For nine months, 14 human trafficking cases in Kosovo

Since the beginning of the year until September at the Ministry of Labour and Social Management have housed 14 victims of human trafficking.

According to the data, all the victims have been feminine and mostly have been from Kosovo.

Adele Shaqiri, leader of the Social Services Division, has said that at the Safed Interim Haven, during this period they have provided services for 9 Kosovar, 1 Serb,3 Bosnian, 1 Albanian.

“MPMS NGOs over this period of time have provided rehabilitation and re-integration services for 14 victims of trafficking that have gone through state housing and for another 13 cases that have been identified at risk of trafficking.

Trafficking victims are victims who always need health, psychological, and rehabilitation services. The state housing provides suitable environments for the development of normal life within which the housing becomes divided for minors and adults, except in cases where children are with parent”, Shaqiri has said.

She added that at this shelter victims have basics such as food, clothing, and regular medical checkups.

According to some data from Kosovo Police, in January of this year, entity trafficking cases during 2018 have marked a decline compared to the previous year.

During 2018 the number of trafficking victims has been 15, of them 12 with Kosovo citizenship. And a year earlier, in 2017, the number of victims has been twice as high -- 32 -- of them 25 with Kosovo citizenship.

In a response from Kosovo's Poicia for Indexline, it is said that for the prevention of this illegal activity, they conduct numerous checks on objects.

They even said that some similar cases have been recorded in massage parlors such as those for prostitution, prostitution wrestling, and prostitution.

With the aim of preventing and revealing these works as well as collecting evidence, we also conduct checks on objects whether they are hotels/Motele, private homes, local/night clubs, massage sites, etc., and in all cases when they are faced with no record of these businesses and do not possess relevant pre-priced documentation with the laws in force until the closure of those businesses, and this is done in co-operation with the relevant inspectors.

In some cases it has been recorded when illegal activities such as the delivery of houses for prostitution, assisted in prostitution, and the presentation with prostitution” were performed, says the Police's response to Indexline.

Otherwise, Friday was the European Union's Day Against Trafficking in People. In this case, the campaign against Trafficking in Men has been launched by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

By means of this MPB campaign, it aims to become empowering mechanisms for prevention, identification and combating trafficking, to establish efficiency in uncovering and tracking traffickers, and to become empowering local and international co-operation for a strengthened partnership on trafficking with people.