Human trafficking in Albania

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Albania is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor, including the forced begging of children. Albanian victims are subjected to conditions of forced labor and sex trafficking within Albania and Italy, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Western Europe. Approximately half of the victims referred for care within the country in 2009 were Albanian; these were primarily women and girls subjected to conditions of forced prostitution in hotels and private residences in Tirana, Durres, Elbasan, and Vlora. Children were primarily exploited for begging and other forms of forced labor. There is evidence that Albanian men have been subjected to conditions of forced labor in the agricultural sector of Greece and other neighboring countries. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

The Government of Albania is making significant efforts to combat trafficking. It has improved its capacity to identify, protect, and reintegrate trafficking victims. It has also successfully prosecuted some sex trafficking offenders, imposing significant penalties. In March 2009, the government approved an amendment to the Social Assistance law which will provide victims of trafficking with the same social benefits accorded to other at-risk groups in Albania and provide government funding for shelters. The government continues to track and analyze trafficking trends through a nationwide database. Government officials have increased public attention to trafficking in Albania. There are serious concerns, however, about protection for victims who testified against their traffickers. The government has not vigorously prosecuted labor trafficking offenders. Because of lack of political will and corruption in some key government agencies, the government has sometimes been less than vigorous in its prosecution of human trafficking. [1] [4] In 2013 Albania introduced harsher penalties for human trafficking, but there were very few arrests. In 2013, only three people were convicted for human trafficking, and in 2014, according to the US State Department, only nine were convicted. [5] In 2015, the National Coalition of Anti-Trafficking Shelters (NCATS) reported 85 cases of human trafficking. However, they estimate that the number is much higher. Impoverished girls and women who are manipulated through sham marriages and false employment opportunities are named as particularly at risk. [5] [6] The other group of victims includes children, poor and socially excluded people, economic migrants, refugees and victims of domestic violence and other forms of abuse. [7]

U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017. [8] [9] Statistics from the British National Crime Agency showed that in 2017 the majority of victims of human trafficking are Albanians who are exploited as cheap labor or in the sex industry. [10]

Prosecution

Albania criminally prohibits sex and labor trafficking through its penal code, which prescribes penalties of 5 to 15 years' imprisonment. Since the fall of communism in Albania in the early 1990s, the trade in young Albanian women has expanded into Western Europe, as well as the trade in women from Eastern Europe for sexual enslavement. [11] [12] [13]

These penalties exceed those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The State Police division reported investigating a combined 35 suspected traffickers in 2009. The government prosecuted 31 suspected trafficking offenders in 2009, convicting 11 of them; this contrasts with 26 trafficking offenders convicted in 2008 and seven in 2007. All of the prosecutions and convictions involved sex trafficking of women or children. In 2009, sentences imposed on convicted trafficking offenders ranged from 5 to 16 years' imprisonment. Pervasive corruption in all levels and sectors of Albanian society seriously hampered the government's ability to address its human trafficking problem, according to local observers. The Supreme Court overturned convictions of traffickers in two cases in 2009. In January 2009, the government reported it doubled the number of police investigators to investigate trafficking. The Serious Crimes Court seized and confiscated $268,115 in traffickers' assets and property in 2009. [1]

In 2019, the government doubled the budget for the Office of the National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator (ONAC), but nevertheless, the government does not meet all of the minimum standards. Because the government investigated fewer cases, 2019 saw the lowest level of reported prosecutions in four years. [2] However, as it is making significant efforts to meet the minimum standards according to the US State Department's 2020 report on trafficking in human beings, Albania remains at Tier 2. [13]

Protection

The Government of Albania has taken some steps to improve its efforts to identify and protect victims of trafficking. The government has implemented a National Referral Mechanism and conducted meetings with relevant stakeholders to improve its functioning. It identified 94 victims of trafficking in 2009, compared with 108 in 2008. The government's one shelter assisted 24 victims and NGOs assisted 70 during 2009. In 2009, the government provided free professional training to 38 victims, provided 11 with micro-credit loans to start private businesses, and integrated five victims into schools. In January 2010, it approved a draft law to provide social assistance to trafficking victims bridging the time from when they leave the shelters until they find employment. NGO-managed shelters continued to rely primarily on international donor funds in order to provide comprehensive services to trafficking victims. The government funds and operates a reception center that houses both victims of trafficking and irregular foreign migrants identified within Albanian territory; however, victims' freedom of movement is often restricted in this high-security center. The government does not penalize victims for unlawful acts committed in connection with their being trafficked and, under law, it offers legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to countries where they may face hardship or retribution. [1] [14] [15]

The government encourages victims to participate in investigations and prosecutions of trafficking offenders; however, victims often refuse to testify, or they change their testimony as a result of intimidation or a fear of intimidation from traffickers. In some cases in 2009, the police offered no protections to trafficking victims when testifying against their traffickers, forcing victims to rely exclusively on NGOs for protection. In 2009, one victim witness received asylum in another country due to ongoing threats from the trafficker to her and her family and concerns that the government could not adequately protect her. The General Prosecutor's office did not request witness protection for victims of trafficking in 2009. [1] [16] [17] [18]

Prevention

The Government of Albania has partnered with international organizations and experts such as Dr. Gilly McKenzie of the United Nations and Interpol, in order to implement anti-trafficking prevention activities aimed at informing the public and vulnerable groups about trafficking. The National Coordinator's office manages regional anti-trafficking working groups composed of relevant stakeholders. These working groups, however, reportedly do not always include civil society actors and do not efficiently address trafficking cases brought to their attention. The government funds a national toll-free, 24-hour hotline for victims and potential victims of trafficking. In November 2009, the government passed legislation to improve the registration process for new births and individuals in the Roma community; previous cumbersome procedures rendered unregistered Albanians and ethnic Roma highly vulnerable to trafficking. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

Taiwan is primarily a destination for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. It is also a source of women trafficked to Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Women and girls from the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) and Southeast Asian countries are trafficked to Taiwan through fraudulent marriages, deceptive employment offers, and illegal smuggling for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Many trafficking victims are workers from rural areas of Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, employed through recruitment agencies and brokers to perform low skilled work in Taiwan’s construction, fishing, and manufacturing industries, or to work as domestic servants. Such workers are often charged high job placement and service fees, up to $14,000, resulting in substantial debt that labor brokers or employers use as a tool for involuntary servitude. Many foreign workers remain vulnerable to trafficking because legal protections, oversight by authorities and enforcement efforts are inadequate.

Algeria is a transit and, to a lesser extent, destination country for men and women subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Most commonly, sub-Saharan African men and women enter Algeria voluntarily but illegally, often with the assistance of smugglers, for the purpose of traveling to Europe. Some become victims of trafficking: men may be forced into unskilled labor and women into prostitution to repay smuggling debts. Criminal networks of sub-Saharan nationals in southern Algeria facilitate this irregular migration by arranging transportation, forged documents, and promises of employment. Reliable statistics on the number of potential victims are not available from the government or non-governmental organizations (NGOs). One NGO estimates that the populations most vulnerable to trafficking include between 10,000 and 15,000 illegal sub-Saharan African migrants.

Angola is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced prostitution and forced labor. Internally, trafficking victims are forced to labor in agriculture, construction, domestic servitude, and reportedly in artisanal diamond mines. Angolan women and children more often become victims of internal rather than transnational sex trafficking. Women and children are trafficked to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Namibia, and European nations, primarily Portugal. Traffickers take boys to Namibia for forced labor in cattle herding. Children are also forced to act as couriers in illegal cross-border trade between Namibia and Angola as part of a scheme to skirt import fees. Illegal migrants from the DRC voluntarily enter Angola's diamond-mining districts, where some are later reportedly subjected to forced labor or prostitution in the mining camps.

Armenia is a source country for women subjected to trafficking in persons (TIP), specifically forced prostitution; a source and destination country for women in forced labor; and a source country for men in forced labor. Women from Armenia are subjected to sex trafficking in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.

Austria is a destination and transit country for women, men, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor.

The Bahamas is a destination country for men and some women from Haiti and other Caribbean countries who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor, and, to a lesser extent, women from Jamaica and other countries who are in forced prostitution. Haitian trafficking victims are most likely to migrate to The Bahamas voluntarily, but subsequently be subjected to forced labor in agriculture, domestic service, or forced prostitution. Some employers coerce migrant workers – legal and illegal – to work longer hours, at lower pay, and in conditions not permitted under local labor law by changing the terms of employment contracts, withholding travel documents, refusing transportation back home, threatening to withdraw the employer-specific and employer-held permits, or threatening to have the employee deported through other means. Traffickers reportedly lure Jamaican and other foreign women to the Bahamas with offers of employment in the tourism and entertainment fields and subject the women to forced prostitution after their arrival. The Ministry of Education is investigating allegations that some high school girls in Eleuthera may be involved in a prostitution ring. This report is the only indication that Bahamian citizens may be victims of human trafficking.

Bangladesh is a source and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. A significant share of Bangladesh's trafficking victims are men recruited for work overseas with fraudulent employment offers who are subsequently exploited under conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. It also includes the trafficking of children – both boys and girls – within Bangladesh for commercial sexual exploitation, bonded labor, and forced labor. Some children are sold into bondage by their parents, while others are induced into labor or commercial sexual exploitation through fraud and physical coercion. Women and children from Bangladesh are also trafficked.

Belgium is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Victims originate in Eastern Europe, Africa, East Asia, as well as Brazil and India. Some victims are smuggled through Belgium to other European countries, where they are subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution. Male victims are subjected to forced labor and exploitation in restaurants, bars, sweatshops, horticulture sites, fruit farms, construction sites, and retail shops. There were reportedly seven Belgian women subjected to forced prostitution in Luxembourg in 2009. According to a 2009 ECPAT Report, the majority of girls and children subjected to forced prostitution in Belgium originate from Balkan and CIS countries, Eastern Europe, Asia and West Africa ; some young foreign boys are exploited in prostitution in major cities in the country. Local observers also report that a large portion of children trafficked in Belgium are unaccompanied, vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees. Criminal organizations from Thailand use Thai massage parlors in Belgium, which are run by Belgian managers, to sexually exploit young Thai women. These networks are involved in human smuggling and trafficking to exploit victims economically and sexually. Belgium is not only a destination country, but also a transit country for children to be transported to other European country destinations.

Bolivia is a source country for men, women, and children who are subjected to human trafficking, specifically conditions of forced prostitution and forced labor within the country or abroad. A large number of Bolivians are found in conditions of forced labor in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Spain, and the United States in sweatshops, factories, and agriculture. Within the country, young Bolivian women and girls from rural areas are subjected to forced prostitution in urban areas. Members of indigenous communities, particularly in the Chaco region, are at risk of forced labor within the country. A significant number of Bolivian children are subjected to conditions of forced labor in mining, agriculture, and as domestic servants, and reports indicate some parents sell or rent out their children for forced labor in mining and agriculture near border areas with Peru. The country's porous borders facilitate the movement of undocumented migrants, some of whom may be trafficked. In one case, Bolivian authorities identified 26 Haitian children who were en route to Brazil for possible forced labor and forced prostitution.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is primarily a source for Bosnian women and girls who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution within the country, though it is also a destination and transit country for foreign women and girls in forced prostitution in Bosnia and Western Europe. There were four identified victims from Serbia in 2009. Most trafficked women entered the country through Serbia or Montenegro. There were reports that some girls, particularly Roma, were trafficked, using forced marriage, for the purpose of involuntary domestic servitude, and that Roma boys and girls were subjected to forced begging by organized groups. There was one case involving Bosnian males recruited for labor and subjected to coercive conditions in Azerbaijan in 2009. NGO's report that traffickers frequently use intermediaries to bring clients to private apartments, motels, and gas stations where victims are held.

Nicaragua is principally a source and transit country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Nicaraguan women and children are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation within the country as well as in neighboring countries, most often to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and the United States. Trafficking victims are recruited in rural areas for work in urban centers, particularly Managua, and subsequently coerced into prostitution. Adults and children are subjected to conditions of forced labor in agriculture, the fishing industry, and for involuntary domestic servitude within the country and in Costa Rica. There are reports of some Nicaraguans forced to engage in drug trafficking. To a lesser extent, Nicaragua is a destination country for women and children recruited from neighboring countries for forced prostitution. Managua, Granada, Estelí, and San Juan del Sur are destinations for foreign child sex tourists from the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, and some travel agencies are reportedly complicit in promoting child sex tourism. Nicaragua is a transit country for migrants from Africa and East Asia en route to the United States; some may fall victim to human trafficking.

Hungary is a source, transit, and destination country for women and girls subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution, and a source country for men and women in conditions of forced labor. Women from Hungary are forced into prostitution in Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and the United States. Women from eastern Hungary are subjected to forced prostitution in Budapest and areas in Hungary along the Austrian border. Roma women and girls who grow up in Hungarian orphanages are highly vulnerable to internal forced prostitution. Men from Western Europe travel to Budapest for the purpose of adult sex tourism, some of which may involve the exploitation of trafficking victims. Men and women are subjected to conditions of forced labor within Hungary. Women from Romania and Ukraine are transported through Hungary to the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, and the United Arab Emirates where they are subsequently subjected to forced prostitution; some of these victims may be exploited in Hungary before they reach their final destination country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Ghana</span>

Ghana is a country of origin, transit, and destination for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. The nonconsensual exploitation of Ghanaian citizens, particularly children, is more common than the trafficking of foreign migrants. The movement of internally trafficked children is either from rural to urban areas, or from one rural area to another, as from farming to fishing communities.

North Macedonia is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Macedonian women and children are trafficked internally within the country. Women and girls from Albania, Bulgaria and Kosovo were reportedly subjected to forced prostitution or forced labor in Macedonia in 2009. Macedonian victims and victims transiting through Macedonia are subjected to forced prostitution or forced labor in South Central and Western Europe. Children, primarily ethnic Roma, are subjected to forced begging by their parents or other relatives. Girls were subjected to conditions of forced labor in Macedonian bars and nightclubs. A small number of Macedonian men were allegedly subjected to forced labor in Azerbaijan. Traffickers continued to operate in more hidden, private sectors in an attempt to conceal their exploitation of victims from law enforcement.

Mongolia is a source country, and to a much lesser extent, a destination for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Mongolian men, women, and children are found in these conditions in China, Macau, Malaysia, South Korea, and Hong Kong. Mongolian men and women have been found in conditions of forced labor in Turkey, Kazakhstan, and the Czech Republic. Visa-free travel of Mongolians to Turkey has resulted in a significant increase in the number of both labor and sex trafficking cases of Mongolian labor migrants in Turkey. There remain concerns about involuntary child labor in the Mongolian construction, mining, and industrial sectors, where children are vulnerable to injury and face severe health hazards. The problem of Mongolian women subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude after engaging in brokered marriages – mainly to South Korean men – continues. Trafficking within Mongolia often involves women and girls forced to work in saunas or massage parlors where they are subjected to forced prostitution. Anecdotal reports continue to indicate that South Korean and Japanese tourists engage in child sex tourism in Mongolia.

Bulgaria is a source and, to a lesser extent, a transit and destination country for women and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and men, women, and children subjected to conditions of forced labor. Bulgarian women and children are subjected to forced prostitution within the country, particularly in resort areas and border towns, as well as in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Finland, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Spain, Poland, Switzerland, Turkey, Cyprus, and North Macedonia. Bulgaria women and children of Roma descent are the most vulnerable to trafficking, especially as it relates to sex trafficking and early childhood marriage. Bulgarian men, women, and children are subjected to conditions of forced labor in Greece, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Some Bulgarian children are forced into street begging and petty theft within Bulgaria and also in Greece and the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Costa Rica</span> Trade of people in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a source, transit, and destination country for goods and products, a great location for trade in the seas. Costa Rica is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea making it a source of imports and exports. Costa Rica is approximately 19,653 square miles of land, making it smaller than West Virginia. To a lesser but increasing extent, Costa Rica is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to conditions of forced labor, particularly in the agriculture, construction, fishing, and domestic service sectors. The economy greatly depends on the exportation of bananas and coffee, making high demands of agriculture work. Costa Rican women and children are forced into commercial sexual exploitation due to high rates of poverty and violence. Women and girls from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Colombia, and Panama have been identified in as victims of forced prostitution. Child sex tourism is a serious problem, particularly in the provinces of Guanacaste, Limón, Puntarenas, and San José. Child sex tourists arrive mostly from the United States and Europe. Young men from Nicaragua, Vietnam, China and other Asian countries are subjected to conditions of forced labor in Costa Rica. Adults have been identified using trafficked women and children to transport and sell drugs. Neighboring countries and cities are victims as well to forced labor many times trafficked to Costa Rica.

Croatia is a destination, source, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced prostitution and forced labor. Croatian women and girls fall victim to sex trafficking within the country, and women and girls from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other parts of Europe are subjected to forced prostitution in Croatia and in Europe. Men reportedly are subjected to forced labor in agricultural sectors, and children, including Roma, are subjected to conditions of forced begging and theft. In 2017, Taiwan women and men, as well as Croatian and Bosnian women, were subjected to forced labor and forced criminality in an illegal call center.

Denmark is primarily a transit and destination country for women and children from Baltic countries, East and Central Europe, Nigeria, Thailand, and South America subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution. There was one report last year of a male teenager from Nigeria rescued from the commercial sex trade in Denmark. The government did not report any cases of forced labor during the reporting period, though the Danish Anti-Trafficking Center highlighted that workers in domestic service, restaurants, hotels, factories, and agriculture, may be vulnerable to forced labor in Denmark. There were unconfirmed reports of foreign children being forced to engage in organized street crime. The government released a report in 2010 about increasing evidence that "au pair" organizations could be used as front companies for human trafficking. The hundreds of unaccompanied foreign minors who arrive in Denmark every year are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking. The United States Department of State placed the country in "Tier 2" in their 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report. Denmark is back to Tier 1 in 2023.

El Salvador is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Most victims are Salvadoran women and girls from rural areas who are forced into commercial sexual exploitation in urban areas, though some adults and children are subjected to forced labor as agricultural workers and domestic workers. The majority of foreign victims are women and children from neighboring countries, such as Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic, who migrate to El Salvador in response to job offers, but are subsequently forced into prostitution or domestic servitude. Trafficking offenders use fraudulent documentation to facilitate the movement of foreign victims. Salvadorans have been subjected to forced prostitution in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, the United States, Spain, and Italy.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 Country Narratives -- Countries A Through F". US Department of State. 2010-06-17. Archived from the original on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2023-02-01.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  2. 1 2 "Albania". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  3. ↑ "Albania". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  4. ↑ "Combating human trafficking". osce.org . Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  5. 1 2 "[Investigation] Albanian women trafficked in EU: abused, rejected, abandoned". EUobserver. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  6. ↑ "Breaking the cycle of human trafficking in Albania". UN Women. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  7. ↑ jryan (2015-07-16). "Human Trafficking in Albania: Hiding in Plain Sight". CRS. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  8. ↑ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2017: Tier Placements". www.state.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  9. ↑ "An Albanian Woman From Italy At Ellis Island | NANO4LIFE" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  10. ↑ Osborne, Lydia. "UK: Human Trafficking Surge Linked to Albanian Gangs". www.occrp.org. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  11. ↑ "Comment: The Untold Stories of Albania's Human Trafficking Survivors". Exit - Explaining Albania. 2020-04-24. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  12. ↑ "Human trafficking: Poor women and girls targeted in Albania". BBC News. 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  13. 1 2 "U.S. Department report on Trafficking in Persons: Albania on Tier 2". Tirana Times. 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  14. ↑ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report - Albania". Refworld. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  15. ↑ "UNICEF and its anti-trafficking coalition partners united to address human trafficking in Albania". www.unicef.org. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  16. ↑ "Prosecute human traffickers and deliver justice to victims: OSCE Alliance Conference against Trafficking in Persons calls for an end to impunity - World". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  17. ↑ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report - Albania". Refworld. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  18. ↑ "Legislationline". www.legislationline.org. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
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