The latest report of the U.S Department of State states that the Albanian government hasn’t fulfilled all the minimal standards for the elimination of human trafficking in our country, but it has nonetheless made some efforts to.
In 2020, the Albanian Police Department has investigated 31 cases, including 32 suspects, compared to 62, back in 2019. Out of these cases, 22 involved trafficking of adults and 9 cases involved minors.
Last year, the government and NGOs have identified 81 cases, only 6 of whom have been put under witness protection, at a time when 48 of them were victims of sexual trafficking, 27 of them were victims of forced labour and 6 were forced to commit crime.
The report also shows that 62 of them were women or girls and 24 men or boys, – and 58 of them were minors.
Even though women and girls are usually trafficked for sex work or forced labour, in recent years there has been a rise in isolated cases, where criminals have trafficked children for the cultivation of cannabis.
The US Department of State reports that out these cases, 3 were foreigner from Gambia, the Philippines and Serbia and according to the report, the reasons were sex work and forced labour.
Other victims of traffic have also been amongst the emigrants passing through Albania with the aim of reaching countries in Western Europe.
Despite this, courts haven’t sentenced a single trafficker. This is why, the report recommends forced investigation, criminal prosecution and the conviction of traffickers, including officials and authorities that collaborate with them.
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