ADDENDUM TO 2009 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SKOPJE 000065 SIPDIS G/TIP, G-ACBLANK, INL, DRL, PRM, EUR/PGI, EUR/SCE, INFO USAID, DOJ, DHS, DOL, DOT E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2013 TAGS: PREF PHUM KCRM KTIP KWMN SMIG ASEC ELAB MK SUBJECT: ADDENDUM TO 2009 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT FOR MACEDONIA Classified By: CDA THOMAS NAVRATIL FOR REASONS 1.5 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: The following information serves as an addendum to Macedonia,s 2009 TIP report and provides details about ongoing criminal investigations into trafficking and smuggling related corruption by government officials. The information was passed to Post in high confidence by the Head of the Sector for Anti-Trafficking and Smuggling in Persons and labeled &classified8 by Macedonia,s Ministry of the Interior (MOI). Investigations are underway for suspected cases of corruption within immigration enforcement and airport police. (End Summary) ¶2. (C) During a raid on a club in the village of Bogovinje, police identified a number of Serbian citizens working as waitresses and prostitutes with apparently valid residence permits. Upon further investigation police identified one of the Serbs as a woman previously deported and banned from re-entry into Macedonia. Further investigation by the MOI revealed that her residency permit had been forged. The Sector for Internal Control is currently conducting an investigation into the likelihood that immigration officials are forging residency documents. ¶3. (C) In similar raids in Tetovo and Gostivar, police discovered female citizens of Albania, Kosovo and Serbia illegally employed and carrying work permits bearing the names of Macedonian citizens with whom they had no connection and the addresses of residences where they had never stayed. Another investigation exposed a number of Albanian and Kosovar females who obtained residency permits through fictitious marriages. The MOI believes both sets of crimes are related and the Sector for Internal Control is also conducting investigations into these falsified work and residency permits. ¶4. (C) In a migrant smuggling operation dubbed &Meni8 the MOI placed an undercover agent in the Skopje airport to investigate police corruption related to migrant smuggling. The report verified corrupt activities in the airport and was recently sent to the Public Prosecutor for Organized Crime to seek formal charges and begin prosecution. NAVRATIL