Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe - Iom

Trafficking in Human Beingsin Southeastern Europe• Hotline for victims of violence and information line about trafficking;• Treatment for underage victims of trafficking;• Assistance to access the social welfare system;• Counselling, therapy and legal support;• Shelter for trafficked women.FormerYugoslavRepublic ofMacedoniaHOPS is also doing outreach work on HIV/AIDS prevention for sex workers andpotential trafficking victims.2.5. Legal reform and law enforcementThe FYR Macedonia Criminal Code has no specific article that criminalises traffickingin human beings. The existing practice shows that trafficking is not recognisedas a crime. Prosecution is usually achieved through the application oftwo articles of the Criminal Code, mediating prostitution and illegal crossingof a state border. Recently, the government has made efforts to increase theefficiency of prosecuting and convicting traffickers but they are still limited bythe lack of an appropriate law, no testimonies from the witnesses and the attitudeof the police. The existing anti-slavery law (Art. 418) has been used onlyrecently and in exceptional cases.The National Council on Trafficking and Illegal Migration, appointed by thegovernment in February 2001, has organised an Interdisciplinary Committeeled by the Ministry of Justice to work on harmonising Macedonian law with therequirements of the Palermo Protocols. Legal reform will include:• Introduction into the Criminal Code of the new crime of trafficking inhuman beings, according to the definition from the Palermo Protocol,and also adding punishment to the existing provision for organisedforms of trafficking;• Introduction of the crime of illegal border crossing;• Change and amendment of the Criminal Procedure Law to facilitatethe investigation of all forms of organised crime activities; inclusionof new investigative techniques (electronic and other forms of surveillance);• Change of the existing regulations on labour and health inspection toenhance the ability to identify trafficked women by introducingchanges in the Labour Code and Health Legislation, and by issuingwork permits;• Improvement of international co-operation with other countries forthe purpose of extraditing traffickers;• New asylum law – already in draft form.Within the Ministry of Justice, the Legal Policy Working Group has been harmonisingthe existing anti-trafficking legislation with international law. Thenew article on trafficking has been drafted (Art. 418a), submitted to the Parliamentand now awaits its approval.Within the police force, the Task Force to Combat Trafficking was set up in2000, with representatives in all districts.In March 2001, the Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a letter to the governmentexpressing concern with the low number of prosecutions for trafficking– 80 cases in the period 1997 to 2000. Only 30 cases have been completed.One person received a sentence of five years in prison, but the rest only finesand parole. Forty-seven cases are still pending, and four have been dismissed.The difficulty with the prosecution of traffickers is that there is no evidenceagainst them that can be presented in the court. The witnesses – traffickedwomen – are not present. In conclusion, the public prosecutor pointed out that113