OSCE trains Kosovo police and customs officers in assisting trafficking victims at the border

Avdyl Kadria, a regional director of the border police in Gjakova/Djakovica region, and his team are the first point of contact for people arriving to Kosovo from Albania. One of their responsibilities is to identify victims of human trafficking, which, without proper training, can be difficult.

It has often been the case that trafficking victims were mistaken for prostitutes or illegal migrants, or that a victim, once identified as such, did not received the proper treatment foreseen by the law.

To equip these officers and their colleagues from other border crossings to Kosovo with the knowledge about how to handle human trafficking cases and recognize and treat victims, on 4 May 2010 the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, together with the Kosovo police and ministries of labour and social welfare, internal affairs and of justice, began a series of 11 training sessions.

The training courses aim to increase the awareness of 330 border police and 33 customs officers on how to effectively identify and refer foreign and local victims of trafficking to relevant institutions such as the anti-trafficking section of the Kosovo Police Service, social workers and victim advocates from the ministry of justice.

Distinction between smuggling and human trafficking

The training sessions are based on an assessment carried out by the Mission which indicated that the police need help in determining the difference between trafficking in human beings, prostitution and smuggling, as well as with learning about the relevant Kosovo legislation and current Kosovo identification and referral mechanisms. "We are also giving them an overview of the international standards on dealing with victims of human trafficking which will help them better understand this complex issue," says Valentina Bejtullahu from the OSCE Mission's anti-trafficking section.

The trainers give concrete examples of shortfalls in police work. "A victim of trafficking, after being identified, was put in the same room as the criminal, which resulted in the victim being even more scared," Ramadan Ahmeti, one of the trainers from the police anti-trafficking section told his trainees. Other recurring problems were cases where because of the lack of understanding about trafficking in human beings, police treated victims as prostitutes.

According to Ahmeti, in cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation, once the victim is identified, special attention should be paid on how the victim is treated. "Female police officers are taught how put victims at ease, and gain their trust so that they give accurate information about their situation," he says.

Bejtullahu from the OSCE says that recent statistics from both local institutions and international organizations show that the percentage of local victims of trafficking exploited for sexual purposes has increased in recent years. "However, foreign victims still make up more than fifty percent of the overall number of trafficking victims therefore efficiency at border crossings is important," she says.

Improving co-operation and co-ordination

The interactive training sessions were followed by questions, discussions, exchange of experiences and the opportunity to voice concerns. The complaints raised by the participants mostly concerned the work of prosecutors and judges who deal with trafficking cases, but who, in their view, sometimes fail to adequately investigate and prosecute trafficking and trafficking-related offences.

"Better co-operation and co-ordination between courts and police would make the fight against trafficking more successful," says Florent Llapi, from the OSCE anti-trafficking section. "One of the aims of these training courses is to help customs and police officers co-ordinate more effectively with the specialized agencies dealing with trafficking."