Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe - Iom

Trafficking in Human Beingsin Southeastern Europe1.2. Victim identification, referral and assistanceIn June 2001, IOM and the government signed an agreement for the police toinform IOM about all female illegal migrants. The identification and referralsystem for trafficked women operates within the framework of this agreement.The police identify women who might be trafficked and transfer themto the shelter in Skopje where IOM makes a second assessment.FormerYugoslavRepublic ofMacedoniaDuring the period August 2000 to November 2001, IOM Skopje directlyassisted 328 trafficked women to return to their countries of origin: 60 percentto the Republic of Moldova; 27 percent to Romania; and the rest to Ukraine,Belarus, Bulgaria, Russia and Kosovo. Twelve percent were under the age of18. Thirty four percent had valid travel documents when they were picked up.In March 2001, the Ministry of the Interior opened a shelter for traffickedwomen. IOM is taking care of the day-to-day management of the shelter andmedical screening, and provides a civil presence at the shelter. During theperiod March to November 2001, 148 women stayed at the shelter and werereturned to their countries of origin by IOM. The conditions in the shelter arevery good, and women have protection from traffickers. However, they havecontact only with the police and IOM, and are not prepared for going backhome. No information on their legal situation or rights is provided, and thereis no psychosocial support available at the shelter.According to the police, all trafficked women that come in contact with thepolice reach the shelter and are repatriated by IOM. However, as the shelterreceives only those victims who are willing to return to their country of origin,trafficked women that did not want to take part in the IOM programme mayhave simply been deported. In the period between November 2000 and July2001, approximately 500 foreign women were deported from the country. 120Deportation means only to the border of FYR Macedonia, so the women usuallygo straight back into the trafficking cycle.Despite efforts by IOM and OSCE to raise awareness, some police officers continueto see trafficked women as illegal prostitutes. This is in contrast to thestrong government stance against trafficking. There is also information aboutpolice turning a blind eye for and cooperation with traffickers. Traffickedwomen are aware of the role played by the police and are afraid to ask forhelp. There are almost no cases of women turning to the local police for helpand most of the women come to the attention of the police through bar raids.Out of 148 women who received assistance in the shelter, 90 percent wereidentified during police raids on clubs and brothels and only a few werereferred to the shelter after they sought assistance from the local police or theRomanian Embassy.1.3. ProsecutionFYR Macedonia has signed but has yet to ratify the Palermo Protocols. The currentlegislation contains no special anti-trafficking provisions. Prostitution(soliciting) is not illegal, but mediation and pimping is. Trafficking can be prosecutedunder various other articles of the criminal code, including illegal crossingof state border (Art. 402), illegal deprivation of freedom (Art. 140),abduction (Art. 141), mediation in performing prostitution (Art. 191), pimpingand enabling sexual acts (Art. 192), a sexual act on an incapable person(Art.187), sexual assault on a child (Art. 188), founding a slave relationshipand transport of persons with slave status (Art. 418). 121120.Carlotta Gall, New York Times, 28 July 2001.109