Human Trafficking in South Eastern Europe

Abstract

Trafficking in persons is a crucially important issue in today’s world, as it represents both a serious transnational threat to security and a critical challenge in the areas of human rights and law enforcement. Although the definition of trafficking in persons continues to be a subject of debate, this essay applies the definition of trafficking in human beings as stated in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, which is a supplement to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.” The Protocol defines trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by the threat or use of force, by abduction, fraud, deception, coercion or the abuse of power or by the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation.” Equally open to debate—in part due to the complexity of the phenomenon of human trafficking, in part due to disputes over the differences between trafficking and smuggling—are the estimations of the scope of this phenomenon at the national, regional, and global level. For example, the estimates released annually by the U.S. State Department regarding the scope of the traffic in persons worldwide every year vary anywhere from 700,000 to 4 million in 2002, to 800,000–900,000 in 2003, to 600,000– 800,000 in 2004 and 2005. Besides the variation in the methods used for gathering data on human trafficking, the complexity of the phenomenon is also responsible for these fluctuations, as it is very hard (if not impossible) to detect and uncover every act of trafficking and every victim. Statistics issued by the International Organization for Migration in 2001 indicate that an estimated 700,000 to 2 million women and children are trafficked globally each year, generating total worldwide revenue amounting to about USD 9.5–10 billion a year. Whatever numbers one chooses to use, then, it is evident that the real dimensions of the phenomenon of human trafficking are worrisome. When we take into considera-