International anti-trafficking center inaugurated
EU countries help Albania stamp out European-wide phenomenon

On October 15th, the Albanian Ministry of Public Order, along with diplomats from Greece, Italy and Germany, opened the International Anti-trafficking Center in the coastal city of Vlora. The center will coordinate the monitoring of illegal trafficking in people and goods, help in the exchange of intelligence and work to coordinate police actions.

This center is the first of its kind to be opened in Europe and marks a major milestone in the fight against illegal trafficking. Vlora is not the origin of the activity; however, its geographic position at the meeting point of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas makes it a popular transit point for moving goods and people from east to west. This port town has served as a point of passage for young women lured into prostitution.

Albania’s international image has been damaged by such activity. The opening of this center in cooperation with the EU will give Albania a major public relations boost. Martin Frick, Vice Ambassador from Germany, said, "I think it’s very important notonly to stop trafficking from the supply side but also raise awareness on the demand side because these girls are forced to work as prostitutes for West European customers and not southeast European customers. This is our part of the guilt."

During his address at the center’s inauguration ceremony Prime Minister Ilir Meta said that Albanian waters would be forever off limits to this trafficking; however, the city of Vlora will remain open to foreign investment. "We’re giving Vlora’s citizens and the citizens of Albania a center for progress and development," said Meta.

Since opening, the center has supplied the Vlora police with information that led to the seizure of four speedboats used by traffickers. Such actions will not be limited to Vlora. Vice Ambassador Frick said that police from all over the region are at the disposal of the center. "If we learn that somebody managed his way out of Albania we have to inform the Italian Guardia di Financa, or the German border police," said Frick. "It will take a joint effort to fight this organized crime."

In addition to the work being carried out at the center, starting on November 1 the Albanian State Police picked up the pace and intensity of their anti-trafficking campaign. With participation of 12 precincts and rapid deployment forces, the recent operations targeted trafficking networks, smugglers of documents for human trafficking and their points of operation. A total of 275 people were arrested and so far 81 of those are in legal proceedings.

There is, however, another facet of the human trafficking problem. What happens to the women who are rescued and what is being done to prevent this from happening in the first place

Mimoza Gjika, Program Director of the Open Society Foundation of Albania, says that her organization runs shelters for women who have been freed from forced prostitution. These centers also provide these women with counseling.

Vice Ambassador Frick says that the German Embassy works with NGO’s on grass-roots programs and public service broadcasts in order to "make people understand that if someone comes to your daughter and offers a very good paying job in Western Europe that you have to be more careful."