Human trafficking crisis set to hit war-torn Ukraine amid Russian invasion? UN issues crucial warning

The Russia-Ukraine war has now crossed its 100-day mark and the devastations in Ukrainian cities are to some extent beyond repair, as claimed by authorities. The war-torn country is battling through an economic and humanitarian crisis, but the UN has also warned of another threat.

According to the United Nations, the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is slowly turning into a human trafficking crisis. This means that as the risk of sexual violence and crimes remains high in the country, the Ukraine-Russia war can take an even more horrific turn.

From the outset of the war on February 24, heightened risks of trafficking in persons, including for purposes of sexual exploitation and prostitution, have been alarmingly evident, Xinhua news agency quoted Pramila Patten, the UN secretary-general`s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, as saying at a Security Council meeting.

“The lack of consistent vetting of accommodation offers and transportation arrangements is a serious concern, as well as the limited capacity of protection services to address the velocity and volume of displacement,” she told the meeting.

According to Patten, there were also concerns regarding the multiplicity of volunteers, with limited vetting, and little or no training or experience.

During her visit to a supermarket-turned-converted receiving centre for Ukrainian refugees in Przemysl, Poland, the official said she found “grave security and protection concerns” in a facility run by volunteers, and with only a “bare-bones presence” of UN agencies.

Due to lack of security, many volunteers with little to no verification have been allowed inside shelters. Citizens have also noted that a few male volunteers only selected young women as passengers inside their vehicles for transportation to safer cities.

This comes in the backdrop of the horrific and disturbing accounts emerging from towns such as Bucha and Mariupol, where it was assumed that many women were sexually assaulted before being killed and buried in the mass graves.

(With IANS inputs)