The Council of Europe project “Strengthening anti-trafficking action in Bosnia and Herzegovina” provided support to two regional events, which took place in Budva, Montenegro.
The regional training of trainers on digital investigations and victim-centred interviewing techniques was organised by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) from 13 May to 17 May 2024. The training was focused on digital investigations and e-evidence, including cryptocurrency tracing, as well as on interviewing techniques of victims of trafficking in human beings and smuggled migrants. The 36 participants included key anti-trafficking actors, police officers and cybercrime investigators, prosecutors, and assistance services providers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The Council of Europe led the session on victim-centred interviews which comprised presentations and simulation exercises replicating real cases. The goal of the session was to provide the participants with ways and means of communicating and creating a safe and supportive environment for victims of profit-seeking traffickers or smugglers of migrants. The contribution of two labour trafficking survivors to the event was particularly important and valued. They stressed the importance of communicating adequately with vulnerable persons.
The Annual Regional Meeting of the Task Forces for Countering Trafficking in Human Beings and Smuggling of Migrants and the Anti-Trafficking Coordinators in the Western Balkans countries took place on 17 May 2024. The project manager of the Council of Europe anti-trafficking project in Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the meeting and highlighted the continuous commitment and work of the Council of Europe and its Group of Experts GRETA to prevent and combat human trafficking. Elma Zahirovic also presented labour trafficking trends in Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia, based on research carried out in 2022 in each country and the latest GRETA’s evaluation reports. She informed the audience about the GRETA’s report on Online and technology-facilitated trafficking in human beings (2022).
The events concluded that it was crucial to continue to share expertise and implement coordinated strategies to combat human trafficking, particularly in the digital era, where new challenges for the respect for human rights of vulnerable groups arise.
The Council of Europe project “Strengthening anti-trafficking action in Bosnia and Herzegovina” is implemented in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2022–2025), funded by voluntary contributions.
