Speeches

Statements by Senior

Embassy Officials

Ambassador Jones
Keynote Address
"Hear My Voice: Identifying and Assisting Trafficked Persons"
NGO Conference
March 21 2007

It is a real pleasure to be here today. Today's conference provides a unique opportunity for key members of the NGO community, the government, law enforcement experts, and private citizens to join together for one common purpose - ending the tragedy and horror of human trafficking. I want to thank the organizers for planning and staging this very important gathering. You have assembled an impressive list of experts in this field, and the programs they have planned should prove invaluable to the cause. But I want to recognize those of you who put this conference together for something even more important - your unceasing, daily efforts to combat the scourge of trafficking. Without the commitment and leadership of their courageous staff and dedicated volunteers, many more children, women and men would be victims of trafficking, and we would all be captives of our ignorance. For this noble contribution to the State of Israel, and to the world, we all owe a sincere debt of gratitude to Isha L'Isha-Haifa Feminist Center, The Hotline for Migrant Workers, The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, and The Law in Service of the Community Resource Center.

I also want to thank Knesset leaders for their commitment to combating trafficking in all its forms. During her most recent visit, Secretary Rice met with a group of Knesset members including MK Zehava Gal-On, and recognized Ms. Gal-On's leadership in drafting and passing enhanced, effective anti-trafficking legislation in Israel. The Government deserves recognition for the progress it has made in the past year. In June, the Government appointed Rachel Gershuni of the Ministry of Justice as the official anti-trafficking coordinator for all government agencies. They could not have made a better choice. Every activist I have met has been impressed with Ms. Gershuni and her commitment to ending trafficking in Israel.

In October, the Knesset approved amendments to the trafficking law that expanded the definition to include labor trafficking. Now law enforcement officers and the courts have the authority to go after those who trade in human beings no matter for what purpose. It was a bold statement of Israel's commitment to the values that make it great, and I applaud everyone who helped make this happen, especially MK Ben Sasson, Chairman of the Justice and Constitution Committee, and MK Gal-On. In January, a multi-agency committee approved an Israeli national plan to combat trafficking that addresses prevention, prosecution and protection, giving official shape to goals we all share.

Also in January, we saw how cooperation between the Government and NGO community can make a difference, as the Ministry of Justice and Isha L'Isha conducted a joint seminar on combating trafficking in persons. This seminar was attended by ambassadors, consuls and diplomatic representatives from Central and Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, opening eyes and lines of communications that had been closed or not even existed before.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the police, whom various NGOs have complimented for their successful efforts to improve understanding and attitudes among their officers towards the issue of trafficking. With help from activists and NGOs, Israel has made real progress confronting and combating the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation. Israel has prosecuted an increasing number of sex traffickers and now provides more victims with shelter and protective services.

All these changes are reflected in the Israeli media, where coverage of trafficking has increased greatly. Just in the last two weeks, we have seen a number of prominent stories on trafficking in Israeli newspapers. The Jerusalem Post carried two timely reports on the work of the Knesset Subcommittee on Trafficking in Women, which most recently gave its attention to trafficking of Israeli women abroad. Ha'aretz, which regularly covers the criminal aspects of trafficking, carried a report on the attempted smuggling of Russian women across the Egyptian border into Israel. And on International Women's Day on March 8th, the Israeli media broke new ground when Yediot Acharonot gave cover-story prominence in two of its publications to victims of trafficking.

Attitudes have changed in Israel, and will only continue to improve with the momentum provided by these recent legislative reforms, public and private initiatives, and growing media attention.

Problems still remain, of course. Israel, much like other countries in the region, has become a destination country for low-skilled foreign workers who are particularly vulnerable to traffickers and coercive conditions of labor. Reports persist of foreign migrant workers subjected to involuntary servitude that defies the democratic principles of this country. Such labor trafficking tends to stem from the practice of labor recruitment agencies, both in Israel and abroad, that require some workers to pay up-front fees that can be in the thousands of dollars.

To pay these fees, which are illegal in Israel, workers often borrow money from the recruitment agencies, black market loan providers, or family members at home, incurring massive debts which they plan to pay off by working abroad. Some are even financed by their community, and are essentially working for that community rather than for themselves. These recruitment fees thus can lead to debt bondage and make foreign workers highly vulnerable to exploitation. This problem merits further attention and investigation.

The new trafficking law enacted last October is a great first step in fighting this problem. We look forward to serious investigation and prosecution of these traffickers now that authorities have the legal tools at their disposal to fight trafficking in all its forms. The next step is to provide those on the front lines of this struggle the support - in staff, funds, and training - they need to implement these strong new laws that the Government has passed. To begin with, Israel needs more shelters to provide for labor trafficking victims. Local NGOs simply do not have adequate resources to house and protect them.

There is also an urgent need for legal aid and interpreters in judicial and deportation hearings. We need a serious examination of whether workers from countries without diplomatic representation in Israel should be allowed to come here. The chance of exploitation is greatly increased when the victims have no representatives from their own country that they can turn to.

Another issue that needs attention is internal trafficking. Some Israeli citizens - often lured into prostitution by family, friends, or lovers - become victims, unable to leave the sex industry because of threats from or debts to the criminals who now control their lives. We have no clear idea of the extent of this problem, but if only one of Israel's sons or daughters falls victim to this evil practice, it is one too many.

The general lack of clear documentation of the scope of trafficking, internal or external, for sex or for labor, is a continuing problem. Each organization you speak with has a different set of numbers. Those numbers often vary greatly, not because of any particular agenda from either those with lower estimates or those with higher estimates, but because we are all still really guessing at the extent of the problems. Israel needs to tackle this problem by producing an objective, independent and comprehensive estimate of the scope of trafficking here. I strongly urge comprehensive research that will provide comprehensive information in clearly defined categories so that we know with confidence how many victims are trafficked into and inside Israel, for what specific purposes they are trafficked, where they are trafficked from, how they are trafficked, and who benefits from the trafficking.

The United States remains steadfastly committed to Israel's security, and to President Bush's vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace. Israel has come a long way from the desperate days of the founding of the state, despite the constant threat of war and terrorist attack. The modern economy and communities it has created in the midst of this threat represents a remarkable human achievement by any standard. We should realize that trafficking is a threat to the security of every Israeli citizen. Organized crime, sexually transmitted diseases and terrorist infiltration are just some of the potential side effects of human trafficking. Protecting those populations at risk from becoming trafficking victims today is an important part of preventing the general population from becoming victims of crime and disease tomorrow.

But first and foremost, trafficking is a human tragedy for the victims. All of us, as good moral people, must do what we can to stop the suffering of others. As the U.S. Ambassador in Tel Aviv, I can assure you that combating trafficking in persons is one of our highest priorities. In fiscal year 2005, for example, the U.S. Government spent approximately $95 million in international anti-trafficking assistance. This funding went to 266 programs in 101 countries, including Israel. We have also developed a diplomatic strategy to encourage other governments to help fight human trafficking. As part of that strategy, designed by Congress in 2000, the State Department releases an annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report to expose the problem in each country.

The fight against trafficking is important to President Bush. It is important to Secretary Rice. It is important to me. And it is important for Israel. The Government of Israel has now made it clear that it understands this to be true. And we are proud of the commitment our friend and ally has made to eradicate this horror.

This is a commitment we must all make as individuals as well. Rachel Gershuni is living proof that one woman can change the world. Her contribution has been so outstanding that in 2006 the State Department selected her from among hundreds of candidates as a "hero" in the global fight against trafficking. Maybe we can't all be heroes on the scale of Rachel Gershuni, but we can all try to be heroes in whatever way we can. If all of us in this room commit ourselves to eradicating modern slavery, we will change the world. Let me give you just a few ideas of what individuals can do.

-- You can talk to your friends and neighbors and call national hotlines when you see suspicious activity. A group of trafficking victims in the United States, children from Africa being transported around the U.S. as a singing group, were released after a few women in Texas became suspicious that they were not in school and appeared too thin and lethargic.
--You can encourage your local synagogues and community organizations to help victims around the world.
--You can urge the news media to cover this struggle. Every time the news media reports on trafficking, public awareness is raised and more victims are rescued.
--And, of course, you can donate money to NGOs. I'm sure Shevy would agree with that.

So while our task is daunting, I am more confident than I have ever been that we will confront and defeat this enemy here in Israel. With the renewed commitment of the Government, the perseverance of the NGO community, the support of the American Embassy, the attention of the media, the efforts of common individuals, and the cooperation we see at this great conference here today, we will succeed.

Thank you.