Conference “European Day Against Human Trafficking” held at the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina

The Conference “European Day Against Human Trafficking” has been held today at the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. It was organized by the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior of the Republic Serbia, Department for Prevention of Cross-border Criminal and Criminal Intelligence Affairs. In addition to the Director of the European Affairs Fund, Predrag Novikov, President of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Egeresi Sándor, and Minister of Interior of the Republic Serbia, Ivica Dačić, the opening remarks to mark 18th October, European Day Against Human Trafficking were given by the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, Vincent Degert, Deputy Ambassador of Switzerland, Jean-Luc Oesch, and Head of the Mission of International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Serbia, Gregoire Goodstein.

The President of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Egeresi Sándor said that such types of meetings were aimed at emphasizing the importance of fight against human trafficking, which was one of the main topics in the process of European integrations, and at the same time, an issue of safety, i.e. safe and secure environment. The Minister of Interior of the Republic Serbia, Ivica Dačić, being also the President of the Council for Fight Against Human Trafficking, specified that since the beginning of the year the police had submitted 21 criminal charges of human trafficking, out of which 14 were committed in AP Vojvodina. Approximately 30 of those who committed a crime were arrested and 73 victims, out of which 23 in Vojvodina, were identified. He emphasized that human trafficking was one of the most important criminal acts in the world, that it was a highly profitable business for criminals, and that around 60 officers of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic Serbia underwent serious training in fight against the issue. He also added that the victims were to be encouraged to participate in court proceedings, because they often gave up due to the fear from facing the accused.

The Head of the Delegation of the EU to the Republic of Serbia, Vincent Degert said that according to the data obtained from IOM, around 2.5 million people in the world were victims of human trafficking, and that it was a great problem was that children made up a high percentage. He emphasized that such a problem required a global initiative, which would include all levels of authority, the police and civil organizations. Degert reminded of the fact that in 2011 the EU had brought a new directive on human trafficking, as a part of the global initiative. According to him, it was necessary to find the roots of human trafficking, adopt all necessary national laws and provide assistance to the victims. “Better coordination of work of all stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking is important for Serbia, whereas the reintegration of victims into society is especially important”, said Degert and was complementary about Serbia’s adoption of the law and National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking. During the conference, “Combating Trafficking in Persons: A Handbook for Parliamentarians” was presented, which was translated into and printed in all official languages of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, as a result of the Joint Programme of IOM, UNHCR and UNODC under UN.GIFT to Combat Human Trafficking in Serbia and European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina.

The representative of the Joint Programme of IOM, UNHCR and UNODC to Combat Human Trafficking in Serbia, Head of IOM Mission in Serbia, Gregoire Goodstein pointed out that it was important to involve parliamentarians in the fight against human trafficking. In the second part of the conference, the attendees were addressed by Mitar Đurašković, Head of Department for Prevention of Cross-border Criminal and Criminal Intelligence Affairs and Coordinator of the Council for Fight Against Human Trafficking, Siniša Hrgić, Head of Department for Foreigners and Combating Illegal Immigration and Trafficking of Human Beings of the Novi Sad Police Department, Simka Somer, Secretary of the Red Cross of Vojvodina, Gojko Vujinović, Director of the Centre for Social Work of Novi Sad, and Dejan Živković, Novi Sad Humanitarian Centre. Bojana Maljević, producer, talked about the film “Sisters”, which dealt with the issue of human trafficking, as well as about the whole project, which had been realized by the support of the EU, IOM, Government of the Republic Serbia and with the logistic support of governmental and nongovernmental organizations engaged in the fight against human trafficking. The film was shown in the great hall of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, and the first and second year pupils of the Grammar School “Isidora Sekulić”, accompanied by their teacher of civic education, Miroslav Košić were also in the audience.