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«It Is Fairly Important to See Broader Prospects» Interview with Florian ENCKE, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Germany in Belarus — Mr Encke, could you please tell us what is the role of the German Embassy in the join project of the United Nations Development Program and the European Commission “Combating Trafficking in Women in the Republic of Belarus”? — Practically all funding for this project is provided by the European Commission and the share of Germany in the EC budget is about 25%. This in an example of the common European foreign policy pursued by Germany and other member–states of the European Union. The German Embassy provides support to the project team through the establishment of contacts with the German experts, participation in some events and, finally, through dissemination of concrete best practices. — You have participated in a number of project events. In your opinion, which of them are the most important? — I would like to mention the conference «Legislation of Belarus and the EU member–states on combating trafficking in women» which was held in November last year in the International Educational Center (IBB) with the support of the German Embassy. Among the guests there was a representative of the German Criminal Police who collaborates with the Belarusian law enforcement agencies in a number of areas including combating trafficking. In my opinion the conference was very useful because it brought together representatives of the agencies dealing with many aspects of the problem of trafficking. If we are to find efficient ways of counter–trafficking, there should be proper coordination of approaches. Another important event was the workshop covering various issues of working with the media which was held at the end February in Raubichi. The participants emphasized the need for raising awareness in the most efficient way because people should be provided with sufficient knowledge about trafficking. The workshop opened a good opportunity for exchanging experience between journalists investigating the problem of trafficking. The discussions demonstrated how much courage and responsibility the journalists would need to change the situation of victims for the better. — Would you agree that the resident missions of the international organizations play a very important role in addressing the problem of trafficking in the Eastern Europe? — I fully agree. Illegal migration and associated crimes represent a problem of common international concern. — Mr Encke, could you please tell us about cooperation of the German Embassy with the Belarusian law enforcement agencies (Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, the State Border Guard Committee) and with non–governmental organizations in this area?
For example, about two year ago joint investigation of the Belarusian Ministry of Interior and the German police helped to exterminate a crime grouping involved in transporting women from the Grodno region to Germany for sexual exploitation. Joint efforts resulted in conviction of the members of this grouping in both countries to imprisonment. The representative of the German Border Police is also accredited in Belarus; his office is located in Kiev. He deals with various border crossing issues and exchanges the relevant informa–tion with the Belarusian Bor–der Guard Committee on a regular basis. We also cooperate, where appropriate, with various non–governmental organizations in Belarus, including on issues relating to illegal migration and human trafficking. We believe that without civil society engagement, it will be difficult for international organizations and law enforcement agencies to address the problem of trafficking. The government institutions are not always capable to gain the confidence of people and to address some issues with them… — By the way, in your opinion what should be done to raise the level of trust of the victims of trafficking in government and non–governmental institutions? — I think this is a problem of social concern. What needs to be done is to reverse the attitude of people to the victims of traffickers. There should be a general understanding that they are victims. There's a widespread opinion that it is their own fault that they happened to be in such situation. Of course, there are flippant women who are perfectly aware what kind of work they are expected to do abroad, but the majority of they cannot imagine what will be the conditions. Many women, even those who know something about trafficking, are nevertheless ready to assume this risk in order to get some money to survive; so they do hope that may be they will be lucky to get a decent work. I think that if different approach to this problem is adopted in the society, this will raise the trust of the victims of trafficking to various institutions. This is a lengthy process with many contributing factors. It would be reasonable to increase the number of female staff in the police departments dealing with trafficking and communicating with the victims as women usually enjoy higher confidence. After returning home from abroad where they were subjected to exploitation, the victims are still in danger, they do have reasons to fear that they might be once again caught by traffickers. It is great if there are relevant institutions at the local level where people can go for help. Therefore, I strongly support the idea of establishing a special shelter in Minsk for victims of trafficking in women. — How the problem of trafficking in persons is addressed in Germany? Are the current German laws good enough to solve this problem? — The experts believe that anti–trafficking legislation can be improved also in Germany. Sometimes it is rather difficult to prove to the court that the case involves organized human trafficking: the problem is that women are scared of souteneurs' revenge and are not always ready to give testimonial evidence in the court. Answerability for any potential crime should be described in details in the legislation. Germany is fighting trafficking not only at the legislative level. The country has adopted multilateral approach at different levels. At the government level this involves coordination of efforts of all agencies. For example, the working group «Trafficking in women» led by the Ministry on family matters, the elderly, women and young people operates at the federal level. Within the framework of its activities the joint measures and provisions are developed by the federal ministries, representatives of the federal regions, the Federal Criminal Department and other relevant agencies. Coordination attempts are also made at the local level. There's a close collaboration with non–governmental organizations having useful experience in working with the victims of trafficking. — In your opinion, would it be possible to build up information and experience exchange between law enforcement agencies of Belarus and Germany? — Such an exchange has already been established. Fully concerted collaboration, however, is not always the case because different agencies deal with the problem trafficking in our countries. But when joint efforts prove to be successful at the working level, it is great. Joint meetings and staff exchange is a good idea. The German Police has already invited the Belarusian investigators to attend trafficking–related courses in Germany which last for several months. I believe that it is very important to be able to see broader prospects and to find out that there are other approaches to addressing acute problems.
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— We have established close collaboration with the Belarusian interior agencies at the working level. Germany is the only country which has a resident representative of the German Criminal Policy in Belarus; this person is accredited with our embassy. This is very helpful for the exchange of information relating to various crimes, including trafficking in persons. Through the representative of the Criminal Police the Belarusian law enforcement agencies can request for specific information and such collaboration has already demonstrated good results.