Survivors of of Torture and Human Trafficking

In 2009, reports started pouring in about asylum seekers being kidnapped by smugglers in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. The captivity included brutal sexual and physical violence, and in many cases forced labor. According to survivors’ testimonies, especially common were systematic rape and sexual humiliation, skin burns, electric shocks, hanging, chain shackles, and deprivation of food, drink and sleep. In order to be rescued, the captured asylum seekers were forced to call their families and beg them to find a way to pay ransom to the kidnappers. Anyone who managed to raise the ransom money, which could be tens of thousands of dollars, was released and came to the nearest border – the border with Israel.

About 4,000 asylum seekers and survivors of the Sinai torture camps live in Israel. They live with injuries to body and mind – severe post-trauma, injuries and physical limitations that make it difficult for them to make a living, build a family and community connections and lead a normal life. Without stability or a social safety net, and in the absence of access to adequate health and welfare services, torture camp survivors continue to be exposed to harm and exploitation, to extreme distress and to further deterioration in their condition.

Approximately 500 survivors have been recognized by Israel as victims of trafficking under the Prohibition of Trafficking in Human Beings (Legislative Amendments) Law, 5767-2006, and are entitled to a year of rehabilitation treatment. Despite changes in procedure in recent years, the recognition process remains complex and inaccessible, and most asylum seekers who are recognized victims of trafficking are left with unsatisfactory assistance after the year of rehabilitation.

The rest of torture and human trafficking survivors are left without an adequate response or rehabilitation for the trauma and injuries they have sustained, despite their right to rehabilitation services that will allow them to return to a normal and functional life and deal with the medical, psychological and social consequences of past torture and abuse. This is a right enshrined in Article 14 of the UN Convention against Torture – ratified by Israel.