Kosovo government approves action plan to fight human trafficking

18 May 2005

Text of report by Kosovo Albanian television KohaVision TV on 17 May
[Announcer] The Kosova [Kosovo] government has approved an action plan against human trafficking in Kosova. This action plan was adopted with the aim of preventing this widely spread phenomenon in our midst, said Kosova government spokesperson Daut Dauti.

[Reporter] The approval of the action plan against human trafficking has been given with the aim of fighting human trafficking, which poses a serious thereat to stable development of democracy and the rule of law in Kosova. This plan will be carried out in three phases; the first phase will deal with the prevention of human trafficking; the second phase with the protection of the victims; and the third and last phase with bringing those involved to justice. According to government spokesperson Daut Dauti, Kosova has become a route for human trafficking from Eastern [European] countries to the West. The most threatened groups by this phenomenon are women and children.

[Daut Dauti] Women are the victims of sexual trafficking and various gangs from Eastern Europe profit from it. In this respect Kosova has often been criticized as the ring, or route from Eastern [Europe] to other countries in the west.

[Reporter] The plan as a whole is expected to be implemented by 2007.

[Daut Dauti] [The plan] is expected to be implemented soon, from 2005 until 2007; this is not an issue that would last weeks or months. In a way the plan is being implemented since a number of training sessions, some ties between the police, NGOs, and the government have already been established.

[Reporter] The total number of victims from January through to April of this year has reached 11. IOM [International Office of Migration] has helped with their repatriation. Five of the victims are from Kosova and the other six from abroad. The foreign victims were adults, two of them from Bulgaria, one from Romania, two from Moldova and one from Nigeria. Three of the Kosova victims were minors, whereas two other were adults. According to IOM, last year they recorded 36 cases of foreign women victims of trafficking and 11 cases of women from Kosova.

Source: KohaVision TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1700 gmt 17 May 05