The loopholes in existing approaches in the fight against human trafficking give rise to the need for urgently rethinking and restructuring respective strategies, responses, programmes and legislation, the Chair of the Stability Pact Task Force on Trafficking in Human Beings, Helga Konrad, explained.  Therefore, at the 3^rd Regional Ministerial Forum of the Task Force in Tirana, 11 December 2002, it was agreed to switch from an exclusive law-enforcement approach to a victim-centred one.  A central issue in this context is refraining from immediate deportation of victims of trafficking, and instead granting them the right to an extended stay in the country.  One reason for this is that up to 50% of those repatriated immediately are re-trafficked.

As Konrad pointed out, it would in any case be the task of states and governments to protect the fundamental rights of individuals, but in the interest of combating organised crime, the new approach has obvious advantages.  Victims of trafficking must be granted legal status, in order to differentiate them from criminals.  "A stop must be put to this continued 'recycling' of human beings from which organised crime groups derive their huge profits", Konrad explained.

Granting at least temporary residence status increases the confidence of victims and their willingness to collaborate with the authorities.  Though not all of them might be ready or able to testify, they can still provide much needed information on criminal networks and their methods.  This will help the successful prosecution of organised criminals and contributes to the dismantling of criminal networks.

As Konrad concluded: "We can no longer tolerate a situation in which criminals co-operate more efficiently than democratically elected leaders, we can no longer tolerate a situation where law enforcement officers are complicit either by overtly facilitating border crossings, generating false documents, providing protection to abusive employers, or through silence and failure to act.  And we can no longer tolerate a situation where these criminal activities are protected by high-ranking politicians".

At the signing ceremony in Tirana, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, fYR Macedonia, Moldova, Turkey and Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo) agreed to the following:

§          to improve identification of trafficked persons in order to rescue them from exploitation and assist and protect them;

§          to refrain from immediately expelling possible victims of trafficking, due to their unlawful entry into the country or due to irregular residence and/or labour status;

§          to refer possible victims of trafficking to shelters, providing them with social assistance, health care, counselling and legal advice as to their situation and options;

§          to entitle possible victims of trafficking to remain on the state’s territory and to grant them a recuperation period of up to 3 months during which they can stabilize and re-orientate themselves;

§          to request the responsible authorities to investigate and establish the facts without delay in order to legalize the status of trafficked persons;

§          to issue a temporary residence permit for victims of trafficking until the completion of legal proceedings, in the event the victim of trafficking is willing to testify, or whenever appropriate;

§          to further develop witness protection programs;

§          to take special measures in relation to the protection of trafficked children, such as the appointment of a guardian to ensure that actions taken are in the best interest of the child.

For further questions, please contact Dr Helga Konrad, mobile +43 (664) 54 59 827.