SEVENTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKIG IN PERSONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 17 TIRANA 000173

SIPDIS
QSENQITITE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE (EKOTHIEMER)QQ
E&M. Q095Q8 N/A
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KQM ELAB CMAE KQRDQ PPEF PREL KJUS
EAID, KDQE, ADQ
SUBJECT: SEVENTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKIG IN PERSONS
(TIP) REPORT

REF: 06 STATE


1. (U) Below are Embassy Tirana's responses to the
Qepartment's questions about trafficking in persons in
Albania.

SUMMARY
--------------


2. (SBU) Albania is a source country for trafficking in
person1 but is deemed by various international observer
groups to no longer be a significant country of transit. The
GOA recognizes that it remains a source country.
Complemented by international pressure, the GOA has shown
political will to address the issue, but lacks resources to
adequately implement trafficking-related programs. Following
Parliamentary elections in 2005, a new Prime Minister took
over the government promising to wage war on organized crime
and corruption. High among his priorities has been the fight
against trafficking, an effort which he has continued to
speak about and support since taking office.


3. (SBU) Since taking office, the new government has
undertaken several initiatives to improve anti-trafficking
programs. Key GOA developments since the last TIP report
include: Albanian ratification of the Albanian-Greek
Cooperative Agreement Against Child Trafficking; the
establishment of Regional Anti-Trafficking Committees; the
creation of a nationwide, toll-free helpline; the
establishment of a Responsible Authority for the
implementation of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and
the Albanian-Greek Cooperative Agreement; the temporary
activation of a reception center at Rinas Airport for
returnees and potential victims of trafficking; an amendment
to the Criminal Code to include the crime of smuggling of
human beings across non-Albanian borders; an amendment to the
Criminal Code penalizing the exploitation of children; and
steps to equip the Serious Crimes Court with identity
protection devices for witnesses. The GOA has begun
implementation of its Integrated Border Management (IBM)
Strategy and Action Plan, a joint EU/US effort based upon EU
guidelines. (see Item 9F below)


4. (SBU) Despite a protracted and ultimately unsuccessful
attempt on the part of the government to remove the
independent Prosecutor General from office, the cooperation
among the prosecution, the courts, and the police is fair. In
2006, the police referred 51 new cases to the General
Prosecutor's Office, which investigated 65 people on charges
related to human trafficking. Forty-three cases were
referred to the Serious Crimes Court, which tried 62 cases
and convicted 57 people for human trafficking related
offenses.


5. (SBU) With the exception of the police directorate in the
southern city of Gjirokaster, the police continued to
demonstrate a generally cooperative and understanding
attitude in working with anti-trafficking NGOs and
international donors and in dealing with trafficking victims
(see item 11C below). However, the high volume of turnover
within the ASP has substantially increased the already
pressing need for training police assigned to TIP cases. The
GOA continued to support the National Victim Referral Center
(NVRC) for trafficking victims with the assistance of
international donors. In theory, there are 16 interview and
reception facilities, refurbished by IOM, at major border
crossing points across the country and at Rinas International
Airport. Only the Rinas facility and the facility at
Kapshtice (on the border with Greece) have approved local
procedures for their use (see Item 11C below). For the past
four months, the Rinas facility has been inoperable because
of lack of computer connectivity. NGOs continued to play a
critical role in providing services to trafficking victims.


6. (SBU) Albania has made good progress establishing the
necessary structures and programs to bring the country into
compliance, but regrettably many of these structures and
programs are not yet fully operational. For these reasons,

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Albania is not in full compliance with the minimum standards
of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (as amended
by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of
2003 and 2005) and Post believes Albania should remain as
Tier II. END SUMMARY.


7. (U) EMBASSY POINT OF CONTACT: Charles Morrill, Political
Officer, office phone 355 4 24 72 85, ext. 3115, cell 355 69
208 8271, fax 355 4 23 22 22. Hours spent interviewing,
collecting data, and drafting the report: FSN-09, 10 hours;
FP-03, 60 hours.


8. (SBU) TRAFFICKING OVERVIEW. The answers below are keyed to
reftel, paragraph 27.


A. Human trafficking remains a problem in Albania. The GOA
acknowledges that it is a source country for traffickers and
that in the last decade thousands of women and children have
been trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labor.
The number of third-country women who transit Albania for
Western countries has dropped significantly, leading
government and non-government organizations like the OSCE,
UNICEF, IOM, Vatra Psycho-Social Center in Vlora, NVRC,
Tjeter Vizion, and Different and Equal (D&E) to conclude that
Albania is no longer a significant transit country for
trafficking victims. During 2006, IOM interviewed and placed
at the NVRC seven third-country national victims of
trafficking; two were returned directly to their country of
origin. Trafficking in young children by third parties for
sexual exploitation occurs, but documented reports are rare.
The majority of cases of child trafficking, both internally
and externally, was carried out by Roma parents for either
forced labor or begging.

Reliable statistics within Albania remain problematic. Over
the past year, the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and the
&Responsible Authority8 for its administration have been
established, but are not yet fully functional. At the heart
of the NRM there is intended to be a case tracking system
that will follow victims from initial identification, through
proceedings in the criminal justice system, including witness
protection, and concluding with ultimate rehabilitation and
reintegration into society. A contract has been awarded for
the programming of the database. A parallel linked database
for the tracking of alleged perpetrators of trafficking
crimes through the criminal justice procedure, also required
in the National Action Plan (NAP),has not yet been to be
implemented. The lack of these databases significantly limits
the GOA,s ability to systematically gather accurate or
convincing data. The responsibility for compilation and
verification of data lies with the National Coordinator for
Anti-Trafficking Initiatives who holds the rank of Deputy
Minister and reports directly to the Minister of Interior.
The five-person Office of the National Coordinator is
responsible for organizing, monitoring, and reporting on the
government's anti-trafficking efforts; some of these
statistics have been incorporated into this submission.

It remains difficult to accurately quantify the number of
women and children trafficked from Albania. In 2006 there
were no reported cases of any Albanians having traveled
illegally from Albania to Italy by speedboat (down from
twelve in 2005, three in 2004, and 3,155 in 2002). (See Item
11C below for estimates of numbers of victims)

The statistics on repatriated victims reported by the GOA and
the shelters differ considerably. According to Vatra, this
difference may be due to police inexperience in identifying
victims at points of entry. It has also been suggested that
the discrepancy may be due to improper or insufficient
training of interviewers and failure to apply consistently
the agreed-upon criteria for victim and suspected victim
identification. The police counter that shelters double
count some victims and count as victims some residents that
might more accurately be considered to be at-risk. Victims
often do not identify themselves as trafficked persons
because of stigmatization or for fear of retribution from
their traffickers, but may present themselves later.

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Furthermore, consensual migrants may at times claim to have
been forcibly trafficked in hopes of sympathy and potentially
gaining asylum. Most of them were unable or unwilling to
return to their former homes and received shelter,
protection, and medical, social, legal, and other services.
The centralized case-tracking database, accessible to both
the police and the shelters, as called for in the NAP, and
better training would help to mitigate this discrepancy in
the future.


B. Albania is not considered a destination country and
documented cases of this are rare. However, some
governmental and non-governmental sources agreed that
internal trafficking of both women and children is on the
rise. NGOs reported cases in which Albanian women have been
forced into prostitution in hotels and brothels in Albania,
either as a holding mechanism before being moved to Western
Europe or to supply a growing demand for prostitutes in the
summer months along the southern coast. One NGO suggested a
linkage between money laundering activities in the
construction of hotels and their operation as brothels.
Victims are trafficked into extremely harsh conditions.
Traffickers typically withhold travel documents, physically
and sexually abuse victims, and threaten victims' family
members. In addition, the GOA and NGOs agree that both the
awareness and the phenomenon of internal trafficking have
increased.

As noted, evidence now suggests that few women and children
from other countries are trafficked through Albania. The
Ministry of Interior (MOI) indicates that, during 2006, it
intercepted two trafficked foreign women transiting the
country. However, the NVRC housed seven foreign women
victims and one foreign child victim.

Albanian victims are trafficked primarily to Greece and
Italy, and to a lesser extent other Western European
countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Belgium,
Norway, Germany, and the Netherlands. Since trafficking by
speedboat across the Adriatic to Italy for the purpose of
forced prostitution was virtually shut down in 2002, Greece,
Kosovo, Macedonia, and Montenegro have become the main
countries through which traffickers and their victims pass.
In January, GOA took further action to curb the use of
speedboats by traffickers with approval of a three-year
moratorium on all speedboats more than two miles off the
coast.

Traffickers typically target poorly educated women and girls
in economically depressed areas and those living in families
with serious problems. Victims frequently come from rural
areas or are recent arrivals to the city; many have
previously been subjected to domestic violence, rape, and/or
incest. The majority of children victims of trafficking come
from Roma and Balkan Egyptian communities, both of which are
spread throughout Albania. Two NGO-run shelters, Different
and Equal (D&E) and the Vatra Center, reported that 10-20
percent of the victims know they will be prostitutes, some
plan to escape once they reach Western Europe, but never
imagine the abuse and servitude that await them. Two-thirds
of the victims are deceived with false marriage proposals --
the leading method of deception -- or false job offers.
Traffickers often use phony documents (e.g. fake marriage
certificates, falsified passports) to avoid police detection.
A smaller number of victims are simply sold by their
families. Kidnappings off the street are very rare, but have
occurred. Most children trafficked into Greece are taken
across illegal border crossings through the mountains. In
some cases, adult victims are lured by an emigrant male in
his early 20s who offers marriage, or by an older relative of
either sex who offers to connect the victim to someone who
can give her a better life. Most of the girls have a very
low educational background or are illiterate, especially
those from the Roma community.

The GOA has repeatedly and publicly acknowledged the
country's trafficking problem and has taken considerable
action over the past year to address this issue. The Prime

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Minister has made the fight against organized crime and
corruption the hallmark of his administration and has
repeatedly characterized trafficking as a festering wound
that he intends to heal. One of the new government's first
actions was a major reorganization of trafficking
responsibilities and the appointment of a full time National
Coordinator, at the Deputy Minister of the Interior level,
who heads up a five-member Anti-Trafficking Unit.


C. As one of the poorest countries in Europe, Albania faces a
number of limitations in addressing the problem of human
trafficking. While the GOA has taken steps to combat
corruption, the problem remains endemic. Police salaries of
approximately USD 250 to 500 per month increase
susceptibility to corruption. The Office of Internal Control
(OIC),a division of the Albanian State Police (ASP),
investigated 98 cases of alleged corruption or other forms of
official misconduct among the police forces. (See Item 10M
below).

The ASP and its Anti-Trafficking Sector remain under-equipped
and poorly trained, despite donations and assistance from the
international community. High turnover and internal transfer
of police forces exacerbates this problem. In general, police
support for anti-trafficking measures is satisfactory,
especially among those officers in the anti-trafficking
police units at the local level. During the reporting period
there were no cases of direct individual police involvement
in trafficking. However, some police officers, customs
officials, and border police were indirectly involved in
human trafficking by accepting bribes from traffickers to
look the other way, tipping off traffickers when raids were
planned, and furnishing them with improper travel documents
(see Item 10M for specific cases). Lawyers and judges may
also be manipulated and bribed, permitting traffickers to buy
their way out of punishment if arrested.


D. The nine government agencies addressing human trafficking
are represented on the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the
Fight Against Human Trafficking. The Committee, chaired by
the Minister of Interior, is composed of the National
Coordinator, deputy ministers and other representatives from
the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Finance,
Interior, Education, Defense, and Labor and Social Affairs,
and the State Intelligence Service. The General Prosecutor's
office attends as an observer. The Committee meets
approximately every three months to exchange information and
review implementation of the National Strategy and NAP, and a
"Focal Point" group of senior representatives from the same
institutions meets on a more frequent basis. The Office of
the National Coordinator is responsible for compiling regular
assessments and reports, as required by the NAP. For this
year's report, the government made available to Post a
document summarizing developments in the past year and goals
and objectives for the coming year. The GOA also provided
statistics on trafficking prosecutions and convictions in
2006, and data on identifications and referrals of returnee
victims, shelter and victim/witness protection.


9. (SBU) PREVENTION: The answers below are keyed to reftel,
paragraph 28.


A. Yes, the GOA acknowledges that trafficking is a problem.
(See item 8 A&B above).


B. The National Coordinator has overall responsibility for
anti-trafficking policy coordination, drawing on the
expertise of the agencies represented on the
Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Fight Against Human
Trafficking (See item 8D above). The Ministry of Interior
(MOI) and the General Prosecutor's Office confront the issue
from the law enforcement angle. The Ministry of Justice
drafts legislation in cooperation with the International
Consortium's Legal Reform Working Group. The Ministry of
Labor, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MLSAEO)
oversees operations at the GOA's NVRC for victims of
trafficking, and MOI provides security. The Ministry of
Education has incorporated prevention activities into school

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curricula. In addition, the Directorate for Equal
Opportunity at the MLSAEO guarantees equal rights for men and
women, promotes equal opportunities in order to eliminate
direct and indirect discrimination, and defines
responsibilities for drafting of governmental policies
promoting gender equality.


C. In coordination with the launch of an anti-trafficking
helpline in October, the GOA, with support from IOM and the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),carried out
a limited campaign both to publicize the number and to raise
awareness among potential victims. In addition to providing
an anonymous means for victims or potential victims to
denounce traffickers, the helpline also provides information
about safe and legal means of emigration. The
Anti-Trafficking Unit reported that in its first two months
of operation it received 11 substantive calls pertaining to
trafficking. This information has been channeled for further
investigation to the Directorate for the Fight against
Organized Crime and Witness Protection. In addition to a
televised press conference on the day of the launch, there
has been an effort to disseminate and publicize the helpline
further through TV spots funded by the UNODC featuring the
National Coordinator.

Also with IOM, the GOA prepared and disseminated in 2006 a
&Safe Migration8 pamphlet that extols the dangers of
falling prey to traffickers while seeking to emigrate. This
pamphlet has been distributed to hotels, travel agencies,
border crossing points, and social service agencies.


D. To promote women's participation in economic
decision-making, MOLSAEO, with a grant from the International
Labor Organization (ILO),has begun the implementation of the
second phase of the regional women's economic empowerment
project. Through this project, female victims of trafficking
may apply for micro-loans to start small business as way to
foster their reintegration by providing alternative
employment opportunities.

In 2006, the Ministry of Education and Science continued to
implement a project initiated in 2004 designed to give
students that abandoned school a second chance. Victims of
trafficking are one of the main beneficiaries of this
program. In 2006, 469 students that had previously dropped
out of school benefited from a special curriculum designed to
help them earn a high school diploma while attending school
part-time.

With a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, ILO and the
Ministry of Education implemented a $3.5 million regional
anti-trafficking program. This program seeks to raise
awareness among 10-14 year old potential victims of
trafficking by providing training and materials for teachers
throughout Albania. This program complements a UNICEF program
that operates in schools in all regions of Albania and
targets 6-10 year olds.


E. In 2006, the GOA continued good cooperation with NGOs and
international donors by both participating in and publicly
supporting their activities and by involving them in the
various working groups on trafficking and on child
trafficking. (See also item 11I below). The Coordinated
Action Against Human Trafficking (CAAHT) is a USAID-funded
project to promote coordination among and between the GOA and
NGO partners. Beyond awarding and managing 23 grants to local
and international NGOs, CAAHT has worked closely with the
National Coordinator for the establishment of the Regional
Anti-Trafficking Committees and is providing technical
support for their on-going operation. Despite the success in
getting these Committees up and running, CAAHT has voiced
concern that NGOs are invited only to observe the committee
proceeding, that not all NGOs are invited, and that NGOs are
not members, as originally planned.


F. Albania's borders remain porous, but with assistance from
international donors like Post's ICITAP program and the EU's
PAMECA program, the GOA has made progress in tightening

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border security and increasing interdictions. The GOA has
begun to implement its Integrated Border Management (IBM)
Strategy and Action Plan in an effort to bring Albania's
border control and surveillance in line with EU
recommendations and NATO Performance Goals.

Additionally, the GOA continued to implement the Total
Information Management System (TIMS) project, an ICITAP-led
initiative to electronically connect and integrate the
Albanian border (to include the airport, seaports, and land
border crossings) as well as other structures within the
Albanian State Police in an effort meet EU recommendations,
NATO Performance Goals, and other international security
standards and recommended practices.
TIMS enables Albanian authorities to monitor immigration and
emigration patterns and has already assisted in the capture
of wanted criminals. The system has been installed in the
police directorates and commissariats in Tirana, Durres,
Vlora, Gjirokaster, Mother Tereza Airport (Tirana),and in
twelve border crossing points around the country. In 2006,
with assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice's
Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training
Program (OPDAT),the TIMS system was expanded to the major
prosecutors' offices and progress is under way incorporating
into it a prosecutorial case management system.

In addition, ICITAP advisors assist Albanian authorities with
other border management and security issues. The US
Government maintains a US Coast Guard Regional Maritime
Advisor under the Export and Border Security (EXBS) Program
to assist the GOA in strengthening border and export control
capabilities in the Adriatic Sea.

Under the EU-funded CARDS (Community Assistance for
Reconstruction, Development and Stabilization) program, the
pre-screening of asylum seekers is designed to be
accomplished at all border crossing points. IOM, OSCE, and
UNHCR conducted training on asylum pre-screening procedures
for all mid- and high-level police officers at border
crossing points. This project was handed over to the
MoI/Albanian State Police for implementation. Many of the
officers who received training under this program have since
been transferred. According to the National Coordinator, in
2006, police forwarded 199 cases of illegal border crossing
to the prosecutor. Over the reporting period, the prosecutor
investigated 254 individuals and the court convicted 162
individuals. Eighty-one cases are currently in court
proceedings. However, other sources report that the actual
number of illegal migrants is much higher than the data
identified by police. According to statistics collected from
Regional State Police Directorates, the Border and Migration
Police Directorate reported 8893 Albanian citizens and 93
foreigners were interdicted for illegal border crossing
during the period January-November 2006. Due to repeat
offenders, it is likely that the actual number is lower.


G. The National Coordinator has overall responsibility for
anti-trafficking policy coordination. In addition, a
working-level committee of representatives from each of the
agencies on the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Fight
Against Human Trafficking meets regularly to review
implementation of the Action Plan and to exchange information
(See also 8D and 9B above).


H. The new government endorsed the previous government's
National Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking and
National Action Plan (NAP) for 2005-2007.

The NAP requires the mobilization of government and NGO
resources for the following, inter alia: establishment of a
witness protection and victim compensation program; creation
of a National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for the initial
identification, screening, referral, protection, and
reintegration of returnees and intercepted trafficking
victims; conclusion of an agreement with the Greek government
for the return of child victims of trafficking; establishment
of a Responsible Authority to oversee the NRM and
implementation of the Albania-Greek Cooperative Agreement;

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creation of regional committees to coordinate the
anti-trafficking initiatives in the fields of education,
social services, and police; sponsorship of safe overseas
employment, vocational training, and alternative employment
initiatives; internet monitoring, education, and targeted
public-awareness initiatives; the institutionalization of
victims' rights and anti-trafficking awareness training in
the police, prosecution, and judiciary; and the organization
of parallel awareness training for the media.

All of the legal and regulatory hurdles for the establishment
of the NRM, the Responsible Authority, and the Regional
Committees have been accomplished. Albania has ratified the
Albania-Greek Cooperative Agreement and Greece is expected to
do so in 2007. Though structures have been established to
implement these agreements and have begun to operate, none is
fully functional. Most lacking is the victim case-tracking
database that will form the heart of the NRM.

In addition to the NAP, Albania has also approved a Child
Trafficking Strategy and Action Plan. The Child Trafficking
Strategy reproduces many of the innovations and approaches of
the NAP and is based on UNICEF guidelines and the principle
of assisted voluntary return for child victims. At the
institutional level, an inter-agency National Child
Protection Committee has been created but is not yet fully
functional.

The draft NAP was distributed among relevant NGOs (e.g. Save
the Children and Terre des Hommes),government ministries
(e.g., the ministries of Education, Interior, Labor, Social
Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Finance, and Justice),and
the international community (e.g. U.S., EU, OSCE, IOM,
UNICEF, and others) for comment prior to being finalized.
Albania also participated in an EU-funded project to
harmonize anti-trafficking strategies among the SAA candidate
countries of southeastern Europe, part of which has been the
preparation of anti-trafficking action plans by the
International Center for Migration Policy Development
(ICMPD). Representatives from the Ministry of Justice and
the General Prosecutor's Office have participated in regional
conferences on legal reform and mutual legal assistance in
the area of anti-trafficking. Albania is also a member of
the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI). It has
recently begun to participate in a USAID-funded regional
project to link national referral mechanisms in the South
Central Europe region.

The Anti-Trafficking Unit at the MOI has its own website from
which the National Strategy and Action Plan may be
downloaded:
http://www.moi.gov.al/2006/antitrafik/strateg jia antitrfik.pdf


10. (SBU) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS: The
answers below are keyed to reftel, paragraph 29.


A. There are three main articles in the Albanian Penal Code
that address trafficking in persons:

- Article 110(a) prohibits trafficking in persons for the
purposes of prostitution, forced labor, organ trafficking, or
other forms of exploitation; prohibits organizing, managing,
or financing trafficking in human beings; adds additional
penalties for committing the offense repeatedly or engaging
in serious mistreatment or injury to the victim; adds
additional penalties where the victim dies and where the
perpetrator is a government official;
- Article 114 prohibits inducing or gaining from prostitution;
- Article 114(a) prohibits aggravated exploitation of
prostitution, such as employing minors, employing multiple
prostitutes, and using deception, coercion, or accomplices;
- Article 114(b) contains five paragraphs that directly
parallel Article 110/a, but apply only to trafficking in
women; and
- Article 128(b) contains five paragraphs that directly
parallel Articles 110/a and 114/b, but apply only to
trafficking in children.


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Articles 297 and 298 of the Criminal Code criminalize illegal
border crossing for profit and assisting or providing the
means for illegal border crossing. Often, traffickers are
charged with assisting illegal border crossing if there is
not enough evidence to produce a trafficking charge. Since
28 Albanian economic migrants died in a 2004 Ionian Sea
tragedy, the government increased the penalties for migrant
smuggling, trafficking, and illegal border crossing, and has
more clearly defined "trafficking in persons" under Article
114(b) so that it is in line with the Palermo Protocol of the
UN Convention on Organized Crime.

In April 2004, GOA enacted legislation providing for the
establishment of a witness relocation program. In September
2004, as part of a sweeping anti-organized crime package, the
GOA adopted special witness protection provisions, allowing
for endangered witnesses in trafficking and organized crime
cases to testify anonymously via remote video link. That
same legislative package also provided for broad new civil
asset forfeiture provisions, which require the accused
trafficker to demonstrate legitimate sources of wealth.

In 2005, the GOA began to implement these new laws, in terms
of structures and personnel, funding, and implementing
regulations. In conjunction with the passage of the Witness
Protection Law in early 2004, the GOA created the Organized
Crime and Witness Protection Directorate at the Ministry of
Interior (then called the Ministry of Public Order). That
Directorate contains the Witness Protection Sector, which has
responsibility for witness protection issues, including both
conventional identification protection and the operation of a
witness relocation program. (See Item 11E below).

In September 2004, GOA adopted powerful new civil asset
forfeiture provisions. Among other things, these provisions
require defendants reasonably suspected of trafficking (or
other organized crimes) to explain the sources of their own
wealth and that of their families. In February 2005, the
General Prosecutor established a specialized asset forfeiture
unit in the Serious Crimes Prosecution Office (SCPO).
Prosecutors have utilized the civil forfeiture provisions,
but the agency for administration and distribution of seized
assets is not functional. To date no funds have been
distributed from this program.


B. The penalty for human trafficking for sexual exploitation
(Art. 110/a) is 5 to 15 years in prison; for trafficking of
minors (Art 12b/b) the penalty is 10 to 20 years.
Aggravating circumstances, such as kidnapping or death, can
increase the severity of the sentence to a maximum term of
life in prison. In 2004, fines were approved for existing
penalties: those convicted of exploitation for prostitution
of a minor are fined 6 to 8 million lek (approx. USD 60,000
to 80,000); for women, the fine is 3 to 6 million lek
(approx. USD 30,000 to 60,000). In addition, the amended
Criminal Code states that any government official or public
servant convicted of exploitation for prostitution faces 125
percent of the standard penalty. (See also Item 10A above).


C. As for all types of trafficking, Articles 110(a),114(b),
and 128(b) of the Albanian criminal code (see 11A above)
specifically criminalize recruitment of forced labor and
impose punishments consistent with other forms of trafficking
(see Item 10B above).


D. Albania's Criminal Code imposes penalties for rape and
assault depending on the age of the victim: rape of an adult,
3 to 10 years imprisonment; rape of an adolescent age 14-18,
5 to 15 years imprisonment; rape of a child under the age of
14, 7 to 15 years imprisonment. Generally, these penalties
are lighter than those for trafficking (see Item 10B above).
There are also provisions for aggravating circumstances in
these articles.


E. Prostitution is illegal in Albania, and punishment ranges
from a fine to a three-year prison sentence. Brothel owners,
pimps, and enforcers may also face criminal charges under
Albanian law. Most are charged with exploitation of

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prostitution and, if convicted, are fined or imprisoned for
up to five years. The penalty increases to a 7-10 year
prison term if there are aggravating circumstances, such as
kidnapping or assault. According to statistics provided by
the National Coordinator, forty-six people were arrested for
engaging in prostitution in 2006. Although it is also illegal
to solicit for prostitution, there are no known cases of any
clients being arrested.


F. In January 2004, GOA established the Serious Crimes Court
and the Serious Crimes Prosecution Office (SCPO). The SCPO
brings together a team of elite prosecutors and police to
handle the most complex and important TIP and organized crime
cases. In October 2004, the Court of Serious Crimes and the
SCPO were given exclusive jurisdiction over all cases
involving organized crime or trafficking in narcotics or
humans. These specialized institutions have special security
measures, and count among their members some of the country's
top judges and prosecutors.

The GOA's Anti-Trafficking NAP requires the tracking of the
number of arrests, prosecutions, and convictions of
traffickers of human beings (see Item 10H above). As noted
above, the lack of a centralized database for tracking
alleged traffickers through the criminal justice system
hinders the government's ability to provide consistent and/or
reliable statistics. In 2006, the police referred 51 new
cases to the General Prosecutor's Office, which investigated
65 people on charges related to human trafficking.
Forty-three cases were referred to the Serious Crimes Court,
which tried 62 cases and convicted 57 people for human
trafficking related offenses. According to the National
Coordinator, the breakdown of prosecutions and convictions
achieved in 2006 is as follows:

- Under Article 110(a) (organizing, directing, or financing
trafficking in human beings): two were prosecuted,
convicted, and sentenced up to two years in prison.

- Under Article 114 (inducing or gaining from prostitution):
six were prosecuted and convicted. One was sentenced up to
two years in prison, four were sentenced to 2-5 years, and
one sentenced to 5-10 years.

- Under Article 114(a) (aggravated exploitation of
prostitution): 40 were prosecuted and 37 convicted. One was
sentenced for up to two years; six were sentenced to 2-5
years; 18 were sentenced to 5-10 years; and ten were
sentenced to more than ten years.

- Under Article 114(b) (trafficking of women for
prostitution): 14 were prosecuted and 12 convicted. Seven
were sentenced to 5-10 years; and five were sentenced to more
than 10 years.

Under Article 128(b) (trafficking of children for
exploitation or profit): six were prosecuted, convicted, and
sentenced to more than 10 years.


G. Individuals in Albania offering work or false marriages
are the main instigators behind human trafficking -- mainly
for sexual exploitation. However, many of these are
connected with or later sell their victims to organized crime
networks outside the country, whose operations are
sophisticated, with networks extending into Western Europe.
Organized criminal gangs often launder their ill-gotten gains
by channeling them into construction projects, restaurants,
hotels, travel agencies, gas stations, and some retail
stores. Though in 2006 there was only one case in which a
police official was arrested for assisting an arrested
trafficker go free, it is believed that this phenomenon and
general corruption of police and other security forces is
more widespread (see Item 10M below for further information
on specific cases of police complicity).


H. The Anti-Trafficking Sector of the ASP investigates all
types of trafficking cases but its resources are limited,
even with the assistance of international donors such as

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Post's ICITAP program. The Serious Crimes Prosecution Office
(SCPO) has jurisdiction over all trafficking cases and
investigates and prosecutes cases forwarded to it by police.
Albania's Law on Interception states that police can use
electronic surveillance in their investigations with the
approval of a prosecutor. The GOA possesses the necessary
technological equipment required for such investigations and
conducts them on a regular basis. Under the law,
investigators may also engage in undercover operations and
offer mitigated punishment or immunity in exchange for
cooperation.


I. MOI does not have resources to conduct its own specialized
training, but it does willingly participate in specific
training to combat trafficking and organized crime offered by
NGOs and the international donor community. The MOI has not
completed the development of a specialized training course
for identifying potential or actual victims of trafficking,
though a course curriculum and some lesson plans have been
developed. The curriculum and lesson plans have been used to
train anti-trafficking and border police at both Rinas
Airport and the Kapshtice border crossing. According to MOI
records, approximately 80 percent of all anti-trafficking and
border police have received training from international
experts since 2001. However, as reported for 2005,
specialized training has been challenging within the past
year because of turnover and reassignments within MOI as part
of restructuring in the ASP. Post's OPDAT program is
training prosecutors and judicial police officers in
techniques to combat trafficking, and USAID's Legal Rights
Initiative continues training students of the Magistrates
school and sitting judges on issues of trafficking, gender
sensitivities and awareness, and family law. The NAP
envisages anti-trafficking awareness training for all new
entrants to the police service and specialized training for
officers working in anti-trafficking as well as parallel
training for judges and prosecutors. Three regional
anti-trafficking seminars for police, prosecutors, and judges
were organized by the National Coordinator with UNODC funding
in 2006.


J. The GOA cooperates closely with other governments in the
investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases. In the
past year, Albania has jointly investigated a total of nine
cases with international partners. With Italy, the GOA has
exchanged information in four cases. Albania has also
conducted joint operations with Italian Interforza and the
Albanian Border Police accompany the Italian Guardia di
Finanza on coastal patrols. The GOA has cooperated in two
cases with Kosovo and one case each with Greece, Spain and
Norway. Information is also exchanged regularly with
Macedonia and other regional countries through SECI. In
addition, Albania is a member of Interpol and has formal or
informal mutual legal assistance agreements with most
neighboring and EU countries. Though Albania cooperates
fully with U.S. judicial and/or investigatory requests, the
GOA has expressed a desire to formalize a mutual assistance
agreement with the U.S.


K. Albania has bilateral extradition treaties with Macedonia,
Romania, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Turkey,
and the U.S. For each of these countries, Albania honors the
agreement and extradites its own citizens. The only exception
is in cases in which the extradited individual may face the
death penalty, which is forbidden under the Albanian
Constitution. Albania is party to the European Convention on
Extradition. As a general practice, the GOA does not
extradite Albanian citizens to other countries to face
charges under the Convention, but instead will prosecute them
in Albania.

The extradition treaty with the U.S. was signed in 1933 with
the former Kingdom of Albania. There remains some question as
to whether the Albanian courts will continue to recognize the
treaty, although a partial panel of the Albanian High Court
(not the ultimate constitutional court) upheld the treaty in
December 2004. The Office of the Prosecutor General
indicated that they would like to update the 1933 treaty.

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In the first ten months of 2006, Albania received 122
requests for extradition (double the 2005 number) and of
these 42 have been approved so far. Over the same period,
Albania received 411 letters rogatory and has executed 127 of
them.


L. Individual Albanian police officers have been complicit
indirectly in trafficking crimes, but trafficking in persons
is not tolerated at an institutional level. As reported
above, the OIC is responsible for investigating allegations
of all types of police corruption and misconduct (see Item 8C
above and 10M below).


M. According to statistics provided by the National
Coordinator, in 2006 the OIC investigated five cases of
assistance to illegal border crossing by police officers.
Four of them were arrested in the act and expelled from the
State Police. Eleven other cases were sent to the
Prosecutor's Office for further investigation. In cooperation
with State Intelligence Service (SHISH),the OIC also
investigated and arrested the chief of police in Devoll for
his role in producing counterfeit travel documents. Four
other border police officers were arrested for corruption
and/or abuse of power. Also in 2006, the Chief of Police in
Tepelena, and three subordinates were arrested for issuing
false passports and for knowingly issuing passports to wanted
persons.

The OIC operates a toll-free phone helpline for the public to
denounce alleged police misconduct. In the last year the OIC
has received 90 complaints from the public concerning
allegations of corruption involving 94 police officers. These
calls resulted in two cases involving police corruption being
forwarded to the prosecutor's office for further
investigation.

In July a returned victim of trafficking was murdered by her
pimp in Burrel, despite having pleaded with the police for
protection. A case was brought against the deputy chief of
police and an investigator for abuse of office and their
deliberate failure to take action. After further
investigation, however, the District Prosecution Office
dropped the criminal charges against both officers. As part
of the administrative reform of the ASP, the deputy chief of
police was terminated; the investigation has been allowed to
continue his employment.

Finally, in Korca the head of Anti-trafficking Unit at the
Korca regional police and an investigator were arrested
following an undercover sting operation in which they were
caught accepting a bride to help secure the release of an
arrested trafficker. Both are currently in custody awaiting
trail.


N. Albania is not considered a destination for child sex
tourism, though in 2006 there was one case in which the
British operator of an orphanage was arrested on charges of
child molestation. According to media reports, he also made
the children available to foreign pedophiles that came to
Albania specifically for this purpose. In addition, there
have also been media reports of children trafficked to Greece
for sexual exploitation.

Article 7 and 8 of the Albanian Criminal Code specify the
criminal offenses that have extraterritorial coverage and
this does not specifically include child abuse. However, the
Code does provide general applicability to Albanian citizens
who commit an offense within the territory of another
country, when that offense is also punishable in that
country. No Albanians have prosecuted or convicted for child
sex abuse outside of Albania.


O. In August 2001, Albania ratified ILO Convention 182
Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor. ILO
Convention 29 and 105 on forced or compulsory labor were
signed and ratified in 1957 and 1997, respectively. The

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Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN
Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, was signed
by Albania in 2000 and ratified in 2002. Albania has agreed
in principle, but has not yet signed or ratified the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child
Pornography. In November, Albania ratified the Council of
Europe Convention on Measures Against Trafficking of Human
Beings.


11. (SBU) PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS: Answers below
keyed to reftel, paragraph 30:


A. It is often difficult for victims of trafficking to return
to their families and former lives because of stigmatization
by their families and society in general. The GOA's National
Victim Referral Center (NVRC) provides assistance to Albanian
and third-country national trafficking victims (women and
children) as well as illegal migrants (see item 8B above).
With a capacity of 100 beds, the NVRC is under-utilized. In
2006, a total of 46 returnee victims of trafficking were
housed there (38 were Albanian, 15 were children, and 8
third-country victims). In addition, an unspecified number of
illegal immigrants were also housed there.

In addition to the NVRC, there are three primary NGO-run
shelters that work directly with victims of trafficking to
assist them with reintegration and several other NGOs that
are implementing prevention and awareness activities to
counter trafficking in their communities. The three primary
NGO-run shelters are Different and Equal (D&E),Tjeter
Vizion, and the Vatra Psycho-Social Center (Vatra). The Vatra
Center in Vlora assisted 208 (123 new cases) trafficking
victims in 2006, D&E assisted 60 (27 new cases),and Tjeter
Vizion assisted 30 (all new cases).

Currently there is no legal provision for granting temporary
or permanent residency to third-country victims of
trafficking. According to National Coordinator, the GOA has
drafted legislation as part of its new &Law on Foreigners8
that would address this issue. The GOA has in place
legislation and procedures of handling asylum seekers and, in
principle, victims of trafficking could apply for asylum. In
the past year Albania granted asylum to six individuals.

Both the NVRC and D&E reintegration center offer HIV/AIDS
testing on a voluntary basis. There are no facilities
specializing in health care for trafficking victims in
Albania, though the NVRC, the Vatra Center, and D&E provide
some medical and psychological treatment on site.
International organizations like the OSCE and the domestic
NGO "Citizen Advocacy Office" provide some legal services.


B. Despite government approval to contract NGOs to provide
services, the government's resources are limited, so iQl\3through the USAID-funded CAAHT
project (see also Item 9E above). CAAHT continued to
implement a grant program to support local and international
NGOs' ability to protect and reintegrate victims of
trafficking. This program also seeks to assist civil society
in developing capacity for prevention efforts and
coordination of anti-trafficking activities throughout the
country. For 2006, the grant program had a budget of $700,000.


C. In May the GOA established the Responsible Authority for
protection and assistance to victims of trafficking, charged
with overseeing the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and
implementing the Albanian-Greek Cooperative Agreement. In
November 2006, the General Director of the ASP issued a
Service Order amending existing procedures for processing
Albanian and foreign citizens returned from other countries.
Among other things, the order allows for the participation of

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anti-trafficking and Border Police representatives, as well
as authorized social workers. This order requires training
and the development of local procedures for each border
crossing point. To date, such procedures have been developed
and implemented only at Rinas Airport and the Kapshtice
border crossing point. Local procedures have yet to be
established at the remaining 14 reception facilities.
Trafficking victims may be held up to ten hours in police
directorates while undergoing screening. After a deposition
is taken, suspected victims are transported to either NGO-run
shelters or the State-run NVRC (see item 10E above) for
reintegration services. Most foreign victims are sent to the
NVRC.

Though the NRM is not fully functional and, most
significantly, still lacks a centralized case-tracking
database, the structure and procedures are now formally in
place. This represents a significant achievement and a major
step forward in the fight against human trafficking in
Albania.

According to the National Coordinator, in 2006, the police
firmly identified 27 returnee victims of trafficking and
another 141 cases of suspected trafficking; all 168 were
referred to shelters. This is an increase from 64 in 2005,
though still down from 260 in 2004. Both the NVRC in Tirana
and the Vatra Psycho-Social Center in Vlora provide shelter
and medical services for trafficking victims. According to
data issued by the Vatra Center in 2006, the shelter
accommodated 208 Albanian girls, women, and children. Of
those, 123 were new victims of trafficking, a decrease of
nearly 20% compared to 2004. Fifty-six of the cases referred
to Vatra had been trafficked at least once previously.
Seventy-nine had been repatriated from EU countries, mostly
Greece and Italy, and were referred mostly by police, but
also by NGOs and families.

According to the Different & Equal shelter (the former IOM
shelter) report on its reintegration program for Albanian
trafficking victims, 27 new cases of Albanian victims of
trafficking and 33 cases referred in 2006 had been trafficked
at least once previously, all women and girls. Most of them
were unable or unwilling to return to their former homes and
received shelter, protection, and medical, social, legal, and
other services. The Tjeter Vizion shelter accommodated 30
new cases of Albanian victims of trafficking in 2006.

In the last half of 2006, all of the private NGO-run shelters
have complained that the police directorate in the southern
city of Gjirokaster, that covers one of the major
border-crossing points with Greece, has not fully cooperated
in referring victims and/or potential victims to them.


D. In principle, all police officers who work in
anti-trafficking units throughout Albania have received
training from a variety of NGOs and international donors. As
a result, they increasingly recognize that trafficked women
and children are victims, not criminals, and treat them as
such. NGOs report that, overall, anti-trafficking police are
better trained, conduct appropriate screening, and refer
victims to local shelters. One area of concern, however, is
that despite the amount of police training on the issue of
trafficking and victim identification in Albania, over the
past year many police who had been trained were either
terminated as part of the ASP restructuring process or were
transferred to other duties and were replaced with new and
untrained officers. This high turnover in the police force
over the past year limits the value and usefulness of the
training's practical implementation.


E. Victims are encouraged to testify against traffickers, but
often refuse to testify or change their testimony as a result
of intimidation by traffickers. According to statistics
provided by the National Coordinator, in 2006, only 20 out of
227 suspected or identified victims of trafficking formally
denounced their traffickers. In 2005, GOA began to use the
new witness protection law passed in 2004 (see Item 9B
above). OPDAT is donating videoconferencing equipment to the

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Serious Crimes Court, the court with jurisdiction over
trafficking cases, so that witnesses may testify remotely and
have their identities protected. SECI is donating
complementary equipment to the ASP and the General
Prosecutor's office. This equipment should be installed in
all three institutions in 2007. In 2006, no victims of
trafficking benefited from witness protection programs. The
2007 GOA budget for witness protection is $450,000, up from
$200,000 in 2006.

Albanian law allows for civil lawsuits; however victims
generally do not initiate lawsuits due to distrust of the
police and the judiciary as well as the length of time
required to complete the civil procedure. Under Albanian
law, court testimony is given 48 hours to ten days after the
arrest, after which foreign witnesses are free to be
repatriated. Victims are not prohibited from seeking other
employment or leaving the country. (See item 11A for
information regarding Albania's asset seizure law).


F. The National Victim Referral Center (NVRC) -- operated by
the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
(MOLSAEO) and rehabilitated in part by USAID funding --
provides assistance to Albanian trafficking victims, illegal
migrants, and children, in addition to third-country national
trafficking victims. The NVRC offers the following services,
in addition to basic sustenance: vocational/employment
training, psycho-social assistance, medical assistance, legal
assistance, rehabilitation training, and family
reunification. Despite the name, the NVRC serves more as a
shelter protecting Albanian women and children victims and
foreign victims and illegal migrants for short periods of
time (typically one to three months) involved in court
proceedings and in need of police protection, rather than a
reintegration center, with other victims being referred to
the shelters elsewhere (D&E, Tjeter Vizion, and Vatra).
There is no juvenile justice system in Albania. Child
victims are placed in the same shelters as adults, but in
separate quarters.


G. The GOA does not provide any specialized training for
government officials in assisting victims of trafficking,
though mandatory training for police and customs officials is
included in the National Action Plan. Police and prosecutors
received training from a variety of international donors
during the reporting period (see Item 9G above). Specialized
training for Albania's diplomatic and consular staff in
recognizing and assisting potential Albanian trafficking
victims abroad is also part of the NAP, but has yet to be
implemented. More training for police and prosecutors
assigned to TIP cases is needed in order to help them better
understand new witness protection legislation, the specific
nature of trafficking offenses, the pertinent provisions of
the Albanian Penal Code, new "special investigative means"
available in anti-trafficking investigations, and the
particular protection needs of trafficking victims. Over the
reporting period, CAAHT grantees and partners continued to
work with local stakeholders in anti-trafficking activities,
which included roundtables, working groups, and awareness
sessions. Also, the Transnational Action against Child
Trafficking (TACT) project, co-funded by USAID and
implemented by Terre des hommes (Tdh) and Arsis (a Greek
NGO),targeted state social services in their prevention and
protection activities. The project included training on
child protection and working with vulnerable communities.


H. See item 12F above.


I. Thirteen NGOs and international organizations cooperate in
the Together Against Child Trafficking (initials BKTF in
Albanian) Coalition and focus specifically on child
trafficking and child victim protection issues. The
coalition is a key partner of the GOA in addressing the
issues of child protection and child trafficking and the BKTF
strongly influenced the development of Albania's Child
Anti-Trafficking Strategy, adopted in 2005.

The TACT program also delivers trafficking awareness raising

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programs and provides protection services for returned
victims and those at risk. Both TdH and Arsis are members of
the BKTF. The TACT project is currently in its third phase
and is shifting its focus from direct support of victims to
enabling local structures (such as the Child Protection
Units, as described above) to provide more sustainable forms
of support.

Under the framework of protecting returned victims and those
at risk, 1,542 children have benefited from protection
services under the TACT project. In 2006, TACT has led to
the identification of 93 new cases of child victims of
trafficking in Albania and 112 new cases of Albanian child
victims of trafficking in Greece. Since its inception, the
project has helped 684 children reintegrate into schools and
society.

In partnership with local municipalities, the TACT project
has also led to the creation of five Child Protection Units
(CPU) around the country. The CPUs both identify and provide
social services to at-risk and returned victims. For the
latter, it assists children in the process of reintegration.
TACT is building capacity within the CPUs to allow them to
take over the TACT files once the project close. These local
focal points will also provide awareness campaign information
to students and serve as referral points in identifying
children at risk (for example, school drop-outs) and those in
need of assistance by local social workers. Ongoing areas to
be addressed by prevention efforts include: children at risk
following their departure from state orphanage institutions
or return from having been trafficked or forced to work
abroad, birth registration of children and families with
state authorities, and school reintegration of children,
especially those from vulnerable and marginalized communities.

Another member of the BKTF, Save the Children, cooperated
with other local organizations to develop
school-reintegration programs for children who were
trafficked and offer life-skills training. The specific
objective of the partnership project between Save the
Children and Children of the World and Albania, a local NGO,
was to reduce the vulnerability of children at risk of
trafficking by supporting formal and non-formal education.

The CAAHT project, which has been renewed for an additional
three years to run through 2009, supports the efforts of
local and international NGOs to address trafficking in women
and children. CAAHT has a particular focus on prevention and
reintegration through the strengthening of civil society,
NGO, and GOA capacity in these areas.

CAAHT consists of a small grants project, which in the first
phase of the project (2003 ) 2006) supported 23 local and
international NGOS working in prevention and reintegration.
In 2006, 27,141 women and children have participated in
prevention programs conducted by civil society through the
CAAHT program. Prevention activities vary from
house-to-house awareness campaigns to anti-trafficking themed
radio soap opera programs to the training of journalists on
ethical reporting, birth registration and legal protection of
at-risk youth, and the development of a Tirana University
curriculum on anti-trafficking for social workers. In the
same year, CAAHT-sponsored assistance and reintegration
programs supported 191 victims of trafficking. CAAHT has
recently announced the fourth grant round to support local
and international NGOs in 2007.

In addition to the small grants component, CAAHT has also
established regional cluster groups (RCGs) which met 18 times
in key cities throughout the north, east, south, and central
parts of the country, bringing together multiple stakeholders
involved in the fight against trafficking to increase
coordination and prevention efforts in this field this past
year. At the request of RCG members, CAAHT-initiated working
groups are moving to local levels to give more voice to local
actors and government representatives to implement change
directly in their own communities. This momentum resulted in
an Administrative Order issued by the Prime Minister in June

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2006 to create 12 Prefect-led Regional Committees in the
Fight Against Trafficking in Human Beings. (See also 9E
above).

As noted above, for victims of trafficking, there are three
primary NGO-run shelters that work directly with victims of
trafficking to assist them with reintegration and several
other NGOs that are implementing prevention and awareness
activities to counter trafficking in their communities. The
primary NGO-run shelters are Different and Equal (D&E),
Tjeter Vizion, and the Vatra Psycho-Social Center (Vatra). In
addition there is the State-run National Victim Referral
Center (NVRC),which is also operated with support from
private NGOs (See Item 11A above).

D&E was awarded a grant through the USAID-funded CAAHT
project, with additional funding from the Dutch Embassy, to
assist in the protection and reintegration of repatriated
trafficked women and girls in Tirana. In addition to
providing shelter, the center provides reintegration
assistance, medical care, educational opportunities, job
training, and job placement services for victims. Another
CAAHT grantee, Tjeter Vizion also runs a project which has
two main foci: one on the social rehabilitation and
integration of minors who have been trafficked and another on
the reduction of trafficking through the provision of social
services to at-risk and vulnerable groups. It builds on the
organization's successful work with school dropouts using
non-formal basic education. Tjeter Vizion,s services
include two shelters (one for children and another for women)
and secure apartments in the district of Elbasan. In the last
year, 30 victims of trafficking received assistance and
reintegration services from Tjeter Vizion.

NOMINATION OF HEROES AND BEST PRACTICES
--------------


13. (SBU) TIP HEROES. Post nominates Albania's National
Anti-Trafficking Coordinator and Deputy Minister of the
Interior Iva Zajmi and former head of the returnee process
within the border and migration police, Zija Hasaj, as TIP
heroes for 2006. Both have made exceptional contributions in
helping Albania meet the minimum TIP standards. Both nominees
are currently undergoing vetting for human rights and other
possible ineligibilities.

Since assuming the anti-trafficking portfolio in 2005, Zajmi
has reinvigorated the country's efforts and has made
excellent strides in implementing the provision of the NAP.
Her major accomplishments include the creation of the
National Referral Mechanism, the conclusion of the
Albanian-Greek Cooperative Agreement, the establishment of
the Responsible Authority, and a toll-free helpline. Zajmi
has also been the force behind the creation of Regional
Anti-Trafficking Committees that are designed to move the
fight against trafficking out of the capital and into the
rural areas where it frequently begins.

After being assigned to reopen the Rinas Airport interview
and reception center, Zija Hasaj, at his own initiative,
coordinated with the local Chief of Commissariat, as well as
with representatives of Anti-Trafficking structures within
the ASP, to develop handling and interview training material
QQ"T>Qfor returned persons. He ensured development of local border
crossing point implementing procedures and related follow-up
requirements in a effort to start the National Referral
Mechanism. Hasaj accomplished this in an environment that was
highly resistant to change. Commissar Hasaj had over twenty
years of service in the ASP and was wounded in the line of
duty. Regrettably, Commissar Hasaj was forced to resign from
the ASP due to the reduction of ASP ranks. Nonetheless, his
efforts were a prime example of a mid-level official who
understood the problem of trafficking and went beyond the
minimum to enact change -- rare qualities, especially in this
environment. Hasaj showed exceptional integrity in his
anti-trafficking position. He currently resides with his
family in Tirana.


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14. (SBU) BEST PRACTICES. Post would like to recommend two
initiatives launched over the past year that seek to move the
focus of anti-trafficking efforts out of the capital and into
the rural areas. The first is the creation of Regional
Anti-Trafficking Committees in each of Albania's 12
prefectures. Under the leadership of the Prefect, who
represents the central government, committees have been
formed that bring together local police, education, and
social service officials to coordinate local anti-trafficking
efforts. Local NGOs also participate as observers. The
second is the creation of Child Protection Units in five
municipalities around the country. This represents a
significant development because for the first time there will
be a sustainable organizational structure outside the capital
that serves to deliver social services specifically to both
at-risk and identified victims of child trafficking.
RIES