US State Department Ignores Trafficking To The United States, Says Nigerian Anti-Trafficking Advocates

AdvocacyNet
News Bulletin 67

June 19, 2006, Washington, DC: Advocates in the Nigeria and United States have criticized a major new report from the US State Department for ignoring the trafficking of Nigerian women into the US, and warned that the omission could undermine efforts to draw the huge Nigerian diaspora into the fight against household slavery in the US.

Nigeria is among 149 governments that reported more than 100 cases of trafficking last year and are evaluated in the latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report. The report is released by the US State Department under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).

The US is not covered by the law and the report provides a brief and generally favorable review of America’s domestic anti-trafficking efforts - in contrast to the strictures leveled at other governments. Nor does the TIP report list the US among the twelve countries that are cited as destinations for trafficked Nigerians.

This was described as a “lost opportunity and a serious omission” by Africans in America, Inc. (AIA) an advocacy group in New York which has exposed several lurid cases of Nigerian household slavery in the US.

The President of AIA was herself trafficked from Nigeria to the US at the age of 13, and the group recently located a 67-year old woman who had been held for twelve years in a basement by a Nigerian-born social worker in New York before she managed to escape. The woman had been hired as a maid in Nigeria and promised $300 a week.

Bonaventure Ezekwenna, the founder of AIA, said that a reference in the TIP report would have helped the group locate victims of trafficking in the Nigerian diaspora, which numbers over 12 million, and also publicize the issue in Nigeria - the key to preventing the trade. “If you don’t identify the problem it won’t get attention or resources” he said.

This was echoed by the Women’s Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON), a partner of the Advocacy Project in Lagos which is a leader in the fight against Nigerian trafficking.

The dispute is notable because this year’s report seeks to broaden the focus from trafficking for purposes of sexual prostitution to forced labor. Most of the Nigerian women coming into the US were recruited in Eastern Nigeria for household slavery, unlike Nigerian women and girls who are trafficked to Europe for prostitution and come mainly from Edo State in the West of Nigeria.

The US case would seem highly relevant to a second goal of the TIP report, which is to better understand demand in countries of destination. Several of the US cases have involved Nigerian-born social workers, now resident in the US, who engaged relatives in Nigeria to recruit the women as maids and then forced them into household slavery when they arrived. Mr. Ezekwenna said this sort of abuse - by people in authority who exploit their contacts in the diaspora - is an example of demand which deserves study and action.

Africans in America, Inc. is now lobbying for a change in the TVPA to make it more favorable to victims. The law was considered a break-through when it passed in 2000, because it treats trafficked women as victims, not criminals, and offers them the chance to receive a special immigration status (“T visa”) in return for denouncing their trafficker.

But only 112 T visas were issued last year – a tiny percentage of the 17,500 women and girls who are thought to be trafficked into the US each year. One reason, say advocates, is that T visas are given to those who report within about three years and are able to testify in court against their traffickers. Many victims who escape are so traumatized by their ordeal and illegal status that they go underground for long periods instead of reporting to the authorities.

Africans in America, Inc.is seeking an amnesty for all trafficked victims in the US, and an amendment in the TVPA which will remove the unofficial three-year limitation. Meanwhile, AIA will also lobby US State Department officials to improve the reporting methodology.  John Miller, Director of the TIP office, told a congressional hearing last week that next year’s report will focus more on the work of NGOs, and list best practices.

Some would like the US to go further and intervene diplomatically when anti-trafficking advocates face intimidation from traffickers. In one current example, Mr. Ezekwenna is being sued for defamation in a Nigerian court by the relative of a man and wife who were jailed in the US for trafficking. The case will be heard on July 10 in the town of Ogidi, Anambra state. Mr. Ezekwenna has received threats against his life.

The Advocacy Project has been working for six years to publicize Nigerian trafficking and supporting anti-trafficking advocacy. AP has recruited three interns to work on trafficking with AP partner organizations in Nigeria and Italy this year. AP is also exploring the possibility of arranging a speaking tour to the US later in the year to publicize African trafficking and work with the Nigerian diaspora on prevention.

The Advocacy Project is based in Washington D.C. Phone +1 202 332 3900; fax +1 202 332 4600. To visit the AP web site for information about our current projects and to make a donation online, please go to: www.advocacynet.org.  For questions or comments about the AP and its projects, please email us at info@advocacynet.org.