BalkanThemes

Human Trafficking

Vol. 1 : Issue 4A BalkanDiskurs Publication

About Balkan Diskurs

Balkan Diskurs is a non-prof-it, multimedia platform created and run by a re-

gional network of journalists, bloggers, multimedia artists, and activists who came together in response to the lack of objec-tive, relevant, invigorating, or independent regional media. In a media culture dominated by po-litical interests, we are different. The work on our site, balkandi-skurs.com, connects themes across borders and provides fresh and independent views on issues that matter to all people in the countries of the former Yugosla-via.

Our platform has no restriction on theme, but ultimately we are dedicated to the ceaseless effort of challenging stereotypes and providing viewpoints on society, culture, and politics that can-not be found in other media. As such, some of our regular topics include transitional justice, in-equality, and human rights. We encourage the public to interact on our platform by commenting or by submitting original piec-es. While our platform does not propose ready-made solutions to the many problems facing our countries, we do aim to make our region more understandable and more transparent—both for lo-cal and international audiences •

In This Issue

1 About Balkan Diskurs

2 About BalkanThemes

OrganizationalSpotlight:

ManavSevaSansthan(SEVA)

6 Albania

7 Croatia

Kosovo

8 Moldova

9 Romania

Slovenia

10 Syria

12 TheLawsonHumanTrafficking:

LibyaandBosnia-Herzegovina

13 Contributors

14 Citations

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Organizational Spotlight: Manav Seva Sansthan (SEVA)

Interview with Manav Seva Sansthan (SEVA), campaigners for human rights and the fight against human trafficking in India and Nepal.

Today, due to the powers of globalization, international borders have become more porous and accessible. The opening of

borders has enabled the development of inter-national markets and improved standards of

living as measured by global indicators in al-most every country.[1] Nevertheless, globaliza-tion has with it many negative repercussions, highlighting inequalities between countries and the emergence of various transnational crimes.

Human trafficking is one of those transnational crimes that have developed due to exploitations of changing border policy and is an ongoing is-sue affecting every country in the world, either as a country of origin, transit or destination. According to the U.S. Department of State, an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 persons are traf-

ficked every year.[2] As reported by the International Labor Organiza-tion (ILO), wom-en and girls rep-resent the largest group of victims of forced labor with 11.4 million victims, repre-senting 55% of the total amount of trafficked per-sons worldwide.[3]

India and Nepal

About BalkanThemes

Since we published the first issue of Bal-kanThemes in September 2014, we’ve been thinking of ways to improve the

reader experience and to engage more criti-cally with the subject at hand. In this issue, we present the challenges organizations and individuals face in dealing with human traf-ficking cases in the former Yugoslavia and be-yond. An in-depth interview by Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC) volunteers Chloé Gaillard and Clara Fantoni with the Indian organization Manav Seva Sansthan - third-prize winner of the 2014 UN Alliance of Civ-

iliztions and BMW Group Intercultural Inno-vation Award - highlights the difficulties in and prospects for reducing and discouraging human trafficking practices along the Indi-an-Nepalese border. This issue also features a comparative article by PCRC intern Karim Sultan on the legal framework or lack thereof surrounding human trafficking in both Libya and Bosnia and Herzegovina. As in previous issues, we’ve also included several brief piec-es summarizing the legal and political reac-tions to human traffficking-related issues across the Balkan peninsula and in the Mid-dle East. We hope you find this issue more en-gaging and insightful and as always are open to comments at info@balkandiskurs.com •

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are two of the many countries struggling with this issue. Sharing 1,700 kilometers of porous border, an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 Nepalese women, girls and children are trafficked every year in India under the veil of migration. To fight against this gross violation of human rights, numerous associations and organizations have emerged from both sides of the shared border.

Manav Seva Sansthan (SEVA) is one of many or-ganizations dealing with this issue with an inno-vative and hands-on approach. SEVA, based in Northern India, has been tackling human rights violations for 25 years and has brought new ap-proaches to the fight against human trafficking.

SEVA’s research found that the government and civil societies concentrated their cross-border, anti-trafficking initiatives either at the source or at destinations. In response to these findings, SEVA decided in 2002 to launch its campaign directly at the border, which is a crucial tran-sit zone. Being active at the border is of great importance; victims rescued at the border are more likely to be reintegrated into their families and communities, as they have not yet suffering from the physical, psychological harm and stig-ma resulting from having been coerced into the

sex and slave industry.

Since the beginning of SEVA’s campaign, 10,500 victims have been rescued and SEVA’s volunteers have engaged with more than 100,000 migrants on the issue of safe and informed migration. Backed by this successful venture, SEVA was re-cently awarded third prize at the UN Alliance of

Civilizations and BMW Group Intercultural In-novation Award in August 2014. BalkanThemes interviewed founder and executive director Rakesh Nair regarding the critical matter of hu-man trafficking and SEVA’s revolutionary work in tackling the violation of human rights in this field.

BalkanThemes: What is the situation regard-ing human trafficking in India and Nepal? Why is there such a big problem with this particular border?

Rakesh Nair: India shares a 1,740 km border with Nepal; movement across this border re-mains unrestricted. There is huge influx of mi-grants from Nepal, estimated at around 2,000 every day. The Nepal-India border is unique, in the sense that people of both countries can cross 3

it from any point, despite the existence of bor-der posts at several locations.

The open border has economically benefited the nationals inhabiting both sides of the border but also enabled human trafficking. Both patrolled and unpatrolled border crossings are used by traffickers to traffic women and children from across the border for exploitation, mainly sex-ual slavery and forced labor. It’s estimated that every year a staggering 7,000 to 10,000 Nepal-ese — particularly girls between the ages of 9 and 16 — are trafficked against their will across the open border with India and sold into pros-titution in cities like Delhi, Mumbai and other metropolitan areas. The trafficking of Nepalese girls is less risky than smuggling narcotics and arms into India. Traffickers ferry girls without the hassle of paper work or the threat of po-lice checks. Bought for as little as 5,000 Nepali rupees [around €40], girls have been known to fetch up to 100,000 Indian rupees [around €1,300] in later transactions.

Although the Indian government has a well-es-tablished border monitoring mechanism at cross-border transits all along the border, these monitoring mechanisms do not yet include the surveillance of human smuggling. Border offi-cials either lack the knowledge or means to deal with the magnitude of this problem.

BalkanThemes: Who are the traffickers? Who are the victims?

R.N.: Trafficking rings are run by gangs and kingpins, although the location and smuggling of the victims from villages are carried out by middle men, organized in the network with brothels or pimps. Very often the traffickers be-friend the prospective victims or their families through known contacts, establish a rapport with them and thereafter capitalize on this ac-quaintance. In order to avoid detection while trafficking women and children, the offenders are known to pose as close acquaintances of the victims.

Research by the National Human Rights Com-mission in 2003 stated that 52.5% of the victims or their families knew the traffickers. Mostly victims are girls or women belonging to poor families lured by the prospect of job offers or education, but mostly, victims are taken directly to brothels and sold to pimps and owners. The vulnerability of a woman’s social and economic situation increases the likelihood of potential trafficking.

BalkanThemes: What are the laws regarding trafficking? Is there any cooperation between the governments of India and Nepal and NGOs?

R.N.: The National provisions related to Traf-ficking in Person are primarily from the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860, the Indian Constitu-tion of 1950 and the Immoral Traffic Preven-tion Act of 1956 and the Immoral Traffic (Pre-vention) Amendment Bill of 2006. India also 4

has other penal laws dealing with trafficking. Broadly speaking, these legislations deal with a number of themes such as children or juvenile justice and protection, child labor, bonded labor, indentured labor, or pledging of persons for la-bor and ethnic minorities. India and Nepal are also members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and have signed two conventions, one aimed at preventing and combating trafficking of women and children in prostitution and the other at promoting the wel-fare of children.

BalkanThemes: Can you tell us more about your anti-trafficking initiatives? What measures do you use as a preventative? Do you have a re-covery team to bring victims back?

R.N.: The Anti Human Trafficking and Safe Mi-gration campaign is initiated in the Indian side of Indo-Nepalese border. The campaign uses 3P approach, i.e. Prevention, Protection and Prose-cution.

At the prevention level, we run “Life Guard Cen-ters” along cross border transit point near the Indo-Nepalese border. The center is an embod-iment of integrated partnership between NGO and the border army to combat cross border human trafficking and to facilitate safe and in-formed migration. Female volunteers of Nepali origin are stationed in each center. Through the

center, we provide a one-stop solution for all needs of trafficked victims and vulnerable, at-risk migrants. We also educate and provide help and information.

Volunteers engage with migrants crossing the border and intervene when any suspicion aris-es that somebody is vulnerable to being traf-ficked. The entire approach is on a clear “human rights paradigm.” The persons concerned are told about their rights, about one’s privileges under the Indian Constitution and the law as well as the constitutional and legal mechanisms available for immediate help. Often the victim realizes the trap into which she has fallen and thereupon would request the volunteers in the center for help to return to Nepal. The center maintains a roster of all the counseled migrants and those rescued and repatriated for the Nep-alese Administration to facilitate reunification with their families or rehabilitation in NGO run-homes.

At the protection level, we are building positive partnerships between cross-border administra-tion to reinforce the ongoing efforts of differ-ent stakeholders in a collaborative and effective manner. We advocate for integrating human trafficking in the priority list of crimes, and we build capacity within army personnel and media personnel to provide balance and sensitivity on issues of migrant rights violations and human trafficking. At the prosecution level approach, we work at building the capacity of the judiciary, and we advocate for ensuring minimum stan-dards of protection and care while dealing with victims of human trafficking during trials.

BalkanThemes: What are your future projects?

R.N.: In the future, we will try to scale up the interventions in all of the 21 major cross border points along the 1,740 km Indo-Nepalese bor-der. Further, we will try to form community vig-ilance groups to curb human trafficking. At the regional and bilateral level, we will jointly pursue the cause of the integrated border management through advocacy and lobbying with SAARC. Human trafficking is the worst human rights 5

violation and we have to eradicate it from our society. My mission is to eradicate slavery and empower the survivors and provide them a dig-nified life free from exploitation and abuse. The campaign against human trafficking has to be-come a global movement where each and every individual of the society should contribute to eradicate human trafficking •

Pictures from the 2014 Intercultural Innovation Award - Manav Seva Sansthan “SEVA” (India) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6G9HwGq-dQM)

Albania

In 1991, Albania’s com-munist government collapsed, effecting a

major shift in the coun-try’s domestic econom-ic, political and social realms. The changeover from a centrally planned economy to one based on free-market principles along with the develop-ment of a fledgling demo-cratic state left Albanians in crisis.

These changes instigated a mass migration of Al-banians to Italy and Greece, which, in tandem with the collapse of several pyramid schemes from 1997-98, dealt a major blow to the nation.[4] Until the late 1990s, Albanians had invested in funds and companies promising over-exag-gerated returns. When significant underfunding resulted in those businesses’ collapse, as many as 300,000 Albanians’ personal wealth was erad-icated.[5]

The worsening economic situation provided a breeding ground for criminal behavior, giving rise to a surge in gang-related activity in the late 1990s. The simultaneous conflict in neighboring Kosovo added an additional layer of social pres-sure to Albania’s already precarious situation. It is estimated that as many as 100,000 Albanian

women were trafficked and kept as sex workers during this period.[6] The coastal cities of Vlorë and Durrës became hotspots for gangs and pimps who illegally trafficked women via the Adriatic to Italy and via the Albanian mountains to Greece.[7]

In 1998, the Albanian government established the Anti-Trafficking Task Force, installing spe-cialized units at borders and airports to prevent the further trafficsking of women and children.

However, this nascent force was poorly equipped to deal with the widespread nature of this prob-lem. Very little protection was offered for iden-tified victims.

In 2004, the OSCE worked closely with NGOs and other members of civil society to launch a Women’s Rights and Anti Trafficking Education initiative (WRATE).[8] Thanks to the Albanian NGO VATRA, the international and domes-tic profile of human trafficking abuses rose to prominence in 2005.[9] VATRA conducted re-search and produced reports on internal traffick-ing, most notably the trafficking of women from provincial towns to Albania’s capital city Tirana and trafficking to the coastal towns of Vlorë and Durrës.[10] This remains an ongoing problem in Albania. Currently, no law explicitly prohibits human trafficking or defines the phenomenon as separate from prostitution.

In 2010, the Ministry of Interior submitted a re-port concerning the central role of victim iden-tification for anti-trafficking measures.[11] This report highlighted identification as “the most important phase of the process of protection and assistance”.[12] Other protective measures include the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) that utilizes an international framework to cre-ate an obligatory protection scheme for victims.[13] At present, there are many such schemes aimed at reintegrating trafficked women into society. Rehabilitation centers, for example, en-roll victims in job training and provide the psy-chological and physical assistance necessary to address and overcome trauma.

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As a prerequisite to Albania’s EU candidacy, the state must enforce stricter policies on border control and migration.[14] These policies should align with those of other European states. In ad-dition to this, Albania will be required to punish those who facilitate illegal migration and human trafficking. In turn, these measures will help with the human trafficking problem and considerably improve the human rights situation in Albania •

Croatia

Croatia is the last Balkan country be-

fore the contiguous border-free Schen-gen Area member states. Accordingly, it is a prime spot for human trafficking activity. Croatia belongs to the “Balkan axis”, otherwise known as the “Balkan smuggling route”, which includes countries such as Bos-nia and Herzegovina and Serbia.[15] This route is used to carry contraband, drugs, and smug-gled persons from Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. After gaining an economic foothold during the Cold War and subsequent conflicts in the 1990s, organized crime has plagued the Balkan region. It has become one of the greatest sources of social deprivation. In the International Organization for Migra-tion’s (IOM) 2005 “Second Annual Report on Victims of Human Trafficking in South-East Europe”, Croatia was identified primarily as a transit and destination country.[16] Not only this, but it is also a rapidly emerging source country. Evidence indicates that Croatian gangs are taking a more proactive—and opportu-nistic—role in this business. In the past de-cade, the number of illegal migrants crossing the border from Croatia into the EU each year has risen to around 6,000. Yet, an even higher number of people choose to move through the borders of Croatia’s northern neighbor Hunga-ry, which is already part of the Schengen Area.

After joining the EU in July 2013, specialists predicted a higher increase in illegal smuggling activity. The 2014 EU Anti-Corruption Report from Brussels details a tripling in the number of Croatian border police since joining the EU.[17] In order to prevent further human trafficking activ-ity, many entities recommend that Croatia des-ignate a lead official responsible for trafficking in persons inside the Ministry of Social Policy and Youth. In addition to this, Croatia has been urged to strengthen trafficking victim identifi-cation by establishing and implementing new screening procedures to identify trafficking vic-tims among vulnerable populations and change policies to ensure that identified trafficking vic-tims are not punished for committing unlawful acts as a direct result of being trafficked.

Croatia hopes to join the Schengen Area by 2016, but it must first continue to upgrade its border controls and equipment.[18] This enterprise is es-timated to cost upwards of 120 million euros •

Kosovo

Kosovo experi-enced relative-ly high levels

of human trafficking due to an increase in transport opportu-nities and human re-sources following the 1999 conflict.[19] Koso-vo has been identified as a source, transit and destination country for women, children and men subjected to sex traf-ficking and forced labor.[20] Economic hardship, including low wages and high unemployment rates, makes Kosovan women and children par-ticularly susceptible to both fraudulent job offers and marriage proposals which often serve as a prelude to trafficking for sexual exploitation.[21]

Victims from Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ro-mania and Ukraine make up a particularly large proportion of those smuggled through Kosovo by traffickers. These traffickers take advantage

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of the lack of requirements for transit visas through to Western and Central Europe.[22] In recent years, there has been a reported rise in the trafficking of female victims aged 14 to 17 through Kosovo.[23] Female victims are often co-erced into prostitution or forced marriage both at home and abroad. In addition, an increasing number of children from Kosovo and its neigh-boring countries have become victims of forced begging.[24]

While some efforts have been made to combat human trafficking flows at the national level,[25]

Kosovo has still not met the minimum inter-nationally-recognized standards for trafficking prevention.[26] Serious institutional gaps remain. In September 2013, the Kosovo government passed the “Preventing and Combating Traffick-ing in Human Beings and Protecting Victims of Trafficking Act.”[27] This legislation established new protection measures for trafficking victims.Foreign victims, however, often arrive in Koso-vo with valid documents and employment con-tracts. These documents are stamped by Kosovan officials who may be aware that the document holders are trafficking victims.[28] While both in-vestigations and prosecutions have increased, fewer offenders were convicted in 2013 than in previous years, and sentences remain inappro-priately lenient.[29] In 2013, Kosovan authorities also reportedly arrested and suspended one offi-cer for alleged involvement in trafficking of per-sons. Prosecutors continued cases against two Ministry of Labor officials and two police offi-cers arrested for trafficking in 2012.[30]

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) pro-vide multi-disciplinary approaches for long-term rehabilitation and re-integration of victims of trafficking as well as potential victims.[31] These organizations offer shelter for victims, victim empowerment programs, psycho-social support, help with re-integration and skills training, as well as return services to international victims. NGOs also work to monitor government and institutional practices, run campaigns, and col-laborate with government officials to create an-ti-trafficking action plans.[32] Intergovernmental organizations (IOs) provide training to improve

the quality of trafficking investigations and prosecutions, and work towards strengthening the judiciary with regard to human trafficking.[33] Little work is done, however, to stem the de-mand for commercial sex and forced labor.

Recently, cases of organ trafficking were prose-cuted in Kosovo.[34] Five defendants were found guilty of carrying out multiple illegal trans-plants at a clinic in Kosovo’s capital of Pristina. Former government officials who were charged have been cleared of any involvement. Donors reportedly came from Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey and were said to have lived in “extreme poverty or acute financial distress.”[35]

Organ trafficking allegations regarding the Koso-vo Liberation Army (KLA) harvesting organs from Serbian prisoners during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war remain rife.[36] On 4 April 2014, the European Union stated that it is planning to es-tablish a special tribunal to prosecute members of the KLA suspected to have been involved in organ harvesting and trafficking[37] •

Moldova

Moldova is an or-igin country for human traffick-

ing. In the 2013 Global Slavery Index, Moldova was identified as the sixth largest source country for traffickers.[38] Many migrants, desperate to provide a better life for their families, are lured by false promises of legal work and are instead enslaved by traffick-ers. Of the estimated 25,000 individuals traf-ficked out of Moldova each year, most are fun-neled into the sex trade, though “there is an increasing number of cases of labor exploita-tion, forced begging, and organ removal”.[39]

Anyone can fall victim to trafficking, though vic-tims of domestic violence, impoverished fami-lies, single parents, children with parents work-

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ing abroad, and persons with disabilities are among the most vulnerable populations.[40] Men, for example, are typically forced to labor on con-struction sites and farms. Children are taken as young as age twelve and constitute around one tenth of trafficked Moldovans. In many cases, these individuals are sold into slavery by indi-viduals close to them. Many simply view this as a continuation of preexisting violence and abuse committed by family members.[41]

Established in 1951, the International Organiza-tion for Migration (IOM), is an organization of 155 member states dedicated to addressing the humanitarian challenges of migration. In Mol-dova, the IOM has implemented a two-pronged approach - providing assistance and protection to victims of trafficking as well as engaging in outreach and education to prevent future traf-ficking. The government of Moldova is working to address this systemic problem via several av-enues. The government has created a National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, a permanent consultative body within the Moldovan Government. Additionally, Mol-dova has ratified a number of treaties related to modern slavery. Notably, however, the state has not ratified the Slavery Convention or the Do-mestic Work Convention •

Romania

Romania is identified as a source, tran-

sit and destination country for human trafficking.[42] Ro-manian citizens are primarily trafficked to other EU countries where they are forced into labour, begging, or prostitution.[43] In fact, Romania has the highest number of victims of human trafficking in the European Union.[44] Trafficking criminals often capitalize on the high levels of unemployment in the country by offering jobs in industries abroad. Because other Romanians work in these countries legal-

ly, the traffickers’ claims appear legitimate.[45]

Unfortunately, Romania also serves as both a transit and a destination country. Due to its strategic location at the crossroads between the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, and Central Europe, victims are often smuggled into the Eu-ropean Union via Romania.[46] Not only this, but Romania is also a destination for victims of hu-man trafficking. These victims are both domestic and of foreign origin.[47]

Although organizations like the OSCE have commended the Romanian government’s recent developments in institutional and legislative frameworks to address the issue, these efforts are not yet sufficient.[48] The U.S. Embassy in Bucharest has recognized its efforts, but states that “the Government of Romania does not ful-ly comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking”.[49] Both local and in-ternational NGOs initially drew attention to hu-man trafficking in Romania and they continue to be an active force in the fight against it.[50] It is crucial for government and NGO activities be supported and partnerships be strengthenedin order to properly address the issue[51] •

Slovenia

Slovenia is pri-marily a tran-sit country for

human trafficking. It is also, to a lesser extent, a destina-tion and a source country. It is thought that this is due to Slove-nia’s position between the richer and the poorer countries in Europe.[52] Trafficked populations predominately consist of women, children, and disabled people in Slovenia, many of whom are trafficked for prostitution or forced begging.[53]

According to the U.S. government, and by ad-mission of the Slovenian government, Slovenia complies with all of the international commu-nity’s minimum requirements regarding the

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protection of victims and the prosecution of criminals involved in human trafficking. How-ever, there is still room for improvement. Nota-bly, the government has recently created action plans through an interdepartmental working group[54] •

Syria

The internal conflict in Syria, now

in its fourth year, has displaced mil-lions and result-ed in the deaths of approximate-ly 200,000, according to United Nations esti-mates.[55] As in other conflict zones, various forms of structural destabilization – economic strife, lack of security, forcible displacement – often create conditions under which vulnera-ble populations are likely to fall victim to crime and various “trades” like human trafficking.[56]

Extreme violence, a decrease in security, and increasing accessibility issues have made it pro-gressively more difficult to monitor and report the movement of persons since the conflict’s in-ception. Individuals are moving both inside the state as well as across the borders.[57] It is, thus, difficult to concretely calculate or monitor how many people are trafficked in and out of Syria.

Col. Elias Asmar, the head of the International Security Force’s Vice Squad in Lebanon, recently stated that, since the beginning of the armed conflict in Syria, the amount of human trafficking rings and the number of traffick-ing victims from Syria has in-creased.[58] This is thought to be a direct result of the conflict, a phenomenon typical within de-stabilized (and often isolated) ar-

eas of conflict.

According to the U.S. Department of State’s Traf-ficking in Persons Report (2012), Syria has been demoted to a Tier 3 state.[59] “Tier 3” means that the government of Syria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Despite an executive order issued by the government in June 2011 prohibiting hu-man trafficking, the government is not making significant efforts to adhere to this legislation. When the law was passed, the government dis-tributed fliers and created an “awareness cam-paign” for all police units.

The TIP Report reads: “Despite these efforts, the government did not demonstrate evidence of increasing efforts to investigate and punish traf-ficking offenses, provide protective services to victims, widely inform the public about human trafficking, or provide much needed anti-traf-ficking training to law enforcement and social welfare officials; it was unclear whether the an-ti-trafficking directorate was fully operational during this reporting period.”[60]

The TIP Report also states that, prior to the con-flict, human, sex and labor trafficking involving Syria was more likely to involve the trafficking

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Syrian refugees and asylum seekers travel through Macedonia to reach Western Europe and are often at risk of being preyed upon

by human traffickers. Image via The Independent.

of women and children into the country rath-er than out of it. Trafficked individuals coming from countries such as Indonesia, the Philip-pines, Somalia and Ethiopia, were subjected to conditions of forced labor. In particular, traf-fickers were known to prey on Syria’s large Iraqi population. These women and children are often exploited by their own families, sold to pimps, or forced into marriages for the purpose of pros-titution.

Impediments to curbing the increase in hu-man trafficking in Syria include inadequate law enforcement training, lack of education and resources for members of public service (i.e. government employees, social workers, and immigration officials), a misallocation of funds

over the past three years to other areas of gov-ernment (namely protest oppression), and a lack of victim protection. Coordinated efforts between other governments and the Syrian ad-ministration are needed to implement estab-lished strategies for trafficking prevention, res-cue, and prosecution.[61]

As the internal conflict in Syria continues and the surrounding region is increasingly destabi-lized by insurgency groups like the Islamic State,

exploitation among the displaced Syrian female refugee population has also increased, particu-larly in host countries such as Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq.[62]

People fleeing Syria are increasingly becoming victims of trafficking when dealers entice them with the prospect of a “new life” elsewhere—in Europe or beyond. They then find themselves trapped in a life of bonded labor. These victims are forced to work extended hours for low wages in order to “repay” their trafficker for their es-cape. The victims remain under heavy control during this time.

Indisputably, deaths, accidents, and human traf-ficking are becoming more common as individ-

uals attempt to pass from Syria to Europe. Ac-cording to the UNHCR, approximately 130,000 have arrived in Europe this year from North-ern Africa and the Middle East compared with 60,000 from last year. This influx, mostly nota-bly from Eritrea and Syria, is inextricably linked to the growing violence •

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The Laws on Human Trafficking:Libya and Bosnia-Herzegovina

Most nations claim that slavery has been abolished, insisting that the word “slav-ery” has been dormant for many years.

However, slavery has not yet been effectively “abolished” but rather merely “transformed”. Human trafficking has existed for centuries. Na-tions have passed both national and internation-al laws to prevent its occurrence. Comparing the unique histories, races, and cultures of two states can lead to a deeper understanding of the nature of human trafficking and the measures developed to prevent it. Surprisingly, some countries have yet to pass laws against human trafficking.[63]

LibyaLibya has been, and continues to be, a transit country for human trafficking. Migrants—espe-cially those from the Sub-Saharan region—are victimized through false job offers, forced pros-titution, identity confiscation, and other meth-ods. Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, the question has arisen: “Which laws still apply?”[64] This has caused widespread con-fusion regarding the application of laws. Typical-ly, this confusion softens the legal prohibition of human trafficking in Libya. A key legal problem in Libya is that the country punishes illegal im-migrants, often victims of human trafficking, rather than finding and sentencing those re-sponsible for trafficking. To the chagrin of many foreign powers, Libya did not comply with the minimum standards required to fight human trafficking under Gaddafi’s rule.[65] However, Libya has refocused on the abolition of human trafficking during the transition to a post-revo-lution government, lest the revolution lose its meaning. Human trafficking is particularly re-viled in revolutionary circles as Gaddafi’s forces abducted sub-Saharan Africans and forced them into military combat tanks to fight off “enemies” and protect his authoritarian regime during the revolutionary war in 2011.

Those who bear the greatest responsibility for human trafficking in Tripoli are the militias. Mi-

litias control Libya’s external borders, allowing them to set their own “rules” and “regulations” regarding who enters and leaves the country.[66] This allows the militias to comply with smug-gling and trafficking. Libya does not differenti-ate between those who illegally cross the border of their own free will and those who are invol-untarily trafficked. As such, trafficking victims are treated in the same fashion as criminals who have voluntarily trespassed the frontier.[67]

During the Gaddafi era, Libya was designated Tier 3 classification by the U.S. Department of State.[68] That is, the U.S. government considered Libya among “Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.” However, since 2011, the new government has started to develop minimum standards for elim-inating human trafficking and locating missing persons.

“Smugglers work with the police to make mon-ey,” said Mr. Abdullah, from Sudan.[69] His claim suggests that the Libyan government has worked with illegal smugglers to obtain funds. Abdullah’s case exemplifies this: He was beaten by thugs, had his money stolen, and was forced to stay awake for two days when he was trying to enter the country illegally. He escaped when an opportunity arose to sneak into the country. Af-ter this, however, he was arrested and detained in Benghazi. Abdullah’s story highlights the fact that Libya financially profits by smuggling peo-ple, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa. Still, actors present on the border twist the law and use it against people. They exploit their vulnerability and lack of legal protection.

BosniaBosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is well known for its inattention to human trafficking. In re-cent years, the Bosnian legal system has been overwhelmed by other criminal offenses given higher priority by the public and legal eyes.[70] In BiH, the Roma population has always been more subjected to human trafficking than other vul-nerable or minority groups.[71] The states’s great-est failure in dealing with human trafficking has 12

been the lack of harmony between its national legal framework and international law.

In contrast to Libya, Bosnia and Herzegovina has recently been fighting human trafficking. The country has adopted the Palermo Protocol, criminalizing all forms of human trafficking. Ac-cording to Article 3 of the Palermo Protocol and the Council of Europe Convention, the defini-tion of trafficking covers a range of terms.[72] It can be defined as recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, and more. This minimizes ambiguity about such acts and makes it nearly impossible for traffickers’ defense counsels to unjustly protect a wrongdoer. Essentially, the Palermo Protocol clarified existing human traffi-ciking legislation and reduced the chance of dual interpretation. Article 186 of the Criminal Code prescribes penalties from three to ten years of imprisonment for those who willingly partici-pate in human trafficking.[73]

Furthermore, the political division of Bosnia and Herzegovina into three zones— Republika Srpska, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Brčko District— creates difficulty as each entity has its own legal system and main-tains different laws regarding human traffick-ing. Thus, BiH faces significant challenges in incorporating international legal standards into its own legal code, customary or otherwise. In 2013, only US$6,700 (under 12,000 BAM) was provided by the government to NGOs imple-menting anti-trafficking public awareness cam-paigns.[74]

Comparing the legal systems of Bosnia and Her-zegovina and Libya, it is obvious that both coun-tries need to do more to effectively stem the tide of humans involuntarily passed through their borders. However, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s recent efforts to join the European Union has made human trafficking reform a priority. The goal of EU membership forces the government to reduce corruption, especially with regards to human trafficking.

Public opinion in Libya has also started to shift toward the notion that those trafficked into the

country are not to blame for their circumstanc-es. Rather, the public has begun to blame the criminal enterprises behind their trafficking. To protect the rights of trafficking victims and to punish those who continue this modern form of slavery, Libya must reform its legal system and implement a national law that corresponds to international legal norms •

Human trafficking is a serious crime and a blight against humanity. If you have information that may prevent future harm to others or believe you have witnessed a person being trafficked, contact the local author-ities immediately. They will be able to assist you and others to access medical treatment, emergency ser-

vices, counseling and shelter.

The following individuals contributed to the publication of this

issue of BalkanThemes:

Chloé GaillardClaire Smith

Clara FantoniJemma Hoare

Jennifer MacNeillJuliette GanneKarim Sultan

Lucinda Klarich-KahnStephanie SugarsTaylor McConnell

Design: Taylor McConnellCover: C.G.13

CitationsOrganizational Spotlight: Manav Seva Sansthan (SEVA)1. La mondialisation: Faut-il s’en réjouir ou la redouter? - Études thématiques du FMI. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/ib/2000/fra/ 041200f.htm#X

2. 11 Facts About Human Trafficking. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2014, from https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-human-trafficking

3. Ibid.

Albania4. www.antitraffickingreview.org

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. http://www.aagw.org/TheProblem.html

9. www.antitraffickingreview.org

10. Ibid.

11. http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/mar/09/shameful-failure-slavery-traffick-ing-uk

Croatia15. http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/organized-crime-and-hu-man-trafficking/corruption/anti-corruption-report/docs/2014_acr_croatia_chap-ter_en.pdf

16. http://adriaticinstitute.org/%3Faction=article%26id=32

17. http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/organized-crime-and-hu-man-trafficking/corruption/anti-corruption-report/docs/2014_acr_croatia_chap-ter_en.pdf

18. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/15/us-croatia-eu-smuggling-idUSBRE-94E0XY20130515

Kosovo19. http://www.womensnetwork.org/documents/20130715105747908.pdf

20. Ibid.

21. Ibid.

22. http://www.refworld.org/docid/4fe30cb832.html

23. http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2014/226755.htm 24. http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/kosovo.htm

25. http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2014/226755.htm

26. http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/105660.pdf

27. http://www.legislationline.org/documents/id/18617

28. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/110322/kosovo-hu-man-trafficking

29. http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2014/226755.htm

30. Ibid.

31. http://www.pvptcenter.net/eng/whatwedo.htm

32. http://www.mpb-ks.org/repository/docs/TQNJAnglisht.pdf

33. http://www.womensnetwork.org/documents/20130715105747908.pdf

34. http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/balkan-transitional-justice/kosovo-organ-traf-ficking-news

35. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-22343589

36. http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-liberation-army-organ-traffick-ing-report

37. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/05/world/europe/kosovo-europe-an-union-plans-war-crimes-tribunal.html?_r=0

Moldova38. http://www.globalslaveryindex.org/findings/#studies 39. http://www.usaim.org/Moldova

40. http://www.globalslaveryindex.org/country/moldova/

41. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2588795/The-shocking-fate-Eastern-Eu-ropean-sex- trafficking-victims-revealed.html

Romania42. http://romania.usembassy.gov/2014_tip_en.html 43. http://www.caritas.org/resources/Coatnet/HumanTraffickingRomania.html

44. http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-is-new/news/news/2013/docs/20130415_thb_stats_report_en.pdf

45. http://www.caritas.org/resources/Coatnet/HumanTraffickingRomania.html

46. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/02/07/batstone.romania.sex.trade/

47. http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-is-new/news/news/2013/docs/20130415_thb_stats_report_en.pdf

48. http://www.osce.org/secretariat/122644?download=true

49. http://romania.usembassy.gov/2014_tip_en.html

50. http://www.dw.de/human-trafficking-the-eus-dirty-secret/a-17412036

51. http://www.osce.org/secretariat/122644?download=true

Slovenia52. http://www.protectionproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Slovenia.pdf 53. http://slovenia.usembassy.gov/tipslovenia.html

54. http://www.vlada.si/en/projects/fight_against_trafficking_in_persons/#c1059

Syria55. http://www.unocha.org/syria

56. http://www.pnud.org.br/arquivos/rdh2014.pdf

57. http://www.pnud.org.br/arquivos/rdh2014.pdf

58. http://www.humantraffickingacademy.org/News/InternationalNews/tabid/5746/Default.aspx

59. http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2012/

60. Ibid.

61. Ibid.

62. http://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledgebase/583-the-response-to-syrian-ref-ugee-women-s-health-needs-in-lebanon-turkey-and-jordan-and-recommendations-for-improved-practice

The Laws on Human Trafficking: Bosnia and Herzegovina/Libya63. http://www.no-trafficking.org/resources_int_tip_laws.html

64. http://www.refworld.org/docid/4fe30cb4c.html

65. http://libya.usembassy.gov/tip-2014.html

66. http://www.globalinitiative.net/libyanov13/

67. http://millaproject.org/trafficking-of-persons-in-libya/

68. http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2014/226649.htm

69. http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/PW96-Illicit-Trafficking-and-Libyas-Transi-tion.pdf

70. http://www.vecernji.ba/na-sudovima-u-bih-stoji-450-tisuca-nerijesenih-predme-ta-612197

71. http://sarajevo.usembassy.gov/tip-2013a.html

72. http://www.legislationline.org/download/action/download/id/5083/file/BiH_Strate-gy_counter_THB_2013-2015_en.pdf

73. http://www.sudbih.gov.ba/files/docs/zakoni/en/Criminal_Code_of_BH_eng.pdf

74. http://sarajevo.usembassy.gov/tip-2013a.html 14

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