”Evidence shows that unaccompanied migrant children are the most vulnerable category when it comes to human trafficking, both in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and in the entire Western Balkans, ” Laura Lungarotti, head of the Organization for Migration (IOM) mission in BiH and regional coordinator for the Western Balkans, said in an interview with Radio Free Europe (RSE).
Although progress has been made in BiH, the number of identified foreign victims of human trafficking is still low.
RSE: The latest data in BiH show that there are children among the 56 identified victims of human trafficking this year, as well as every year before. They are also one of the most vulnerable categories, especially migrant children. What is the perception of the IOM?
Lungarotti: Children are indeed particularly vulnerable in terms of the risk of becoming a victim of human trafficking, especially when they are unaccompanied and separated from their immediate or distant family members. And, of course, they can quickly fall prey to human traffickers and smugglers.
Working together with migrant communities, through our presence in shelters throughout BiH, we come across many unaccompanied children and those who are separated from their families. They represent eight percent of the migrant population in BiH.
We pay particular attention to the risk factors that can push them in the direction of becoming victims of human trafficking, by closely monitoring who they are traveling with, whether they have a legal guardian assigned to them by the social services in different cantons, whether they are in an environment that protects them so that they do not fell prey to human traffickers.
RSE: What is the situation in relation to other countries of the Western Balkans?
Lungarotti: I would say that BiH is more or less on the same level as other countries of the Western Balkans. Human trafficking has also spread to migrants, who have been in these areas since 2015. We see a similar situation throughout the Western Balkans. We also have different degrees of engagement in countries and different degrees of cooperation.
Albania is one of the countries where a lot has been done when it comes to this type of organized crime. But there is cooperation throughout the Western Balkans and we are trying to build regional cooperation around this issue, Radio Slobodna Evropa writes.
E.Dz.
