
22 MEPs sign IUNW petition to end human trafficking to the Middle East
Twenty-two Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from 16 EU Member States who represent various political groups are urging the European Union to take significant steps to end human trafficking of victims from the fringes of Europe to destinations such as the United Arab Emirates.
The petition was launched by the London-based International United Nations Watch (IUNW), a UN-monitoring organization that campaigns against gender-based violence, including human trafficking. “We are appalled and aghast that victims of sex-trafficking from Europe are treated as criminals, without dignity, and re-victimized,” the petition reads.
The MEPs called on EU member states and the European Parliament to address the issue of human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation, particularly from Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova) to the Middle East, including the tourist resort of Dubai.
The petition seeks the creation of a special sex-trafficking prevention fund, which would redirect money confiscated from trafficking networks and organized crime to support women from countries that lack the resources to offer them appropriate legal or consular support.
The petition urged the External Action Service and the Council of the European Union to bring pressure to bear on the Emirati authorities to crack down on human trafficking and on money laundering proceeds from sex-trafficking activities. The petition also calls for a list of counter-measures against countries that fail to respect and implement a predefined benchmark of human rights protection afforded to victims of sex-trafficking in Europe.
Additionally, the petition calls for closer cooperation between the EU and major source-immigration countries to monitor abusive practices that can be likened to human trafficking, as well as the introduction of extensive training for law enforcement and transport/logistics personnel, and to raise awareness among diplomats about these practices in order to enhance detection and prevention of sex-trafficking activities .
These MEPs are signatories to the IUNW petition:
1. Thierry Mariani MEP
2. Evelyn Regner MEP
3. Dorien Rookmaker MEP
4. Margrete Auken MEP
5. Frances Fitzgerald MEP
6. Samira Rafaela MEP
7. Alviina Alametsä MEP
8. Karen Melchior MEP
9. Cindy Franssen MEP
10. Pernille Weiss MEP
11. Büro Katrin Langensiepen MEP
12. Alessandra Moretti MEP
13. Predrag Fred Matić MEP
14. María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos MEP
15. Robert Biedroń MEP
16. Nicolaus Fest MEP
17. Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska MEP
18. Maria da Graça Carvalho MEP
19. Lina Gálvez MEP
20. Heidi Hautala MEP
21. Lars Patrick Berg MEP
22. Aušra Maldeikienė MEP