EU urged to tackle Kosovo prostitution

Human rights group Amnesty International is urging the EU to boost its financial and legal support for the fight against trafficking in women.

The call follows an AI report released on Thursday highlighting the plight of women and girls trafficked for forced prostitution in Kosovo.

“Amnesty International calls on the EU to do more, financially and legally, to help fight the deplorable practice of trafficking in women and girls, which is occurring right on the doorstep of the EU,” said Dick Oosting, Director of AI’s EU office.

“Women and girls are being trafficked out of Kosovo into EU countries including Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. More needs to be done at EU level to prevent trafficking, as well as protect the victims, whose rights are frequently left unprotected by the law,” he said.

The UN-protectorate of Kosovo is strategically important to the EU which has aimed its next phase of expansion towards the Balkans.

More than 36,000 soldiers from EU countries serve in UN and Nato forces in Kosovo, and it is the presence of this international force that AI fingers for the increasing exploitation of women.

The report charges that 20 per cent of those using the services of trafficked women and girls are members of the international community and that some are even involved in trafficking itself.

According to the findings, women are moved illegally into Kosovo largely from Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine, the majority of them via Serbia.

At the same time, increasing numbers of local women and girls, some as young as eleven, are being internally trafficked and then smuggled out of Kosovo.

Based on harrowing testimonies from women and girls trapped by criminal networks, Amnesty reveals that they are sold into the sex industry for prices ranging from €50 to €3500.

Amnesty has urged the EU to assist governments in the affected countries to tackle the root causes of trafficking and to fully implement existing laws to protect victims rights.

The European Commission has not yet given an official reaction but the UN Interim Adminstration in Kosovo (UNMIK) described the report as "highly unbalanced" and said it did not "properly address the real and tragic situation" facing the victims.

"UNMIK has taken significant action against trafficking and prostitution in Kosovo over the last four years," it said in a press statement.

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