Serbia Human Trafficking in Serbia: Srem is the Gate to EU

June 30, 2008

Comment: The Serbian Newspaper ‘Danas’ describes the daily fight of policemen against human trafficking in Serbia. *The Region of Srem which is close to the Croatian border is an important crossing point for migrants in their attempt to reach the EU.

The enforcement authorities of Srem have been rewarded by the Serbian Ministry of Interior for their efforts in tackling human trafficking in the region*. In 2007, 14 smugglers were arrested and the serbian police are continuing to enhance the measures in order to charge and convict the traffickers with smuggling, since one of the conditions for Serbia to enter the EU is the prevention of human trafficking within its borders. Slavko Zivcic, a local policeman emphasised the importance of good cooperation between the different agencies involved in fighting this phenomenon (The Ministry of Interior of Serbia, Interpol and Europol). He said: “It would have been difficult to track the criminals and sentence them to prison without international aid.” The majority of migrants come from Albania and Turkey, but some Iranians and Iraqis also try to cross the border without permission.

‘Danas’ also reports that the smugglers often try to mislead migrants by saying that they are in Germany. Moreover, a large number of migrants are minors. Consequently they are vulnerable to exploitation. The journalist quotes an Iraqi woman who has experienced the long and difficult jouney to Europe. She says that her son died on the way and smugglers threw his body out of the truck into a ditch without stopping.

The author concludes by stressing that the role of the enforcement authorities is to ensure that the victim is protected from any kind of threat in order to be able to charge the criminals.

Eventually, it is worth saying that this article was published on the eve of the formation of the new pro-european government. And the Karadzic’s arrest confirms the good will of the new governement to work hand in hand with the European Institutions in order to enter the EU in the near future.

The original article can be found here