17 February 2022, The Anti-Trafficking Programme of ICMPD presents the Non-paper “Beyond Joint Actions: Towards integrated anti-trafficking responses of European Union Member States and Western Balkans”. The document identifies avenues of collaboration between anti-trafficking stakeholders in the Western Balkans (WB) and the European Union (EU), including its institutions and agencies as well as its Member States (MS), with a view to enhancing the quality and effectiveness of interventions to combat trafficking in human beings (THB) across Europe.
This Non-paper is a follow-up to the Non-paper that ICMPD developed in 2018 under the aegis of the Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU with the aim to “serve as a compass for EU’s near future engagements in the field of countering THB”. It was developed in cooperation with the Network of Anti-Trafficking Coordinators in South-East Europe (NATC SEE) for which ICMPD has been acting as the Secretariat and supporting its work since its creation in 2010. In July 2021, Slovenia took over the presidency of the Council of the EU and identified WB as its regional priority, along with a renewed impetus given to the process of EU accession of WB states. A process of continuous engagement with the NATC SEE started.
The need to update the developed Non-paper became salient, in light of the numerous legal and policy development that occurred within the EU and in the WB in relation to THB. The adoption of the new EU Strategy on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (2021 – 2025) and the announced roadmap, leading to a possible revision of Directive 2011/36/EU on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, and Protecting Its Victims were two developments of critical importance.
This second revised and abridged version of the Non-paper is the result of that process which culminated with the joint meeting between the NATC SEE and the EU Network of National Rapporteurs and Equivalent Mechanisms (NREM) on 6 December 2021 (online).
The Non-paper is based upon the answers to a questionnaire disseminated in August 2021 and therefore, it provides an up-to-date picture of THB with the latest data and statistics provided by state authorities in the WB. The data were analysed in light of the latest legal and policy developments that took place in the sub-region but also within the EU at large. The document elaborates on three aspects of the joint anti-trafficking responses:
1. Strategic frameworks - common priorities and political convergence based on the THB developments, and the EU accession process in WB region and the alignment of strategies to enhance the fight against THB.
2. Policy and operational responses in and between the NATC SEE members and the EU. Elaborating on the state of play in the area of victim identification, referral and protection in NATC SEE members, investigations and criminal proceedings paced down, legal and policy development on THB, effective cooperation with EU Law Enforcement Agencies, Networks and Initiatives, judicial cooperation in criminal matters, data collection and reporting.
3. Harnessing the potential of the accession process to enhance the fight against THB – elaboration of Short Term Action Recommendations to help to kick-start the implementation of the broader avenues of collaboration suggested.
The full text of the Non-paper is available here
More information about the NATC SEE is available here
More information about the work of the Anti-Trafficking Programme of ICMPD is available here
Background
The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) has been acting as the Secretariat of the Network of Anti-Trafficking Coordinators in South East Europe (NATC SEE) and supporting its work since its creation in 2010. The Network is composed of representatives from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo*, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia.