ATHENS, Greece-Greece and Albania will sign an agreement to repatriate and support child victims of human trafficking, the Foreign Ministry said Friday, after charity groups warned the problem is increasing.
The accord will be signed Monday in Tirana, Albania.
Greece has faced international criticism for failing to adequately combat powerful trafficking rings which also smuggle drugs and guns across the Balkans and have been identified as a threat to efforts by countries in the region to forge closer ties with the European Union.
Hundreds of thousands of Albanians entered neighboring Greece during a mass wave of immigration after small Balkan country's communist regime fell in 1990. Many children are exploited by trafficking rings which make them beg or sell trinkets at cafes and restaurants.
"Nobody can accurately estimate how many such children there are in Greece," said Katerina Poutou, from the Greek non-governmental group Arsis, which cares for street children.
"But the numbers are increasing ... and the patterns of exploitation are changing," she said.
Foreign ministry official Panagiotis Karvelas said the agreement will help start public information campaigns in Albania and create protection programs for victims.
"It is very positive that Albania has agreed to sign this, which shows they have the political will to fight this problem," Karvelas said. "The children's interests will be protected and efforts will be made to locate their families or guardians."
Under the agreement, state agencies will care for children until adulthood if their families are considered unsuitable.
Greece is financing anti-trafficking programs in Albania through Arsis, which will receive 600,000 (US$720,000) over the next three years. Athens spent 3 million (US$3.6 million) last year for similar programs through other NGOs in the Balkans.
Monday's agreement will be signed by deputy Greek Foreign Minister, Evrpidis Stylianidis.
Although Greece has signed several agreements with neighboring countries to combat people trafficking, it is the first such deal concerning children.
February 24, 2006 12:24 PM
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Brief News:
The Balkans has become a major hub for traffickers of heroin and other types of drug from Afghanistan, and this, along with an increase in known human trafficking, money laundering and corruption cases, threatens the stability of the whole region that includes Central Asia and the Caucasus. According to Antonio Maria Costa, who heads the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the trade of Afghan-grown drugs alone brings in over two billion euros for those cartels who operate along the so-called Balkan route.
Speaking in Tirana, Albania, on 22 February, Antonio Maria Costa urged the international community to support the nations of the Balkans region in strengthening the rule of law.
Afghan heroin is known to enter Europe via three routes across Romania, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
The UNODC has recently completed a comprehensive report on 'Crime and development in Africa,' and similar work is underway to reveal the relation between crime, poverty and instability in the Balkans and the affected Eastern European countries.
The Council of the EU adopted an Action Plan on Drugs between the EU and the Balkan states in June 2003. This political framework complements the EU's three major drug programmes CADAP, SCAD and BUMAD.
Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn toured
the Western Balkans region last week in an attempt to bring home the message of the European future for the countries there.
Links
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BBC News: The global drugs trade
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DG External Relations: The EU international policy on drugs
