In this section we provide a broad overview of the literature on various aspects of human trafficking as a phenomenon and crime. The second direction focuses more on the causes of human trafficking and concentrates mainly on the social and economic conditions on the labor market. For example, CATW considers prostitution a crime of human trafficking, regardless of whether it is forced or voluntary.
Misunderstanding of the concept of human trafficking led to a tendency to identify victims of this crime as illegal immigrants (Hussein, p.137, 2015). One of the socio-economic factors that directly affects the extent of human trafficking is migration. The definition of human trafficking is outlined in Article 128 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan.
As one of the respondents states: "We need to modernize the article and delete the tautology in the definition of human trafficking" (respondent #1). The definition of the crime of human trafficking in the Criminal Code is part of history. Human trafficking cases are carried out in public order, which means that the case starts independently of the complaint to the complainants (Article 32 of the Criminal Procedure Act).
This ministry also collects general statistics on victims of human trafficking. As with the amendment of Article 128, the definition of human trafficking of minors also changed and the punishment for this crime was clarified. Rape, i.e. sexual intercourse involving physical abuse, threats or the use of helpless... the condition of the victim, - the applicable penalty is deprivation of liberty for a term of three to seven years.
Social factors
According to Respondent #9 "Some victims do not believe in the government and some are simply willing. It is not surprising that there is a lack of trust between the parties, as Kazakhstan is known for corruption and there are many cases of close relations between farmers and the police Respondent #2 revealed the story where two girls ran away from drug addicts but were brought back to the "owner" by the police officers.
We received a call from a church in Zhambyl oblast, which informed us that there is a farm with a lot of HT victims who were exploited by police officers. Prior to the 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report – NGOs continued to report allegations of police officers' complicity in human trafficking, yet there were few government investigations or prosecutions of police or other officials suspected of complicity. Furthermore, as the 2020 report says, NGOs continued to report that traffickers bribed low-level police officials to avoid charges and alleged that some police officers facilitated forced labor or sex trafficking crimes.
But then the victim confessed and said he was just afraid police officers would find him and chase him. There were cases when a girl threw a piece of paper out of the window and was subsequently found.” The factors that hinder human trafficking cases are listed here: weak legal formulation, abuse of power and corruption in the police, social misunderstanding about the status of human trafficking, psychological trauma that blocks victims and difficulties in legally proving human trafficking.
As mentioned by the respondents, the reduced effort helps the police to leave the planned number of detected cases low for the following year. This must be combined with the small number of police officers working on human trafficking cases and the even lower number of trained police officers working on human trafficking cases, multiplied by the risks associated with policing. 7 "trafficking in human beings is difficult to deal with, and there is a great risk to the health and family of the employee".
Another reason for the low number of lawsuits is that the victims are mainly foreign nationals who do not want to remain in the country during a lengthy legal process. Respondent No. 9 said: “The problem is that we can only help Kazakh citizens, people without ID and people without citizenship. Respondent No. 7 noted “a high level of low self-esteem and unwillingness to live among victims of human trafficking.”
Economic factors
According to the IOM, “the target countries of external human trafficking are the Russian Federation (most cases), Bahrain, Brazil, the Republic of Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Girls and women from Kazakhstan are sold for sexual exploitation to countries in the Middle East, Europe, East Asia and the United States of America. One of the destinations for human trafficking from Kazakhstan is the Republic of Korea” (IOM, Study Report, 2019, Exploring the role of ICTS in recruitment for human trafficking in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan).
Kazakhstan is the country with one of the highest levels of internet penetration and a relatively high number of internet users. As one of the respondents noted due to the outflow of ethnic Russians, Germans and other ethnic groups, the large share of trafficked people in Kazakhstan today are ethnic Kazakhs. Among the Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan is still one of the most favorite places for migration.
According to the IOM study, the comparison of living standards among CIS countries shows that Kazakhstan has one of the highest average monthly wages, which is considered a driving factor for migration. One of the respondents provided data on the number of trafficked persons for the past year, according to which the largest group of victims corresponds to citizens of Uzbekistan, who were mainly exploited for work (Respondent № 3). Kazakhstan remains one of the most popular countries of origin, destination and transit for victims of human trafficking.
One of the reasons why this discrepancy occurs may be that foreign nationals only approach about the crime after they have returned to their home country. In 2018, the Minister for Labor and Social Protection thus approved Rules for financing and monitoring the provision of special social benefits in the area of population protection. According to Article 3 of the Rules, the financing of units providing special social services is carried out from local budget funds, funds received for the provision of paid special social services and other sources.
The Rules require the monitoring of the provision of special social services by the Committee of labor, social protection and migration of the Ministry of Labor and social protection of the population. This is a control cash account opened in the central authorized body on budget execution for crediting the proceeds of money and compensation to victims in the manner prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Victims' Compensation Fund (Law on the Victims' Compensation Fund) . , 2018). According to section 10 of the Act on the Victims' Compensation Fund, the sources of the Victims' Compensation Fund are non-tax revenues, which include
Political factors
The importance of economic conditions and the link between human trafficking and migration was confirmed by the respondents in our research. Taken together, all these aspects show the state's general will to combat human trafficking. And the potential of this instrument in anti-trafficking has not been fully explored and used.
And the problem of human trafficking itself is actually a consequence of much more complex problems in our country (Respondent no. 15). The process of detection and investigation of human trafficking cases inevitably involves legal proceedings, as laid down in legislation. Another additional reason is that most victims of human trafficking are foreigners who do not have their identity documents.
Social factors contribute enormously to the perception of trafficking victims by society, the mass media, law enforcement agencies, and victims. The case of human trafficking must be registered by the police in order to receive funding. Therefore, our hypothesis number 6 is confirmed. Regarding legal factors that negatively influence the process of detection and investigation of human trafficking cases, we have several precise recommendations.
Thus, the rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking is regulated by the Law on Special Social Services and the Standard for the provision of special social services. First, as mentioned by our respondents, there is no human trafficking victim institution. So the victim of human trafficking is being assessed on the degree to which he or she has been abused.
However, the amount of compensation for victims of human trafficking is incredibly low for such crime. The financing should not depend on whether the case of human trafficking is registered or not. It is clear that finally real numbers of victims of human trafficking will only be reflected when all the negative factors will be eliminated or at least reduced.
Balgimbekov D.U., Seithozhin B.U., Sarsembaev B.S., Fetkulov A.H., History of the development of legislation against human trafficking. 2014) Exploiting the Creep and Ruin of Human Trafficking Law, The American Journal of International Law, Vol.
Questions for each group of respondents
