Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe - Iom

Trafficking in Human Beingsin Southeastern EuropeSince July 2001, as a result of increased bar raids, a number of bars have beenclosed. Police bar raids have also proved not very effective in stopping trafficking.Often bar owners are tipped off and prepared for the police visit. Closureof bars and nightclubs does not mean that the trafficking is stopped, butrather that it is moved to private apartments, hotels and motels where thepolice does not have easy access.Bosnia andHerzegovinaAccording to local NGOs, 50 percent of clients are internationals, mainly soldiersfrom SFOR. According to the IPTF the number is lower, they estimatethat approximately 30 percent of the clientele are internationals. However, atleast 70 percent of all profits from prostitution are estimated to come frominternationals, who pay different rates and spend more money in bars thanlocal men.1.2. Victim identification, referral and assistanceThe victim identification and referral system depends on IPTF as the first pointof contact with the women usually during bar raids, and IOM as the providerof assistance to return to the country of origin.In July 2001, UNMIBH launched the UN Special Trafficking Operation Programme– STOP, aimed at providing more effective direct action against trafficking,to include bar raids. STOP teams are on call 24 hours a day and dealexclusively with the issue of trafficking. The bar raids are organised jointly bythe STOP team and the local police. There has been some police training inhow to deal with trafficked persons.Local police raids, monitored by IPTF, revealed that 25 percent of the womenworking in the clubs claimed to have been trafficked and forced into prostitution.75 About 10 percent of trafficked persons are girls under 18. These figuresare based on the results of identification carried out by the local police and theSTOP teams.During the second half of 2001, as a result of STOP activities, 10 out of 16bars were closed in Bråko. In the Arizona Market, known as a transit place forwomen trafficked from Serbia to BiH, only two bars are still open. 76The process of identification and referral is as follows. Foreign women discoveredduring bar raids without legal documents are divided into two groups:those that declare willingness to return home are identified as trafficked andthose that do not. These “trafficked” women have to sign a form provided toIPTF by IOM, stating that they wish to be repatriated. Only then they are“identified” as the victims of trafficking by IPTF, and IOM is informed. Thesewomen also have to give a statement to the local police, or if they are unwillingor afraid to do so, at least to IPTF.There is a standardised questionnaire with 30 questions, prepared by IOM,which is used by the police for interviewing the trafficked people. IOM receivesa copy of the form, without any information about the potential perpetrators.IOM’s copy is confidential, but the IPTF copy is shared with the SECI Centrein Bucharest. On the basis of the answers to the questionnaire filled out byIPTF and its own follow up interviews, IOM makes the final decision whether74.UNHCHR, “ Analysis of the situation in the field with regard to implementation of the Law onImmigration and Asylum and the Law on Employment of Foreigners”, 17 April 2001, p. 1.75.Interview with the IPTF officer, Jacek Walaszczyk from STOP Team Bråko, 28 September2001.76.Ibid.65