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