Fighting human trafficking remains a top priority

TIRANA, Dec. 21 – Interior Minister Lulzim Basha said Monday that fighting human trafficking remained a top priority for law enforcement authorities in Albania.
The Inter-state Commission on the Fight Against Human Traffic asked all other institutions to support it in the application of the national anti-trafficking strategy.
Authorities pledged to undertake all the required steps to prevent, discover and attack alleged criminals involved in such an illegal offense.
They also pledged more work to rehabilitate the victims of such trafficking.
Earlier this month the government extended a four-year-old ban on the use of most private boats and yachts, as part of efforts to fight widespread smuggling.
Albania has pledged to crack down on smugglers taking people, drugs and weapons into the European Union, as part of its efforts to join the bloc.
The parliament, which is boycotted by the opposition, has also passed an anti-Mafia law which lets authorities freeze properties thought to be secured without the proper resources, that is, with money laundering.
The opposition claims it violates human rights and gives a free hand to the government to exploit it politically when it wants to hit a political opponent.
Authorities also pledged closer cooperation with prosecutors’ offices and also international institutions.
The minister called on non-governmental organizations to intensify their work on the rehabilitation of the victims of such illegal trafficking. He also pledged financial and other support to the NGOs covering such issues.
Basha also said that more work in such fields is also required by the road map the country needs to fulfill to acquire the visa-free regime from the European Union.
That is also an area of improvement needed to be addressed in the EU questionnaire handed over to the country last week regarding its integration efforts into the EU bloc.