This article produced by the Council of Europe was originally published by the daily newspaper “Oslobođenje” on 05 December 2024.

In April 2024, a police operation in Banja Luka exposed a dangerous network of human traffickers. During a raid of a rented apartment, two people were arrested on suspicion of international recruitment and incitement to prostitution. Two victims, foreign nationals, who were exploited for the provision of sexual services were discovered and given immediate care.

This coordinated operation, led by the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the participation of the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska and the Intelligence and Security Agency of BiH, and with the support of international partners EUROPOL, EUROJUST and INTERPOL, exposed a well-organized human trafficking group operating in the European Union, recruiting victims from outside the EU for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

The perpetrators mainly relied on online platforms for offering illegal services, confirming the growing role of new technologies in human trafficking.

Networking and exchange

The first step in the chain that led to this police operation was made by the prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, Ahmed Mešić, while preparing a presentation for the Council of Europe roundtable session on online technologically-facilitated human trafficking. In his research, he discovered and documented sites offering “escort” services. At the roundtable session, he established cooperation with an IT criminal expert at the RS Interior Ministry, and the investigation began to take shape.

Thanks to newly acquired knowledge about preventing human trafficking in the digital sphere, the competent authorities quickly investigated the website, temporarily freezing and preserving the content as evidence. All this dealt a significant blow to the organized ring of human traffickers and contributed to the April operation in which two victims were rescued.

Dissemination of knowledge

On 5 December 2024, 14 experts from law enforcement agencies and labour inspectorates were officially presented with Council of Europe certificates enabling them to independently train their colleagues in combating human trafficking, with a special focus on labour exploitation.

The ceremony also marked the culmination of a two-year Council of Europe project in Bosnia and Herzegovina to strengthen institutional action against human trafficking. As part of this project, a series of trainings and workshops were organised, including the roundtable session that led to the successful cooperation and operation in Banja Luka. Expert support was also provided in the development of the BiH Anti-Trafficking Strategy 2024-2027. The newly certified experts have already had the opportunity to independently conduct trainings in four cities across BiH.

It is particularly important to highlight the participation of the association “Novi početak”, as it is the only non-governmental organisation in BiH that brings together survivors of human trafficking. Led by Marko Tamindžija and Seudin Zoletić, survivors of labour exploitation in Azerbaijan, this NGO has organized several public events and offered victims’ personal perspectives in the development of policies and strategies.

Broad cooperation

According to official data from BiH institutions, the majority of victims of human trafficking are women and children. Forced begging is the most prevalent form of trafficking, followed by forced prostitution, sexual and labour exploitation, forced marriages, and coercion to commit criminal acts. Tackling this complex problem requires an interdisciplinary approach and broad domestic and international cooperation.

Certified trainer Daliborka Kalabić (RS Interior Ministry) emphasizes that the fight against human trafficking is based on several components: prevention, protection and assistance to victims, prosecution of perpetrators, and partnership with all stakeholders. “The most important thing is to do everything possible to prevent human trafficking through a multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach. However, once a crime has been committed, the priority becomes providing assistance to victims,” adds Kalabić, emphasizing the importance of timely and swift action to counter the culture of impunity.

“Human trafficking is a phenomenon that constantly takes on new forms and new ways of committing crimes. The main challenge is to stay up to date with new trends and be able to recognize them,” says certified trainer Edin Manjo (MoI of the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton). In this regard, training police officers and other stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking is very important.

Mešić adds that the overall approach should be victim-oriented in order to prevent re-traumatization, but also to ensure compensation for damage in criminal proceedings. “The contribution of all actors, including my own, will be to further improve the treatment of victims of human trafficking, while applying the practices learned and the experience gained through the Council of Europe project,” he added.

The engagement of the entire society

All three experts emphasize the importance of informing, educating, and including the NGO sector and the wider public. NGOs play a particularly important role in providing assistance to victims, running safe houses and providing free legal aid. Their information is also used in creating strategies and monitoring reports. “I believe that BiH is currently facing the greatest challenges in identifying potential victims and providing assistance and protection, while, in my opinion, other segments are at a satisfactory level,” concludes Manjo.

“The best mechanism for effectively combating this problem is the establishment of full coordination and partnership between state institutions, civil society organizations and international organizations, so that the referral mechanism can respond to all challenges in the best and most efficient way possible, starting from the identification of victims to their full reintegration into society,” believes Stanislava Tanić, Head of the Office for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings at the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The path to empowering victims of trafficking is through improved access to justice and legal aid, as well as compensation for the harm they have suffered, and the Council of Europe will continue to direct its efforts in this direction.

The two-year Council of Europe project “Strengthening Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in Bosnia and Herzegovina” is funded by voluntary contributions under the Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2022-2025, with the aim of providing policy and legislative advice, as well as technical support to the competent authorities, drawing on the recommendations of the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA).