoil not as a tragedy, but as an opportunity to abuse the vulnerable,” she added.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council on June 6 that “it is on Russia to stop rape, violence, and atrocities from within its ranks.”

Russia denied the allegations and said committing rape in Ukraine by Russian soldiers was a “lie.”

The United Nations had received, on June 3, reports of 124 incidents of sexual violence some of which were allegedly committed by Russian troops.

Patten described the sexual violence during conflicts as being “chronically underreported, she also said that the incidents that have been reported are “only the tip of the iceberg.”