Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe - Iom

Trafficking in Human Beingsin Southeastern EuropeBulgariaof women took part in vocational training. Job placement has been implementedmainly through informal institutional contacts – IOM was able to assistdirectly in this regard to 10 percent of women. In general, according to theIOM in at least 50 percent of cases reintegration was successful – measuredby the fact that women were reinserted back into their families, relatives andfriends’ environment.1.4. HIV/AIDS and STIsThere are a few HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in Bulgaria. All of them arefocused on Bulgarian sex workers and do not reach out to migrant sex workersor trafficked women. Outreach workers try to limit themselves to health preventionissues as not to jeopardise the contacts and trust they have built withsex workers or pimps who allow access to sex workers.As in the Republic of Moldova and Romania, women work for pimps who useviolence to control them. However, unlike in Romania and Moldova, sex workersin Sofia and in the border area near Petrich can more easily be contactedby outreach workers from the HIV/AIDS prevention programmes, and aremore willing to take precautions against STIs and HIV/AIDS.1.5. ProsecutionIn 2000, according to data from the border and organised crime police, therewere eight organised crime groups involved in the trafficking or smuggling ofpeople. These were small groups, from two to eight persons each. During thesame period, 231 persons were identified as involved in the organisation andfacilitation of illegal border crossings and 175 of them were detained. 67 It isnot possible to estimate how many of them were involved directly in traffickingas the information refers to all border crossings and does not differentiatebetween smuggling of illegal migrants and trafficking in human beings.Since the beginning of 2000, there have been 16 police operations againsttraffickers/smugglers. In the first half of 2001, ten organised groups havebeen detected and 14 legal proceedings initiated. In June 2001, the SECI Centreco-ordinated a joint operation of Bulgarian, Moldavian and Ukrainian policeto break down an illegal channel of trafficking organised by criminal groupsfrom Greece.The Ministry of the Interior’s new Task Force to Combat Human Trafficking hasalready started initiatives to co-operate with neighbouring countries as well aswith the SECI Centre. This increased co-operation has resulted in several jointinvestigations and an increase in the sharing of law enforcement information.This has yet to yield prosecutions or concrete results.2. Current reponses2.1. National Plan of Action and co-ordinationSince 1999, Bulgarian government has focused its anti-trafficking initiativeson legal reform and law enforcement, led by the Ministry of Justice and theMinistry of the Interior. After the elections in June 2001 and a change of government,the new Prime Minister stated that trafficking would become one ofhis government’s priority issues.5467.Information provided by the National Co-ordinator to the Stability Pact Task Force, 2001.