Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe - Iom

Trafficking in Human Beingsin Southeastern EuropeSummary andRecommendationsSummary andRecommendations1. Roles of Government, internationalorganisations and NGOsAlthough the majority of actions against trafficking were undertaken after theyear 2000, some anti-trafficking initiatives in SEE started before, as early asin 1997. The majority of the early activities were initiated by local NGOs inresponse to the situation on the ground – the need to support traffickedwomen and the need to raise awareness. A more structured approach to traffickingin the region, involving all relevant actors as well as fostering regionaland international co-operation and information exchange, started after thegovernments of SEE signed the Palermo Protocol and the SPTTF MinisterialDeclaration in December 2000.1.1. Role of Governments: summary and recommendationsSince the end of 2000, there has been a major change in attitude and in thelevel of the government involvement in counter-trafficking activities. Fromdenying the existence of trafficking just couple of years ago, the governmentsare now giving priority to anti-trafficking initiatives and assigning responsibilitiesat ministerial level. The governments have also developed NPAs, whichallow a structured, comprehensive approach to the problem, and the involvementof international agencies and NGOs, as well as a willingness to co-operateand exchange information at regional level.Although regional and national mechanisms to combat trafficking have beendeveloped by the governments, the establishment of working structures is stillin progress and the implementation of the NPAs has barely started. Therefore,at this point it has to be stated that although the governments in SEE havemade significant progress and have clearly expressed the political will to combattrafficking, they are still not able to discharge their international obligationswith respect to combating trafficking in persons, especially women andchildren.The multitude of often ad hoc initiatives and projects already being implementedon the ground by international organisations and NGOs are not partof the NPA frameworks since these activities were not planned or implementedin co-operation or co-ordination with the government. This partly reflects thelack of attention and the inaction on the part of the governments for manyyears, which has resulted in international organisations and NGOs taking thelead in anti-trafficking actions.1.1.1. National Plans of ActionGenerally speaking, there are two types of NPA. Firstly, there are NPAs thatare based on, or even duplicate, the model NPA provided by SPTTF. Theseplans cover all areas of concern, including prevention, raising of awareness,victim protection, return and reintegration, legal reform, law enforcement,training, regional co-operation and exchange. Such NPAs create a frameworkfor counter-trafficking activities, but are general and often do not stipulate153