TIRANA, July 1 /ATA/ The US Department of State published on Thursday the 2021 trafficking in persons report.
Regarding the part for Albania, the report underlines that the Government of Albania does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Albania remained on Tier 2.
These efforts included prosecuting more defendants and significantly increasing resources to the government-run shelter. The government transferred resources to a fund of seized criminal assets for victim support services, and the Development Center for Criminal Justice for Minors (DCCJ) produced documents to strengthen child protection and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for authorities working with child victims. The government appointed a new national coordinator to the Office of the National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator (ONAC). However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. The government did not convict any traffickers, identified fewer victims, and decreased resources to NGO-run shelters. The government lacked screening efforts for vulnerable populations—particularly migrants, asylum-seekers, individuals in commercial sex, and children—and mobile victim identification units (MIU) remained underfunded and staffed despite identifying most of the victims every year.
The report also recommends to vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers—including complicit officials—under Articles 110(a) and 128(b) of the criminal code. • Increase efforts to screen vulnerable populations and train police, labor inspectors, and other front-line officials on proactive identification of victims. • Institutionalize and provide training for law enforcement, prosecutors, and judicial officials, particularly district prosecutors, on investigating and prosecuting trafficking cases, including guidance on issues of consent and coercion in the context of labor and sex trafficking. • Increase funding and create funding mechanisms that allocate adequate funding and resources on a consistent and regular basis to the NGO-run shelters for trafficking victims. • Improve the sustainability of, and law enforcement participation in, mobile trafficking victim identification units. • Expand the jurisdiction of labor inspectors to inspect businesses that are not legally registered. • Increase reintegration services, including access to mental health services for victims and education for child victims. • Implement victim-centered approaches and victim-witness protection measures during investigation, prosecution, and court proceedings.
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