GENEVA (AFP) – Aid workers scramble to ensure human traffickers do not take advantage of the chaos as millions flee conflict in Ukraine.
Women, children and the elderly make up the majority of those fleeing the country, with many able-bodied men remaining to fight Russian forces in Ukraine as they launched their full-scale offensive three weeks ago.
The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) has warned that this makes refugees in neighboring countries particularly vulnerable to traffickers.
“We know how smugglers adapt to situations,” IOM deputy chief Ugachi Daniels told AFP in an interview.
“They want to take advantage of it.”
He said that till now the organization has not registered any confirmed case of smuggling.
War survivors in Ukraine rest inside an indoor sports stadium being used as a refugee center in the village of Medica, across the border between Poland and Ukraine, on March 15, 2022. (AP photo/Petros Gianacoris)
“But that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening,” she insisted.
“We are already dealing with people who are moving in large numbers and who … are desperately looking for transportation.”
unaccompanied minors
Nearly half of the more than 3 million people who have fled Ukraine since the February 24 invasion are children, and the United Nations has warned that many minors are at risk.
Even before the invasion, human trafficking was considered a significant problem in Ukraine.
In 2021 alone, the IOM identified and assisted over 1,000 trafficking victims in the country.
The UN agency has stepped up its efforts to stop people smuggling in Ukraine and across the region since the start of the offensive.
Ukrainian refugees cross the border between Poland and Poland in Medica, Poland on March 15, 2022. (Carrie Keller-Lynn / The Times of Israel)
Daniels said IOM staff were focused on providing migrants with information about their options, including details of available services and safe transportation.
“We have heard stories of people coming up to you and offering you a ride in their private car,” he said, also warning against attempts to lure people in with job offers.
Daniels said many of those who fled are aware of the threat, pointing out that on a hotline set up by the United Nations agency, “50 percent of the questions are actually about trafficking.”
discrimination claim
The IOM, which counts about 200 employees inside Ukraine and about 100 more in neighboring countries, is also busy providing humanitarian aid to those on the move.
The agency has focused on citizens of other countries embroiled in the Ukraine conflict, who may face additional difficulties, including the lack of temporary security status granted to Ukrainians in the European Union.
A mother fleeing Ukraine reads a story to her daughter at a refugee center in Korczowa, Poland, on March 13, 2022. (Petros Gianacoris/AP)
So far, about 162,000 third-country nationals have fled Ukraine.
Earlier this month, UN leaders expressed concern over reports of African and Asian citizens facing discrimination at the border.
But Daniels told AFP that these appeared to be mainly isolated cases, although those without Ukrainian or EU citizenship had faced long waits at the borders because of the issue of isolation status.
“We didn’t see a general trend of discrimination across the board,” she said.
He appreciated the response that Europe had seen to the exodus, the largest influx of refugees since the Second World War.
People walk for onward transport after crossing the Ukrainian border into Poland on March 13, 2022. (Luisa Gouliamaki/AFP)
“But it is equally matched … by the generosity of governments, NGOs, churches, private citizens.”
Acknowledging that needs will certainly continue to grow, Daniels said that as long as the crisis is managed properly, it should be possible to avoid a backlash against refugees.
“To the extent it can be managed, how do you keep it from reaching the tipping point.”