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)

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Building Capacity and Strengthening Victim Identification
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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.

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Fighting Corruption
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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

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smuggling and trafficking crimes.

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Government Funding of TIP Combating Activities
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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.

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On-going Efforts to Elevate TIP Awareness
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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.

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International Coordination
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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.

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Macedonian NGO Wins Major International Award
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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