Back Figthing the rise of child trafficking in the Western Balkans during the pandemic and ensuring protection for victims

Interview with Lejla Dervisagic, Head of Operations of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje for "Novi Makedonija" daily
Figthing the rise of child trafficking in the Western Balkans during the pandemic and ensuring protection for victims

 

What are the most common purposes of child abuse and trafficking in the Western Balkans?

Human trafficking is a lucrative criminal activity that generates nearly $ 150 billion of illegal profit annually worldwide, according to the International Labour Organisation. At the regional conference on acting together to protect children from trafficking and exploitation in the Western Balkans, it was pointed out that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia, children represent a large number out of all identified victims of trafficking (between 30% 80%). Despite the numerous legal and practical measures taken over the years, child trafficking in the Western Balkans has not yet been curbed. Child trafficking occurs for many purposes of child exploitation including: sexual exploitation, forced marriages, labour exploitation, forced begging, forced criminal activities, illegal adoption, organ extraction for organ trafficking. Poverty, unemployment and gender inequality are among the root causes to this problem. According to the official data of the three countries, in Serbia child trafficking occurs mostly for sexual exploitation - 37% of the identified child victims in 2020, while  21% were subject to labour exploitation. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 50% of the identified child victims were forced to beg and other 25% were sexually exploited. Meanwhile, Macedonian data point to forced marriages and sexual exploitation as the most common purposes for child trafficking in 2020 with respectively 20 % and 50 % of the identified cases.

 

How did the covid – 19 pandemic affect that process (trafficking in children)?

According to the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), the corona pandemic has unfortunately brought new challenges and amplified the vulnerabilities to human trafficking including of children. The lockdown and restrictive measures  on going out have greatly increased the recruitment of children through the Internet and social networks by traffickers. The focus of criminals is on online targeting of vulnerable children, and the digital world in this situation has proven to be a doubleedged sword. The corona crisis is likely to have long-term negative economic and social consequences affecting people from vulnerable age groups or communities.

 

How many children per year are victims from these countries? (are there numbers for Macedonian victims, as well as for neighbouring countries).

In its sixth general report containing a thematic chapter on trafficking in children, GRETA points out that the real number of child victims of trafficking may be higher than the official data suggest. Therefore, proactive prevention as well as identification of child victims of trafficking are necessary in order to avoid or to break away from the cycle of exploitation. According to data presented at the regional conference by representatives and experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and North Macedonia, most of the identified child victims of trafficking in 2020 were girls. In North Macedonia, six girls were identified, while in Bosnia and Herzegovina there were 24 girls and in Serbia 18 girls. The data show that there were also boys who were trafficked and exploited, but according to Macedonian data for 2020, no boyvictim of trafficking was formally identified.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is an increasing number of criminal convictions for trafficking in children for the purpose of forced begging and labour exploitation. In 2017, a parent was sentenced to prison for 5 years for exploiting his 5 children. In 2020, there was another verdict sentencing parents who exploited their 4 children.

 

How children are recruited by child traffickers?

According to the National Commission on Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings and Illegal Migration of North Macedonia, modus operandi, ie the manner in which the crime of child trafficking is committed, is constantly changing due to the use of modern technologies. According to local experts, a wellknown method of recruiting children into human trafficking is the so-called “lover boy method”. The child is targeted as vulnerable person who is susceptible to outside influence. He or she is contacted through social networks by a trafficker who falsely seduce the child, then proposes a date or promises to offer gifts. The child accepts for example to send nude photos, then the trafficker blackmails him/her into agreeing to the exploitation otherwise the parents and the school would learn about the nude photos, which would also be distributed on social media. A child blackmailed in this way easily becomes a victim of traffickers.

 

What is the role of the Internet and social networks in child trafficking?

The Internet and social networks play an important role in child trafficking. Social networks are the most used for information sharing and dating of young people, but they also bring great danger to them, so it is of great importance to design and adopt preventive and protective measures. If in the past children did not have access to mobile phones, computers and the Internet, today the youngsters make daily use of them. Access to these technologies increases the occurrence of "seduction", ie grooming, through video game sites and social networks. Reports indicate that during the covid19 pandemic, online recruitment and exploitation of children through social networks has significantly increased.
 

Can such processes be prevented and how?an such processes be prevented and how?

Of course, as long as we work together on all measures, laws and procedures for identification, referral, protection and assistance to child victims of trafficking, we will help reduce and end the phenomenon of abuse and exploitation. It is very important to work on improving the socioeconomic situation of vulnerable persons, educate the society, parents and children on risks of trafficking and exploitation.

It is also important is that decision makers involve different competent state agencies, civil society organisations, and parents in the process of designing preventive and protective measures, and that the child victims and their rights are always at the heart of every measure and action taken. Including child participation and child perspective in the designing of measures to tackle the problem can greatly contribute to increase the efficiency of those measures. 

This was one of the main conclusions of the abovementioned two-day regional online conference Acting together in face of crisis: Protecting children from trafficking and exploitation in the Western Balkans, organised within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 20192022 ”, which was attended by more than 130 participants from the region and beyond.

In the framework of the Horizontal Facility programme, specific country actions were designed to support Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia in improving the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings through policy advice and capacity building to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings, as well as to protect the rights of all victims including children. In North Macedonia, a series of campaigns were conducted by NGOs to raise awareness about trafficking in children. Articles and posts were published in media and on social networks, large number of educational and informational materials for children and parents with preventive purpose were prepared, education advisors were trained on this topic and indicators for the identification of potential child victims of trafficking were prepared for teachers and professionals.

Skopje 18 August 2021
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