Sexual trafficking in Kosovo
Encyclopedia
Since the establishment of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in 1999, It has been known to the international community that Kosovo
is a major destination territory for human trafficking, women and young girls trafficked into forced prostitution
. According to Amnesty International
, most of women are trafficked from Moldova
, Romania
, Bulgaria
and Ukraine
.
In the 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report, Kosovo was identified as source, transit and destination country for woman and children, victims of the human trafficking, especially the forced prostitution
.
in Kosovo between December 2000 and December 2003. According to the IOM, 48 per cent of women who have entered its repatriation program - enabling them to return to their home country - originated from Moldova. Of the remainder, 21 per cent came from Romania, 14 per cent from Ukraine, six per cent from Bulgaria, three per cent from Albania and the remainder from Russia and Serbia proper."
, the former chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor, claimed in her memoirs, that at least 300 ethnic Serbs
were murdered and their organs stolen by Kosovo Liberation Army
during and after the Kosovo War
in 1999. These claims were met with criticism in the Western and Albanian press.
In 2009, Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević claimed there was significant progress in investigation of the case of the yellow house
, located in Northern Albania, where organs were harvested from kidnapped Serbs, non-Albanians from Kosovo, Czech and Russian citizens. Organs were later sold in the black market. Albanian administration of Kosovo denied to cooperate with Serbian and international investigators on the case, but several arrests of medics practicing illegal surgery were made in Kosovo, allegedly in connection to the case.
.
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
is a major destination territory for human trafficking, women and young girls trafficked into forced prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
. According to Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, most of women are trafficked from Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
In the 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report, Kosovo was identified as source, transit and destination country for woman and children, victims of the human trafficking, especially the forced prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
.
Origins of Demand
Human trafficking in Kosovo has seen "a steep rise" since NATO troops and UN administrators took over Kosovo. According to Amnesty International, NATO servicemen and UN staff "generate 80% of the income" for pimps and human traffickers. UN Department of peacekeeping claimed that "peacekeepers have come to be seen as part of the problem in trafficking rather than the solution". Amnesty found no evidence of criminal proceedings against NATO military personnel in their home countries.Source countries
Amnesty International reports that, "Some 406 foreign women were assisted by the IOMInternational Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration to help resettle people displaced by World War II....
in Kosovo between December 2000 and December 2003. According to the IOM, 48 per cent of women who have entered its repatriation program - enabling them to return to their home country - originated from Moldova. Of the remainder, 21 per cent came from Romania, 14 per cent from Ukraine, six per cent from Bulgaria, three per cent from Albania and the remainder from Russia and Serbia proper."
Reluctance of Kosovo administration
2010 Trafficking in Persons Report said "the Kosovo government did not follow the minimal measures to eliminate for the trafficking elimination". This regards to both forced prostitution, and forced begging.Organ trafficking
Carla Del PonteCarla Del Ponte
Carla Del Ponte is a former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals. A former Swiss attorney general, she was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in August...
, the former chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor, claimed in her memoirs, that at least 300 ethnic Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
were murdered and their organs stolen by Kosovo Liberation Army
Kosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA was a Kosovar Albanian paramilitary organization which sought the separation of Kosovo from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s....
during and after the Kosovo War
Kosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
in 1999. These claims were met with criticism in the Western and Albanian press.
In 2009, Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević claimed there was significant progress in investigation of the case of the yellow house
Yellow House
Yellow House can refer to the:*Yellow House , the second LP from Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear*Yellow House , van Gogh painting of house where 19th century artists Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin lived...
, located in Northern Albania, where organs were harvested from kidnapped Serbs, non-Albanians from Kosovo, Czech and Russian citizens. Organs were later sold in the black market. Albanian administration of Kosovo denied to cooperate with Serbian and international investigators on the case, but several arrests of medics practicing illegal surgery were made in Kosovo, allegedly in connection to the case.
UN knowledge about human trafficking
In February 2011, news site "French24" obtained classified documents showing UN knew within year 2003 about human trafficking of human organs, with some named victims and testiomionials of involved Albanians. Report dating to 2003 describes criminal involvement of senior commanders of KLAKLA
KLA may refer to:*Kaella, a French Linux distribution based on Knoppix*KLA-Tencor, semiconductor equipment company*Kerala Library Association, professional association for librarians in Kerala*Klamath-Modoc language - ISO 639-3 code kla...
.
External links
- 'Kosovo: Trafficked women and girls have human rights - Amnesty International
- Amnesty International - Kosovo: Facts and figures on trafficking of women and girls for forced prostitution in Kosovo
- 'Nato force 'feeds Kosovo sex trade' - The Guardian
- 'Balkans urged to curb trafficking - BBC
- Kosovo leglo prostitucije
- UN knowledge about human trafficking