The issues discussed related to human trafficking and the theft of irradiated scrap metal stolen from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone scrapyard and other nuclear facilities

 

Expert Says Ukraine Refugees Susceptible to Human Trafficking
By Phil Pasquini

Washington: Within any conflict zone many horrific events and ancillary issues generated by the unrest threaten the immediate population and refugees. Much of the other issues and hardships endured are never reported by the press due to so many activities all taking place at once.
While public protests, demonstrations and media coverage call on the US and NATO to assist Ukraine militarily and invoke great empathy for the Ukrainian people, too little attention is paid to the myriad of other problems and issues the entire population faces both inside and outside the country.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has produced approximately 10 million refugees mostly composed of women and children that remain extremely vulnerable due to displacement by being dependent on others in assisting in the reestablishment of their lives. Nine out of every ten refugees fit this profile making them extraordinarily attractive to predators who rely on such circumstances to take advantage of their dire situation. Children are particularly vulnerable in being separated from parents and being exploited and trafficked. Those trafficked including men have been subjected to forced labor, begging, sexual exploitation, and other egregious forms of abuse.
It is, therefore, incumbent on all host nations receiving refugees to be extremely vigilant in protecting newly arrived immigrants from such abuses. Especially so in those countries where people have been trafficked for some time with little or no intervention by authorities.
Mitzi Perdue, an anti-human trafficking advocate, spoke on just that subject last week at the Institute of World Politics, an independent graduate school in Washington. Perdue, after having been in Ukraine recently an in-country guest of Ukrainian police, witnessed firsthand the impact the invasion has had on law enforcement and the attendant chaos that has been generated by Russia’s intentional systematic dismantling of law and order in the country.
“A demoralized population is easier to control” is how General Andriy Nebytov, chief of Kyiv's regional police unit, expressed the tactical value to her of chaos and disorder in demoralizing the population.
The issues she discussed related to human trafficking and the theft of irradiated scrap metal stolen from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone scrapyard and other nuclear facilities. The stealing of scrap metal and other radioactive materials has been an ongoing problem since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Unfortunately, much of the highly radioactive metal stolen is sold overseas finding its way into materials used by unscrupulous manufacturers who in turn leave unwary consumers exposed to dangerous levels of radiation.
The Russians, whose first order of business when arriving was to level all police stations along with stealing communications gear and police cars, left the police unable to patrol and guard against theft of the highly poisonous metal. And while no longer facing punishment of 15 years in prison, the “recycling” business has flourished. Perdue made a plea to the manufacturer for 23 Chevy SUVs to replace the stolen vehicles to resecure the area to stop the proliferation of the radioactive metal.
Along with the stolen scrap metal, Russian soldiers have stolen radioactive materials by collecting and liberating objects they come across while pillaging sites unknowingly taking dangerously radioactive goods with them. Many other soldiers are exposed to high radiation levels while bivouacking in the woods and building campfires from contaminated wood while in hot zones exposing themselves further to elevated levels of deadly radiation.
To put the scope of the problem in perspective, in 2009 alone a group of smugglers attempted to carry away 25 tons of radioactive scrap metal that was 13 times more hazardous than allowable levels of radiation.
Since Russia’s invasion, troops have also been pilfering radioactive material from labs and other sites without knowing exactly how toxic the materials are that they have in their possession. Many others have received significant doses of radiation while just being in proximity of nuclear power plants and hot zones without ever having any idea they were in danger.
Aside from that disaster, the trafficking of women and children has become a massive problem. Trafficking rings have recruited “attractive young men” as spotters who set up shop at border crossings and while ostensibly posing for “selfies” with cell phones, take pictures of women they have chosen based on how weary and desperate they appear. They then send the photos to colleagues on the other side who then contact the victims after they cross over by offering them food and shelter along with jobs.
The weary, exhausted and demoralized women who have endured numerous difficult challenges on their journey after once accepting the invitations, soon find themselves and their children hopelessly enmeshed in the very lucrative international human traffic trade.
Perdue has embarked on a project to establish women’s shelters near the countries’ borders by converting vacant buildings that would offer the refugees and their children a safe place to eat, sleep, rest for 24 hours and receive counseling before continuing their journey. She estimated that a shelter would cost around eighty thousand dollars for retrofitting and that several municipalities involved have offered to maintain them once they were established. In this way the women would be better prepared and less desperate and vulnerable to those predators so willing to take advantage of their situation
Being a person of conviction, she has put up for auction her 2-inch emerald “Atocha” ring to pay for the project. The stone was part of the treasure aboard the Spanish ship that sank off the Florida coast in 1622. Frank Perdue received it as part of the treasure he was awarded for financially backing the recovery of the wreck. He in turn had the stone cut and mounted into an engagement ring for Mitzi.

Another unfortunate consequence of the continuing war she indicated is that over half of the population of Ukraine now suffers from PTSD and that the incidents of traffic accidents and violence has infiltrated the population daily. Additionally, spousal abuse is on the rise with the added element of weapons of war being used for which the police are untrained to intervene with and unprepared to resolve.
The worst part of any war is the untold suffering and abuse that people face that never make the headlines which is only seen, endured and experienced by the people exposed to its horrific violence, leaving a lasting negative and profound effect on their lives.
While the war will surely end, its effects will endure for generations to come.

 (Phil Pasquini is a freelance journalist and photographer. His reports and photographs appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs  and Nuze.ink. He is the author of Domes, Arches and Minarets: A History of Islamic-Inspired Buildings in America.)