Southeast European trafficking meeting held in Zagreb

ZAGREB, October 24 – A meeting of national coordinators for the prevention of people smuggling in Southeast Europe was held at the government building in Zagreb. The head of the government's office for human rights, Darko Goetlicher said that the meeting was aimed at improving concrete cooperation among the countries of the region in the prevention of trafficking in humans.

During years 2002 and 2003, Croatia registered 13 cases of people trafficking, but none of the victims were Croatian citizens, which indicates that Croatia is only a transit country, said Goetlicher.

At the meeting, representatives of Montenegro moved that Goetlicher be appointed chief regional coordinator in the prevention of people trafficking. The motion was accepted.

It was concluded at the meeting that the countries in the region should determine the areas of cooperation, exchange national plans to fight trafficking and coordinate legislation. A expert group was set during the meeting to follow on those activities, while similar groups will be established to strengthen the cooperation of the border and crime police units of the countries in the region.

Special attention was given at the meeting to women and children as most common victims of trafficking. National institutions for equality of sexes and protection of children will take care of their protection, thus in Croatia, the National Committee for Equality of Sexes will be the said institution. The Committee has established a special group for protection of children, led by Croatian children ombudsman.

It was concluded at the meeting that Croatia will develop the proposal of the form that will unite the activities and information on countries in the region, with taking into account their specifics and different approaches to fight human trafficking.

In attendance were national coordinators from Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia-Montenegro, Kosovo, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Croatia.

At the separate event, international protection fair "INTERPROTEX", held in Zagreb on October 1-4, the court reporters' section of the Croatian Journalists' Association and Zagreb Fair opened a pavilion on human trafficking. During the fair, meetings on children trafficking, related police and court practice, and media coverage of human trafficking were held at the pavilion.

The exact number of victims of trafficking cannot be established, but the International Organization for Migrations has reported that some 300,000 foreigners, victims of trafficking, pass through the European Union every year.