STEADY PROGRESS ON KOSOVO'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000314

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR G/TIP, G - ACBLANK, EUR/SCE, EUR/PGI, INL, DRL, PRM, USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KTIP KCRM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB KV
SUBJECT: STEADY PROGRESS ON KOSOVO'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS

Ref: Pristina 20

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Kosovo devotes high-level government attention to
anti-trafficking and continues to make steady progress. A recent
investigation into five Kosovo Police officers suspected of
involvement in trafficking resulted in suspensions, and prosecutors
are continuing the investigation. The Ministry of Internal Affairs
(MOIA) is staffing its new Anti-Trafficking Secretariat and hired
the first staff member in May. Secretariat employees will, as part
of their duties, use a new TIP database to help track victims of
trafficking (VOT) and their traffickers, redressing a shortcoming in
the MOIA's use of court data. Ongoing concerns include an
unexplained decrease in the number of identified VOT, and the
limited use of shelters by TIP victims. END SUMMARY.

Taking Action:
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2. (SBU) On March 3, the Kosovo Police (KP) suspended, with pay,
five officers on suspicion of Abuse of Authority, Trafficking in
Persons, and Facilitating Prostitution. Three of the officers
worked at Pristina Airport with the Kosovo Border Police. The other
two worked in the Office for Immigration and Foreigners (OIF) and
were in regular contact with known traffickers. Standard procedure
requires that all foreigners intending to work in Kosovo must first
register at the OIF. When victims of trafficking (VOT) arrived, the
officers at the airport would direct them to the OIF, which would
ensure they received one-year resident permits. The victims, now
legal residents, were then forced to work for traffickers at local
bars. The KP's Trafficking in Human Beings Section (THBS) linked
the five officers to known traffickers via text messages sent from
their cell phones. Once THBS established the link, they suspended
the officers with pay and turned the case over to the Kosovo Special
Prosecutors Office for further investigation, which is ongoing.

The Anti-Trafficking Secretariat:
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3. (SBU) In May 2009, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MOIA)
reestablished and hired one employee for its Anti-Trafficking
Secretariat, which had lapsed following the departure of Kosovo's
first National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator (NATC). When fully
staffed, the Secretariat will have three employees. Previously, the
NATC relied on political advisors with limited involvement in the
GOK's anti-TIP efforts to implement directives. With the
Secretariat, the NATC gains an action arm that will professionalize
the GOK's anti-TIP efforts and allow employees to develop
specialized expertise.


4. (SBU) The new Secretariat is bolstering the GOK's ability to
track trafficking data. In response to the USG 2008 TIP report, and
its criticism of the GOK's limited trafficking data collection
efforts, the MOIA started looking for a solution and turned to the
International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) for
help. On June 8, the ICMPD donated to the Secretariat a database --
complete with training -- that will allow the MOIA to follow both
victims of trafficking (VOT) and traffickers from identification to
resolution, whether repatriation (in the case of VOT) or
incarceration (for traffickers). The Secretariat is pursuing
memoranda of understanding with relevant ministries and stakeholders
in the GOK -- including the Kosovo Police, the Ministry of Justice,
the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, and international and
local NGOs -- that will guarantee access to the information needed
to update the database. Once operational, the database will improve
Kosovo's poor record keeping on TIP-related criminal intelligence.

Identifying and Helping Victims:
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5. (SBU) From April 2007 to January 2008, the KP THBS reported 32
trafficking victims. For the same time period in 2008-2009, the KP
reported 24 victims. In recent discussions with the Kosovo Police

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about this drop, senior officers tell us that they are facing
problems in identifying victims of trafficking. Fewer women are
willing to admit they are victims, and the police are also assessing
whether or not previous interview techniques, which they say were
not as accurate as current methods, may have affected earlier VOT
totals.


6. (SBU) The GOK has established and funded TIP shelters (reftel),
but few VOT use them. The Center for the Protection of Victims and
Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings (PVPT) is sheltering four
VOT (their maximum capacity is five). Neither Hope and Homes (HAH)
nor the Interim Security Facility (ISF) are currently sheltering any
VOTs. The shelters are open, but not used. We are encouraging the
Anti-Tip Secretariat to develop an action plan for making better use
of these shelters.


7. (SBU) Comment: The Kosovo Police has taken a welcome step in
extending their TIP investigations to include members of their own
police force, although we withhold further praise until we see the
outcome. We are also encouraged that the GOK is resurrecting its
Anti-TIP Secretariat, and we are seeing signs that it is addressing
shortcomings in the GOK's anti-TIP regime. Now, the onus is on the
MOIA to use this new data to improve investigations and to identify
more victims of trafficking. With its shelters and its new
database, the GOK has some foundational elements for a decent
anti-TIP program, but we need to see some more action.
YAZDGERDI