Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe - Iom

Trafficking in Human Beingsin Southeastern EuropeIn April 2001, Save the Children published a report “Child Trafficking in Albania”exposing the fact that thousands of Albanian children and young womenwere trafficked into prostitution across Europe on a daily basis. Members ofthe Save the Children Alliance are now developing a regional, action researchbasedprogramme in SEE to investigate, among other things, the extent ofchild trafficking, responses to child trafficking in a range of organisations, andmeasures that can be taken to prevent child trafficking. This work has nowbegun in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania, with further work planned in Albania,Serbia and Kosovo. Current funding is provided by SPTTF donors. Within theframework of SPTTF, Save the Children focuses on research and raising awarenessof child trafficking and, with ICMC and others, supporting increased NGOinvolvement in SPTTF activities.RegionalInitiatives3.5. International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX)In September 2001, IREX, a US based NGO, started the Regional EmpowermentInitiative for Women programme, with USAID funding. The programmewill promote the empowerment of women from selected countries of theformer Soviet Union and SEE, including the Russian Federation, Bulgaria,Romania, Moldova, Lithuania and FRY, with the aim to prevent traffickingbefore women leave their countries. IREX is planning to administer a comprehensiveanti-trafficking programme by establishing anti-trafficking trainingand empowerment sites in seven major cities. The programme has four activities:1) basic job skills training and placement support; 2) women’s empowerment,including crisis hotline assistance, as well as legal and psychologicalcounselling for victims and potential victims; 3) awareness promotion ofpotential trafficking schemes through targeted public outreach campaigns;and 4) small grants to support women entrepreneurs in the creation of sustainableenterprises.3.6. Local non-governmental organisationsAt the local level, it has been primarily women’s organisations, which haveconcerned themselves with trafficking. Some of them work generally in theareas of violence against women and women’s rights; others operate sheltersfor victims of violence or run projects for sex workers. Human rights organisationsand organisations for migrants’ rights still consider trafficking to bemore an issue of gender violence than human rights abuse, and leave it to thewomen’s groups.There is little networking between NGOs at the regional level, especiallybetween countries of origin and destination. Until now all networking initiativeswere undertaken by local groups seeking contact with similar organisationsor a partner organisation in other countries, with little support from theirgovernments and the involvement of only few international organisations,such as OSCE/ODIHR. Closer co-operation and exchange of ideas were possibleonly for the NGOs connected with La Strada or TAMPEP. However, eventhese networks were organised more for practical reasons – providing directsupport to trafficked persons and organising prevention and awareness raisingactivities – than for creating a coalition of NGOs with a comprehensiveregional programme and approach. There are now plans, undertaken by ICMCand Save the Children, to organise regional meetings/networking of localNGOs within the framework of SPTTF.23