One More Case of Trafficking

One More Case of Trafficking

Georgians frequently migrate because of the poor socio-economic situation and the high level of unemployment in the country. Often migrants become victims of human trafficking. Unfortunately, the Interior Ministry failed to prioritize anti-human trafficking programs, and did not allocate sufficient funds to adequately combat this problem.

The Human Rights Department of General Prosecution has detained two people alleged to have run a human trafficking ring. Authorities in Batumi have detained M. A.i (M. L.) and her daughter, L. K. The prosecutor’s office sentenced the pair to three months pre-trial detention.

Prosecutors charged both with the trafficking of people, including adolescents, illegal border crossings, and falsifying documents. Because of recent changes to the Criminal Code, the women face 25 years to life in prison, if convicted.
The traffickers deceived 14 victims by providing them with false documents and promising to find them employment in restaurants. Instead, the traffickers took the victims to Turkey, forced them to live in hotels, and subjected them to sexual exploitation. The victims then paid half of their income to their captors. M. L. herself was allegedly a prostitute, before changing her name and starting her own human trafficking business.

According to Tamar Iaseshvili, the head of the Human Rights Department of the General Prosecution, because human trafficking is such a horrific crime, the state should prioritize anti-human trafficking programs, and allocate sufficient funds to them. Iaseshvili praised the changes made in the Georgian Criminal Code in June, 2003, that made human trafficking illegal. She also emphasized the need to better protect and rehabilitate trafficking victims.