OSCE warns of child trafficking in Kosovo

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the Terre des Hommes NGO are conducting a campaign against child trafficking.

The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness about the dangers of human trafficking, as well as the violations of children’s rights in Kosovo, many of whom are forced to beg on the streets, KIM Radio reports.

Artan Duraku, a political advisor in Kosovo’s Interior Ministry, says there are many underlying causes to the problem.

"Poverty may be one of them. That’s exactly why our ministry is conducting an action plan to stop human trafficking,” Duraku says.

"Child trafficking has not been treated as a crime or a form of organized crime until now,” he explains, adding that he hopes a different approach will be established with this new strategy.

Inadequate sentences for human trafficking are also a serious problem in Kosovo. Both Albanians and Serbs are mixed up in this illegal business.

Terre des Hommes NGO Chief Arthur Mark says that there are cases of human trafficking in Serb communities too.

"Roma children from the Osterode camp in Kosovska Mitrovica are involved here,” Mark explains.

The number of unsolved cases of human trafficking in Kosovo is high, believed to be due to the increasing adeptness of Albanian criminal networks’ activities, KIM Radio reports.