MACEDONIA: NEW TIP COMBATING AND PREVENTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000589 SIPDIS FOR G/TIP, EUR/PGI, EUR/SCE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PBTS SMIG SOCI ELAB TI KS SR GR, MK SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: NEW TIP COMBATING AND PREVENTION ACTIVITIES SKOPJE 00000589 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Macedonia has continued to refine its victim protection and TIP prevention activities and is attending to the shortcomings identified in its established TIP infrastructure. Partnering with the international community, the government has begun expansive training projects focused on the continued dissemination of the nation's Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and addressing the nation's changing TIP atmosphere. The government has also extended its efforts to root out corruption where it increases Macedonia's vulnerability to human trafficking, and has continued to assume more direct financial responsibility for TIP victim protection. Macedonia has broadened its efforts to improve TIP awareness and high-ranking Macedonian officials have continued to demonstrate their commitment to fighting TIP through domestic and international engagement. In June, a TIP NGO, working with GoM support, received a major international award for its work. (End Summary) -------------- -------------- Building Capacity and Strengthening Victim Identification -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The success Macedonia has achieved in eliminating traditional forms of trafficking in recent years has allowed the government to focus on programs that maximize TIP awareness and victim identification capabilities, as well as to re-focus some energy on uncovering the more discreet victim profiles and more subtle forms of trafficking that have emerged as a result of that success. One important goal for Macedonia this year is to increase national capacities to expose and eradicate potential labor trafficking crimes. To address this, the Ministry of Labor and OSCE have begun a series of four three-day workshops focused on training more than 120 labor inspectors. The trainings are designed to help the inspectors identify the less obvious indicators of labor trafficking and educate them on appropriate procedures for investigating and reporting those crimes through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The OSCE reported that the new Director of the State Labor Inspectorate has shown enthusiasm for these trainings and has been an advocate for the participation and education of the labor inspectors. ¶3. (SBU) In a separate project, utilizing Macedonia's EU Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) funds, the IOM and the Ministry of Interior have begun a five week intensive training aimed at improving the understanding and consistent implementation of the SOPs in victim identification by front-line law enforcement officials. Eight two-day seminars will be conducted to train 250 local police and border police throughout the country. The trainings will include a special focus on identifying the new, more discreet victim profile and adapting police methods to the changing modus operandi of traffickers that have emerged due to Macedonia's vigorous crackdown on human trafficking over the past three years. Those trainings will be followed by a specialized training for prosecutors, members of the Ministry of Interior's Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, and the office of the NRM to ensure proper and efficient coordination between local authorities and central government authorities. These trainings specifically address recommendations from the international community that Macedonia seek to more thoroughly implement the SOPs at regional levels. -------------- Fighting Corruption -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Due to the rise in human smuggling cases transiting through Macedonia in the last couple of years, law enforcement officials have increased their efforts to root out any corruption that makes Macedonia more vulnerable to organized international human smuggling and trafficking networks. On July 1, 13 people in Macedonia, including one senior MOI police officer, were arrested and charged with human smuggling for the smuggling of Asian migrants from Serbia, through Macedonia, to Greece. Operation "Kanis" (as the case has been dubbed) was coordinated in cooperation with Serbian officials through the SECI center. ¶5. (SBU) Separately, beginning on August 25, the Organized Crime Unit began arresting border police and customs officers in operation "Boomerang" for allegedly taking and/or soliciting bribes at border entry points. To date, 92 officers have been arrested and an additional 52 officers are still being investigated. There is no evidence connecting these bribes to smuggling or TIP crimes, but Macedonian authorities consider "Boomerang" a significant win in securing the borders against vulnerabilities to international SKOPJE 00000589 002.2 OF 002 smuggling and trafficking crimes. -------------- - Government Funding of TIP Combating Activities -------------- - ¶6. (SBU) For the first time, the new National Action Plan (NAP) for combating trafficking, formally adopted by the government earlier this year, included detailed funding responsibilities. Previously the NAP only detailed Macedonia,s specific TIP combating goals and objectives but did not define specific funding sources to achieve those goals. Therefore, where ambiguity existed, the ministries tended to pass the buck and some activities went unfunded. Now, every one of the goals and objectives in the NAP includes a funding directive that defines which ministries are responsible for funding that specific activity. This change will make budget allocations easier and compel ministerial accountability for TIP combating responsibilities. This year the GoM also completed the process of taking over full financial responsibility for the office of the NRM. (Note: The NRM was previously working within the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy but its employees and activities were mostly funded by the OSCE. End Note) In addition, the government has finally settled on an appropriate building for the new government-run shelter for domestic victims of trafficking and-- in conjunction with the two NGOs that will run the shelter-- is developing plans to get the shelter fully operational. The government's Agency of Youth and Sports also granted the NGO OpenGate direct government funding to continue TIP prevention lectures to youth around the country. -------------- On-going Efforts to Elevate TIP Awareness -------------- ¶7. (U) Seeking to address client demand for trafficking victims, the National Anti-Trafficking Commission (NC) has translated the IOM's "Buy Responsibly" demand reduction awareness campaign into Macedonian and will be broadcasting the campaign over the state television network. On October 18, EU Anti-trafficking day, the National Commission distributed anti-trafficking flyers and brochures in Skopje's two largest shopping centers. The NC is in the process of organizing nationwide TIP awareness campaigns and prevention activities for its annual National Anti-Trafficking week, which will be held again in December. -------------- International Coordination -------------- ¶8. (SBU) In addition to the domestic awareness activities conducted on EU Anti-Trafficking day, the Macedonian Ministers of Interior and Justice attended a TIP conference in Brussels. Both delivered speeches on the continued importance of combating trafficking throughout Europe. Through a post nomination, the Minister of the Interior and Director of the NGO OpenGate have been selected to attend the State Department's "The Courage to Lead: Women World Leader's Summit" in Geneva, Switzerland in December for their efforts and success in fighting TIP in Macedonia. In September, senior officials from the National Anti-trafficking Commission had an extensive meeting with the Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy General Prosecutor of Tajikistan on best practices for combating TIP. The Tajik officials sought advice from Macedonia on ways they could implement effective anti-TIP programs in their own country. -------------- Macedonian NGO Wins Major International Award -------------- ¶9. (U) In June, the Macedonian TIP NGO OpenGate received the 2009 ERSTE Foundation Award for Social Integration for their Child Trafficking Prevention Campaign. OpenGate's project included visits to almost 50 schools in the highest risk areas of Macedonia, reaching approximately 3000 students from ages 11-18 and more than 60 teachers to educate them on the threats of human trafficking. The NGO's project was awarded first prize out of 1,300 projects from eight different countries. The prize included a 40,000 EURO award for future project funding. NAVRATIL