Human Trafficking in [Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo] [other countries]Street Children in [Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Serbia,
Montenegro & Kosovo [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] The Republic of Serbia [map] is located in the W central Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered by Croatia (NW), by Hungary
(N), by Romania (NE), by Bulgaria (E), by Macedonia (S), and by Albania,
Montenegro, & Bosnia/Herzegovina (W).
Belgrade is its capital.
Belgrade has made only minimal progress in restructuring and
privatizing its holdings in major sectors of the economy, including energy
and telecommunications. It has made halting progress towards EU membership
and is currently pursuing a Stabilization and Association Agreement with
Brussels. Serbia is also pursuing membership in the World Trade Organization.
Unemployment remains an ongoing political and economic problem. Serbia is a
source, transit, and destination country for women and girls trafficked
transnationally and internally for the purpose of commercial sexual
exploitation. Foreign victims are trafficked to Serbia from Macedonia,
Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia,
Albania, and the People’s Republic of China. Serbia continued to serve as a
transit country for victims trafficked from Bosnia, Croatia, and Slovenia and
destined for Italy and other countries in Western Europe. Internal sex
trafficking of Serbian women and girls continued to increase, comprising more
than three-fourths of trafficking cases in 2007. Some children continued to
be trafficked into forced labor or forced street begging. According to NGOs
and law enforcement, efforts to shut down known brothels continued to prompt
traffickers to better conceal victims of trafficking. - U.S. State
Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2008 [full country report] The Republic of Montenegro [map] is located in the W Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered by Croatia (W), by
Bosnia/Herzegovina (NW), by Serbia (NE & E), by Albania (SE), and by the
Adriatic Sea (SW). Podgorica is its
capital and largest city. Severe
unemployment remains a key political and economic problem for this entire region.
Montenegro has privatized its large aluminum complex - the dominant industry
- as well as most of its financial sector, and has begun to attract foreign
direct investment in the tourism sector. Montenegro is
primarily a transit country for the trafficking of women and girls to Western
Europe for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. In 2007, there were
no reports of Montenegrins being trafficked to other countries. There were a
small number of cases in which women and girls were trafficked into
Montenegro. Women and girls from Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova,
Romania, Ukraine, and Russia are trafficked across Montenegro to Western
European countries. Official statistics noted that one Montenegrin woman was
trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation. Children are coerced
into begging. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June,
2008 [full
country report] The Republic of Kosovo’s [map] independence is recognised by some countries and opposed by
others, including the Republic of Serbia, which continues to claim
sovereignty over it as the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija. Kosovo is borders by Albania (W), by Central
Serbia (N & E), by the Republic of Macedonia (S), and by Montenegro
(NW). Its capital and largest city is
Pristina. Kosovo's citizens are the
poorest in Europe with an average annual per capita income of only $1800 -
about one-third the level of neighboring Albania. Unemployment - at more than
40% of the population - is a severe problem that encourages outward
migration. Most of Kosovo's population lives in rural towns outside of the
capital, Pristina. Inefficient, near-subsistence farming is common - the
result of small plots, limited mechanization, and lack of technical
expertise. Economic growth is largely driven by the private sector - mostly
small-scale retail businesses. Kosovo is a source,
transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked
transnationally and within the borders of Kosovo for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation. There are reports from Kosovo of children
being forced to beg, possibly by parents, raising concerns about possible
trafficking. Kosovo government statistics indicate that most Kosovar victims
are children, while most foreign victims are young women from Eastern Europe.
Some victims transit Kosovo en route to Macedonia, Italy, and Albania.
Traffickers shifted the commercial sex trade into private homes and escort
services to avoid detection, a result of increased law enforcement checks on
bars and restaurants. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June,
2008 [full
report] |
|
CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Serbia, Montenegro and
Kosovo. Some of these links may lead
to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even
false. No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to
verify their content. ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Reports of women and girls being trafficked
into Kosovo began to emerge within months of the United Nations mission in
Kosovo and the NATO peacekeepers arriving in July 1999. While writing this
book I travelled to Kosovo, and found it an intimidating place to research
the subject of trafficking. People were guarded with information, and it is
the only place I have ever been threatened by a police officer for asking
questions about human trafficking - he said that he could have me detained if
he wanted to. Shameful
Investigation Into Sex-Trafficking Case The government of Montenegro must
re-open as a matter of priority a high-profile sex-trafficking case in which
Montenegrin politicians, judges, police and civil servants are implicated,
Amnesty International said in a letter to the Minister of the Interior of
Montenegro. The Moldovan woman in the centre of the case alleges that
Montenegrin politicians, judges, police and civil servants had tortured and
raped her and other East European women who like her had been trafficked and
held as sex-slaves. A
Legal Analysis of Trafficking in Persons Cases in Kosovo - October 2007 [PDF] [page 3] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - The problem of trafficking in
human beings (“trafficking”) continues to be a major human rights concern in
Kosovo. In cases monitored by the OSCE,
victims did not receive the basic guarantees provided by law, and frequently
faced prosecution or the threat of prosecution. Witness protection measures
were rarely used, despite the regular intimidation of victims. Moreover,
judges and prosecutors often failed to understand the legal definition of the
crime of trafficking, or permit perpetrators to go unpunished. In summary, the OSCE observed that
authorities involved in the investigation and prosecution of alleged
traffickers fail to adopt a victim-centred approach, or to ensure that
perpetrators face justice. ***
ARCHIVES *** Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – Underage
girls were among those trafficked for sexual exploitation. In November
authorities rescued a 14-year-old girl at the Slovenian border from an
international trafficking ring attempting to take her to the While Traffickers recruited victims
through enticements including advertisements for escorts, marriage offers,
and offers of employment. Women often went to work as prostitutes knowingly
and only later became trafficking victims. In many cases international
organized crime networks recruited, transported, sold, and controlled
victims. The main points in A
Legal Analysis of Trafficking in Persons Cases in Kosovo - October 2007 [PDF] [page 3] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - The problem of trafficking in
human beings (“trafficking”) continues to be a major human rights concern in
Kosovo. In cases monitored by the OSCE,
victims did not receive the basic guarantees provided by law, and frequently
faced prosecution or the threat of prosecution. Witness protection measures
were rarely used, despite the regular intimidation of victims. Moreover,
judges and prosecutors often failed to understand the legal definition of the
crime of trafficking, or permit perpetrators to go unpunished. In summary, the OSCE observed that
authorities involved in the investigation and prosecution of alleged
traffickers fail to adopt a victim-centred approach, or to ensure that
perpetrators face justice. Amnesty
International on human rights in Serbia and Kosovo WHAT
ACTION WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE FROM THE EU’S SIDE TO TACKLE HUMAN-RIGHTS
ISSUES THAT ALSO CONCERN THE UNION ITSELF, SUCH AS HUMAN TRAFFICKING? With respect to trafficking, we
urge the EU to assist the Kosovo authorities in implementing the Kosovo
Action Plan on Trafficking, to ensure the protection of the rights of
trafficked persons, including to assistance and other forms of support, in
compliance with the Council of Europe Convention on Action against
Trafficking in Human Beings. Over
120.000 human trafficking victims pass via Balkan a year More than 120.000 women and
children, victims of human trafficking, pass through the Balkan region per
year before heading to the EU member-countries, Serbian government said. "The number of trafficked children
rose from 10 to 56 percent, and lately up to 60 percent of identified victims
of human trafficking are Serbian citizens," said Serbian Minister of
Labor, Employment & Social Welfare Slobodan Lalovic. Human trafficking recovery center opens
in Belgrade The center's
program was developed according to the demands and experiences of
victims, in order to offer help to abused women and enable them to return to
their normal lives and reintegrate into society. Reports of women and girls being
trafficked into Kosovo began to emerge within months of the United Nations
mission in Kosovo and the NATO peacekeepers arriving in July 1999. While
writing this book I travelled to Kosovo, and found it an intimidating place
to research the subject of trafficking. People were guarded with information,
and it is the only place I have ever been threatened by a police officer for
asking questions about human trafficking - he said that he could have me
detained if he wanted to. Human
trafficking in Vojvodina The victims are most commonly
women from poor families who were subjected to violence within their
families. Their documents are taken away and many times they are threatened
to be killed or thrown into the Danube River where no one will find them. UN Kosovo police
arrested for sex trafficking The group’s 2004 yearly report -
based on interviews with women and girls who have been trafficked from
countries such as Moldova, Bulgaria, and Ukraine to service Kosovo’s sex
industry - says that sex victims are moved illegally across borders and sold
in “trading houses” where they are sometimes drugged and “broken in” before
being sold from one trafficker to another for prices ranging from €50 to
€3,500. In this report, Amnesty
International attempts to add to the growing understanding of trafficking as
an abuse of human rights, not least the right to physical and mental
integrity, and of the right to life, liberty and security of the person. The report documents abuses
perpetrated against women and girls in Kosovo, including abduction,
deprivation of liberty and denial of freedom of movement, often combined with
other restrictions, including the withdrawal of travel or identity documents.
The organization also finds that women and girls have been subjected to
torture and ill-treatment, including psychological threats, beatings and
rape. Co-operation
to Stop Sex Traffic The Swedish police have begun
working with their counterparts in Kosovo to stop a gang responsible for sex
trafficking. The co-operation follows
the case of a 17-year-old girl kidnapped from Kosovo and brought to Albanians
Given 10 To 12 Years In Jail For Human Trafficking Singh said the investigation found
out that two female victims from 13 Arrests in 10
Days on Human Trafficking Charges In one case, after being forced
into prostitution, the rescued victim had also been sold for marriage: 4
suspects involved in the case were arrested. In another case, the victim had
been forced into prostitution by her boyfriend who brutally abused her. Human
Trafficking Trial in Bijelo Polje The prosecution, represented by
the Deputy State Prosecutor Lepa Medenica, accused Licina of holding forcibly
Milica Novakovic from Pozega at his “ Balkans
Urged To Curb Trafficking Countries in Initiative
to Help Fight Human Trafficking in Three SEE Countries Shameful
Investigation Into Sex-Trafficking Case The government of Montenegro must
re-open as a matter of priority a high-profile sex-trafficking case in which
Montenegrin politicians, judges, police and civil servants are implicated,
Amnesty International said in a letter to the Minister of the Interior of
Montenegro. The Moldovan woman in the centre of the case alleges that
Montenegrin politicians, judges, police and civil servants had tortured and
raped her and other East European women who like her had been trafficked and
held as sex-slaves. The children, some as young as
three, are snatched from their parents and sold for as little as £300. Some
are feared to have been taken as child sex slaves. Others are put up for
illegal adoptions by couples, including Britons, desperate to start a
family. These three youngsters all
live at a former United Nations refugee camp in Montenegro, part of the old
Yugoslavia. Government
officials in sex trafficking ring arrested The arrests are only a small part
of the scandal, according to sources in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica.
It is an open secret in the Balkans that people-trafficking rings run through
Montenegro to Bosnia and Kosovo, with profits from the dirty trade reaching
millions of euros. The sex-slave routes lead to Italy
and Britain, where at least 1,400 women, mainly from eastern Europe, are
tricked into prostitution each year. The trade is highly lucrative for the
men who "own" them; in London, women can bring in about £100,000 a
year for their pimps. Trafficking in Human Beings in Southeastern Europe [PDF] [page 78] 1.2.
TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN
- Practically no
information exists on the trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of
children. There are some reports that
Roma girls and children from FRY are sold to Freedom
House Country Report Serbia - Political Rights: 3 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free Freedom
House Country Report Montenegro - Political Rights: 3 Civil Liberties: 3 Status: Partly Free Freedom
House Country Report Kosovo - Political Rights: 6 Civil Liberties: 5 Status: Not Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide Stop Violence Against Women – Country Page U.S. Library of Congress
- Country Study About 30
Cases of People Traffkicking Reported in Serbia since April 2003 The campaign against the
trafficking of children was initiated six month ago by non-governmental
organization Beosupport (Belgrade support to exploited children and young
people), and the inter-governmental International Organization for
Migrations. According to research carried out in Serbia by Beosupport among
young people between the ages 16 and 26, the problem of people trafficking is
generally defined as voluntary prostitution, while illegal labor and begging
are rarely mentioned. Since the deployment in July 1999 of
an international peacekeeping force (KFOR) and the establishment of the
United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) civilian
administration, Kosovo(6) has become a major destination country for women
and girls trafficked into forced prostitution. Women are trafficked into
Kosovo predominantly from Moldova, Bulgaria and Ukraine, the majority of them
via Serbia. At the same time, increasing numbers of local women and girls are
being internally trafficked, and trafficked out of Kosovo. Facts
and figures on trafficking of women and girls for forced prostitution in
Kosovo In 2002, it was reported that 36
percent of the trafficked women and girls in Kosovo were denied any medical
care, while only ten percent were provided with regular health care; the
majority of trafficked women were forced to have unprotected sex. To date, no trafficked women or girls have
obtained reparations for the physical, emotional and psychological damage
they have suffered as a result of these abuses of their human rights. UN Kosovo police
arrested for sex trafficking In the meantime, Amnesty
International (AI) says the presence of international peacekeepers in Kosovo
has been fuelling the sexual exploitation of women and encouraging
trafficking. The human rights group
claims that UN and NATO troops in the region are using the trafficked women
and girls for sex, and that some have been involved in trafficking
itself. Girls as young as 11 from
Eastern European countries are being sold into sex slavery, according to
Amnesty International. The group’s 2004 yearly report -
based on interviews with women and girls who have been trafficked from
countries such as Moldova, Bulgaria, and Ukraine to service Kosovo’s sex
industry - says that sex victims are moved illegally across borders and sold
in “trading houses” where they are sometimes drugged and “broken in” before
being sold from one trafficker to another for prices ranging from €50 to
€3,500. Montenegro:
Little political will to curb trafficking and corruption However, the main difficulty in
dealing with the issue is the involvement of many senior officials who are
supposed to curtail illegal activities in the first place. This high level
involvement often serves to deter those officials who would otherwise be willing
to take a stronger stand. Sex
Slavery Scandal Rattles Montenegro Svetlana has a secret -- one so
dark and lurid, it has scandalized this usually unflappable corner of the
Balkans. It's not the story of how she
ended up in sexual slavery after being lured to Montenegro with the promise
of a decent job. Nor is it the
agonizing tale of how she was locked up in a brothel for three years and
toyed with by clients who abused her so savagely they broke bones and scarred
her genitals with cigarette burns.
Svetlana's unsettling secret is the identities of those clients -- a
damning account she gave police that implicated prominent Montenegrin
officials in the sex trade. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
Human Trafficking in [Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo] [other countries]Street Children in [Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo] [other countries]