Anti-trafficking institutions and civil society organisations met on 23 October 2020 to discuss the current situation in Serbia in the area of trafficking in human beings, the progress made since the committee’s last meeting in February 2020 and priorities for the upcoming period.
The representative of the local European Union Delegation, Marcello Repici, and the Head of the Council of Europe Co-operation Unit on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, Lilia Kolombet, reaffirmed the importance of implementing a holistic and proactive approach in identifying, referring and protecting victims of trafficking and the need to further strengthen the criminal justice response to trafficking in terms of more efficient investigation, prosecution and adjudication of trafficking cases.
“Enhancement of professional potential and knowledge of judges, prosecutors and lawyers is a strategic investment in prevention and protection of victims of human trafficking”, highlighted national co-ordinator for trafficking in human beings, Mitar Djuraskovic while discussing about significance of HELP online course, launched on 15 October 2020 for legal professionals. Some participants emphasised the need and relevance of increased efforts towards prevention of trafficking in children, others stressed that access to legal representation, justice and compensation for victims remain of a high importance in view of their recovery and economic empowerment.
The Steering Committee members highly praised the action’s interventions designed in line with the recommendations of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) formulated in its last country evaluation report. They welcomed the results achieved over the last months, which were highly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among these results, it was underlined that 37 law students completed the 9 modules of the on-line HELP course on trafficking in human beings in the period April-June 2020 and out of these 11 students applied for voluntary engagement with one anti-trafficking civil society organisation. In addition to that, another online HELP course for legal professionals (31 judges and prosecutors) has been launched for the period October-December 2020.
It was also noted that the capacities of the staff of the Shelter for trafficking victims were strengthened by on-line consultations and trainings on providing trauma-informed care and psychological support to victims, while a needs assessment started with both the Shelter and the Centre for Victims' Protection in order to design further trainings in particular regarding interviewing and protecting child victims.
In the same period, a vast majority (83%) of the Serbian labour inspectors have received basic knowledge on recognising signs of human trafficking for labour exploitation and referring victims to protection and assistance services. Furthermore, two grant-based awareness raising campaigns on trafficking for labour exploitation implemented by specialised civil society organisations are in the final phase, while campaigns on trafficking in children are planned for the next year. The focus of the campaigns is promoting human and social rights of workers, available assistance services, detection of signs of trafficking.
Finally, it was highlighted that the action has been preparing the curricula for capacity-building on child trafficking, which is a new topic addressed in second phase of the Horizontal Facility programme, in co-operation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological development. Trainings for educational professionals will start in November 2020.
This event was organised in the framework of the action "Preventing and combating trafficking in human beings in Serbia", which is a part of the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, implemented by the Council of Europe.
