Reparation and Compensation for Victims of Trafficking

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Reparation and Compensation for Victims of
Trafficking Paper Presented by Mrs. Beatrice
Jedy -Agba, Executive Secretary, NAPTIP At the
Regional Consultation on the Right to an
Effective Remedy for Trafficked
Persons   Thursday 21 November 2013,
Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria  
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Introduction
• The Nigerian Regulatory Framework for TIP
• Remedies Available to TPs in Nigeria
• The Nigerian Experience Good Practices
• Challenges
• Recommendations
• Conclusion

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INTRODUCTION

• The Draft Basic Principles on the right to an
  effective remedy for trafficked persons is a
  welcome development
• Providing effective remedies for trafficked
  persons (TPs) is an important aspect of
  combating human trafficking.
• Nigerian Legal framework drawing inspiration from
  the Constitution recognises that the state has
  moral obligation to protect its citizens and
  non-citizens within its territory.

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The Nigerian Regulatory Framework For Trafficking
in Persons(TIP)

• The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law
  Enforcement and Administration Act (TIPPLEA) 2003
  as amended provides extensively for the
  protection of trafficked persons.
• With the passage of the TIPPLEA 2003 and the
  establishment of NAPTIP the Nigerian Government
  put in place effective measures for protecting
  trafficked persons.
• The provisions of the TIPPLLEA ensures that TPs,
  Nigerian and non- Nigerian citizens are free from
  discrimination and have access to protection
  services .

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The Nigerian Regulatory Framework for TIP Contd.

• Overall the Nigerian law recognises the need not
  to criminalise TPs, respect their privacy,
  provide temporary residency, appropriate housing,
  protect them and members of their families and
  punish those responsible for human trafficking.
• It also provides for civil remedies for victims
  through which they can obtain compensation.
• Proposed amendment of the Law seeks to make
  provision for TPs to be awarded compensation from
  convicted traffickers as part of the traffickers
  sentence.

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Remedies Available to TPs in Nigeria

• Identification and Rescue
• Sheltering
• Access to counselling services including
  psychosocial counselling and support,
• Access to medical and independent legal support
• Family Tracing
• Return and Repatriation
• Educational Support
• Economic Empowerment

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Remedies Available to TPs in Nigeria Contd.

• Investigation of trafficking cases
• Prosecution of traffickers
• Conviction of traffickers
• Confiscation of assets of traffickers for use in
  assisting TPs

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The Nigerian Experience Good Practices

• Establishment of 9 Transit Shelters with skill
  acquisition facilities across the country.
• Collaborates with stakeholders such as Ministry
  of Women Affairs and Social Development as well
  as CSO stakeholders for TPs to have access to
  other standard shelter facilities in Nigeria
  where needed.
• Over 6000 TPs provided with rehabilitation and
  reintegration assistance ( a form of compensation
  and reparation)
• Successful conviction of over 200 traffickers
  serving various jail terms

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The Nigerian Experience Good Practices Contd.

• Securing the closure of commercial sex centres,
  used for exploitation of victims
• A National Policy on Protection and Assistance to
  Trafficked Persons to guide stakeholders in
  providing uniform and quality assistance to
  victims of trafficking was developed by NAPTIP
  and approved by the Federal Government in 2008.
• The Policy document has been adapted and ratified
  by ECOWAS for use in the sub region as a standard
  operating document for the rehabilitation and
  reintegration of TPs.

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The Nigerian Experience Good Practices Contd.

• Finalising with input from stakeholders a
  National Referral Mechanism document (NRM).
• The general principle of the NRM is to ensure
  that every trafficked person (TP) is empowered,
  supported and protected with a view to ensuring
  that he/she is effectively rehabilitated and
  reintegrated.
• Initiated the Victims of Trafficking Trust Fund
  (VTTF) to provide humanitarian and financial aid
  for victims of trafficking.
• Funding for the VTTF is obtained through direct
  grant from the Nigerian Government, voluntary
  contributions of NAPTIP partners and confiscated
  assets of traffickers.

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The Nigerian Experience Good Practices Contd.

• Partnership with the National Planning
  Commission and the National Economic Council to
  mainstream TIP issues into developmental
  planning.
• NAPTIP runs robust and innovative awareness
  campaigns to sensitize the general populace on
  issues relating to TIP.
• In addressing human trafficking, NAPTIP pays
  attention to its root causes and predisposing
  factors, which are often multi faceted and
  include economic, social and cultural aspects in
  order to provide appropriate advisory services to
  the Nigerian Government.

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The Nigerian Experience Good Practices Contd.

• Partnership with Government Welfare programmes,
  National Directorate for Employment, Small and
  Medium Enterprises Development Agency, National
  Poverty Eradication Programme and National
  Economic Reconstruction Fund etc has led to
  increased resources for socio-economic
  reintegration of TPs including access to loans.
• The Federal Government has approved the
  mainstreaming of the National Gender Policy.
• The National Policy on Child Labour and the
  National Action Plan for the Elimination of Child
  Labour in Nigeria (2013-2017) has been approved
  by the Federal Government.

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Challenges to Providing Effective Remedies for
TPs 

• Limited Financial resources
• Challenges of prosecuting TIP cases(nationally
  and internationally, varying jurisprudence in
  matters of mutual cooperation in investigation,
  burden of proof required, absence of TPs
  testimony/TPs usually unwilling to testify)
• Reluctance of VoTs to access civil remedies
• Xenophobia against Nigerians in transit and
  destination countries

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Recommendations

• The Draft Basic Principles should focus on
• Ensuring that State Parties put in place
  mechanisms and procedures to enable TPs access
  compensation rather than placing on them a burden
  that will be unrealistic in practice.
• Encouraging States to undertake more joint
  cross-border investigations to ensure that any
  source of wealth attributable to human
  trafficking is discovered and used for
  compensation to the victim(s) of the
  trafficker(s) and for supporting other counter
  trafficking interventions.

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Recommendations Contd.

• On the issue of appropriate housing, the
  Principles should qualify this to mean
  accommodation suitable for the dignified and safe
  rehabilitation and reintegration of TPs so as to
  avoid a situation where TPs begin to request for
  accommodation which may be too expensive for
  State Parties to provide in the face of competing
  national priorities.

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Recommendations Contd.

• An additional question to consider is the impact
  of singling out TPs for such support whether
  there are victims of other heinous crimes. What
  if they seek similar remedies? Will the
  government be able to meet these needs?
• Experience has also shown that traffickers have
  in the time past infiltrated and manipulated
  protection system for TPs and care must be taken
  not to provide more opportunities for them to go
  scot free after exploiting victims.
• Civil society organizations and other
  stakeholders should also have the capacity to
  adequately protect TPs. This will help to address
  any gaps in government funding.

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Recommendations Contd.

• Emphasis should also be on proper identification
  of TPs. This is based on the fact that upon the
  interception of a possible trafficking case it is
  not usually easy to determine whether a person is
  a trafficked person and traffickers have also
  been known to pretend to be victims in order to
  exploit the system,
• On the issue of not making victims collaboration
  with LEAs a condition for providing protection
  assistance the Nigerian law recognises this
  right. However, in practice we have noticed that
  being aware of this right available to them under
  the law, TPs often times show no commitment, even
  where they can, to supporting investigation of
  their traffickers.

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Recommendations Contd.

• Therefore we are of the opinion that the
  Principle should attempt to provide incentives
  for victims who support criminal investigations.
  This could also add to building confidence of
  VoTs for long term social inclusion, giving them
  power and not just seeing them as victims which
  is also one of the proposals of the Draft Basic
  Principles. If they will be restored, it starts
  with fighting back.
• Some TPs themselves being conversant with the law
  manipulate it and in view of the popular
  Stockholm Syndrome we should do our best to
  discourage situations where victims begin to
  empathise with traffickers without in any way
  derogating from their rights.

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Recommendations Contd.

• Note too that the Draft Basic Principles is a
  public document and can be accessed by
  traffickers themselves, hence the need for
  caution in its provisions.
• NAPTIP has been privileged to have a survivor of
  trafficking who had been empowered to start a new
  life testify at an experience sharing event. When
  asked if she is not afraid of reprisal attack
  from her traffickers she responded to the
  contrary. In her own words, if I have any
  opportunity to come in contact with them they owe
  me and should be afraid of me. Through this and
  many other success stories NAPTIP is not in doubt
  of the resilience that can be seen in TPs with
  the right support.

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Recommendations Contd.

• The Draft Basic Principles should therefore
  balance the need for States to also have
  resources to adequately prevent human trafficking
  with demanding compensation from them to TPs.
• The Principles focuses on rights of victims and
  obligations of states. What of obligations of
  victims? (Experience of violence and destructive
  attitude from VoTs, Victims abandoning
  reintegration projects after being empowered)

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Recommendations Contd.

• care must be taken in interpreting of the proviso
  under 9(a)(iii),Gain access to compensation from
  the State for injuries and damages.
• The reason is that in practice it may be
  unrealistic to assume that all states are in a
  position to meet this obligation and this could
  give rise to endless litigation from TPs and even
  traffickers posing as victims thereby defeating
  the very essence of the TIP Protocol. In
  addition we are also proposing that it is not
  tied to 9(b)and (i) of the principles.

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Thank You