OSCE to help fight child trafficking

TIRANA, July 7 – The OSCE has launched a project to help Albania fight child trafficking, aiming to strengthen state institutions and civil society to address the issues of child trafficking, focusing on the prevention of the exploitation of child labor.
There are hundreds of Albanian children begging in the streets of the capital Tirana and elsewhere. The project aims to address their plight, considering them at risk of various forms of exploitation.
OSCE’s deputy ambassador, Robert Wilton, said the prevention and fight against trafficking and exploitation of people should be among the country’s top priorities.
Albanian children are more likely to be trafficked for exploitation inside the country. In worst case scenarios they are forced to perform sex work, forced to work as drug runners or as beggars. They are also forced in labor as street vendors, farm hands and factory workers, according a report by Save the Children, an international charity organization.