TIRANA, July 2 – In the US Department of State’s 2018 Trafficking in Persons report, Albania continues to belong to the group of countries that still do not fully meet the minimal standards of preventing human trafficking, but are making serious efforts in reaching them.
In the annual Trafficking in Person report countries are divided in three categories, where the first category includes the governments of countries that meet the standards and the third those who do not even attempt to meet them.
In Albania’s case, the report highlights the key sectors in which the government hasn’t met the minimal standards, despite mentioning its efforts in the elimination of human trafficking have increased.
“The government continued to penalize victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking, as well as reported fewer prosecutions and convictions, and authorities continued to investigate and prosecute some traffickers for the lesser crime of exploitation of prostitution,” the report reads.
Continuing, the report says the government did not fund NGO-run shelters in time and did not apply victim-centered investigations and prosecutions with consistency. Also, police did not systematically identify trafficking victims among individuals related to prostitution, while the labor inspectorate lacks the training to identify victims of forced labor.
As reported since the 2014 Trafficking in Persons, Albania continues to remain a source, transit and destination country for me, women and children in sex trafficking and forced labor.
Traffickers use false promises, such as the possibility to marry or become employed, to force the victims to be involved in trafficking. The report also mentions how social media is increasingly being used to recruit victims.
In addition, children are used as beggars or ambulant sellers. They are also widely used as seasonal workers, the majority of which are children belonging to the Roma community. Cases of children being used to work in cannabis fields have also been reported.
Albanian victims are subject to sex trafficking throughout Europe, especially in countries such as Kosovo, Greece, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Macedonia, Norway, the Netherlands and the UK. According to reports by non-governmental organizations, there is an increase in the number of Albanian children that are subject to compulsory labor in Kosovo and the UK.
The report also states that foreign victims from European and Asian countries, like the Philippines. Illegal migrants from Asia are often hired in Albanian families, becoming vulnerable to forced labor.
The report’s recommends for Albania’s government to “implement the law that exempts victims from penalties for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking, particularly sex trafficking victims exploited in prostitution; vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers—including complicit officials; train investigators, prosecutors, and judges on victim-centered approaches to trafficking cases and increase victim protection from threats and intimidation during court proceedings.”
