prijava
SARAJEVO, October 18 (FENA) - Human trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation is a severe violation of human rights and only through joint action of all relevant actors - institutions, civil society, and professionals, this phenomenon can be effectively countered.
This has been underlined in today’s event marking the European Anti-trafficking Day (18 October), organized by the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees of BiH, the EU Delegation to BiH and the Council of Europe Office in Sarajevo.
It is said that over the past decade Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a country of origin of victims, predominantly children and men, trafficked to other countries for the purpose of labor exploitation.
It has also become a country of destination for children from other countries in the region (mainly Montenegro and Serbia), trafficked to BiH for the purpose of forced begging and forced marriage. The country also experiences some internal trafficking of Bosnian nationals, mainly children, exploited for forced begging.
"Current events and situation have made trafficking invisible and the majority of the activities of traffickers has moved to the internet and social networks. Victims lurk through fake job advertisements, and the most vulnerable groups are seasonal workers and migrants, as well as children who are exploited for forced begging and forced marriages. Labour exploitation is less visible than other forms of trafficking and its effective prevention requires coordinated efforts and the response of all actors in the system. It is very important that human trafficking is not only discussed today, on 18 October, but it is necessary to raise awareness of this problem every day of the year”, said Stanislava Tanić, Head of Department for Anti-trafficking at the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In her address, Saliha Đuderija, Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of BiH, warned of a large number of children who are victims of trafficking in human beings.
"The Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees has prepared minimum "Standards of conduct" and the provision of services to all victims, especially children, that are in the process of adoption by the Council of Ministers of BiH," she added.
Trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation is on the rise, even becoming the predominant form of exploitation in some countries.
"That is why, in recent years, the Council of Europe has been boosting its efforts towards combating this form of modern-day slavery”, said Bojana Urumova, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Sarajevo.
The European Union, in co-operation with its partners, provides significant financial, technical and advisory assistance to authorities in BiH to improve their response to human trafficking and to provide assistance and support to victims.
“In order to combat human trafficking efficiently, authorities must demonstrate a clear commitment and further improve coordination between all relevant institutions and agencies. Particular attention will need to be paid to labor exploitation and forced begging since they frequently involve children and unaccompanied minors as victims,” said Alfredo Strippoli, Acting Head of Rule of Law, European Union Special Representative Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, announced the organizers.
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