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Joint report by UNICEF, UNOHCHR and OSCE-ODHIR (2004)

Description

The report provides an overview of activities focused on the prevention of trafficking in human beings in South Eastern European Countries. The report aims to fill gaps in the previous reports by addressing the issue of prevention of trafficking in human beings, including awareness raising and re-integration processes.

Summary

This report will update and expand upon the information and analylsis contained in the joint UNICEF, UNOHCHR and OSCE/ODIHR reports published in July 2002 and December 2003 which documented the trends and responses to human trafficking and focused on specific issues such as victim assistance and witness protection.

The modalities of trafficking in the region are changing. It has been noted that there are fewer trafficked women returning to their countries of origin and fewer being assisted in the western Ballkans countries in recent years. An increasing number of victims are returning from European Union countries. Women judged to be victims are also refusing the assistance being offered to the, not wishing to be returned to their original country

The countries included in this report are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Bulgaria, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYR Macedonia), Moldova, Romania, Sebia-Montenegro and the UN Administered Province of Kosovo. The assesment is based on the information collected between January 2004 and march 2004 directly from those institutions working on the issue of trafficking: governmental agencies, international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).