http://www.iht.com/articles/74297.html
Bosnia shunning European drive to halt trafficking in
women
David Binder
The New York Times
Monday, October 21, 2002
-The operation focused on Bosnia because, since the
war there ended seven years ago, the presence of
thousands of NATO troops and civilian workers for the
United Nations and aid agencies has made it a prime
market for both prostitution and sexual slavery,
officials said.
Over the past two years, both NATO soldiers and UN
officials, including some Americans, have been
implicated in the exploitation of young women held in
sexual bondage.
WASHINGTON An intensive European operation conducted
with American assistance to crack down on trafficking
in women for the sex trade has had mixed success,
American officials say.
Preliminary data show that in 20,558 raids conducted
from Sept. 7 to Sept. 16 across Central and Eastern
Europe, 237 victims of trafficking were identified and
293 traffickers were arrested and charged as
criminals.
But little was done in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the focus
of the operation because it is considered a center for international
prostitution and sexual slavery as well as a major transit point to
northern Europe. National and international police officers made 71
raids on Bosnian nightclubs, hotels and other locations during the
September operation and arrested only seven trafficking suspects.
"We are gratified by what was accomplished by some of
the participating countries, but are less satisfied
with others who should have been more involved," said
John Markey, a U.S. customs agent who directs law
enforcement assistance programs in the State
Department.
Regionally and globally, the problem is huge.
Trafficked women from impoverished regions of Ukraine,
Romania, Moldova and other Central and Eastern
European countries have been turning up in the United
States as well - in Miami, New York, Los Angeles and
even Anchorage, Alaska.
The International Organization for Migration, an
offshoot of the United Nations, estimates that 700,000
women are transported, mostly involuntarily, over
international borders each year for the sex trade. As
many as 200,000 are taken to or through the Balkans.
The September operation was conducted by the
trans-border crime center of the Southeast European
Cooperative Initiative in Bucharest, Romania, bringing
together regional law enforcement agencies. The center
receives considerable assistance from the U.S. Customs
Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the
Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Drug
Enforcement Administration and the Secret Service.
In addition to Bosnia, the operation enlisted the
assistance of Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, Greece,
Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.
The operation focused on Bosnia because, since the war
there ended seven years ago, the presence of thousands
of NATO troops and civilian workers for the United
Nations and aid agencies has made it a prime market
for both prostitution and sexual slavery, officials
said.
Over the past two years, both NATO soldiers and UN
officials, including some Americans, have been
implicated in the exploitation of young women held in
sexual bondage.
Because of its porous borders - only about 40 of its
432 official border crossings are guarded - Bosnia is
also a major transit country for trafficked women,
narcotics and contraband being sent to Northern
Europe.
On Thursday, the UN. Mission in Sarajevo dismissed 11
Bosnian police officers, including members of the antitrafficking squad,
after they were apprehended visiting brothels and abusing prostitutes.
One has been sentenced by a Bosnian court to a month's imprisonment, the
mission announced.
Serbian News Network - SNN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.antic.org/
