Protection of Human Trafficking Victims and Functionalization of Institutional Mechanisms in Kosovo

• Author: Ahmet Maloku, Elda Maloku
• Position: Professor, PhD, Faculty of Law, Iliria University, Republic of Kosovo/Teaching Assistant, LL.M. Faculty of Law, Iliria University, Republic of Kosovo
• Pages: 21-44

JURIDICA

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Ahmet Maloku1, Elda Maloku2

Abstract: Trafficking with human beings involves not only a crime in itself, but, in most cases, it is a

crime with multiple activities and with multilateral organizational structures. Before the war in

Kosovo, trafficking with human beings was very little, or not to say the least expressed, meanwhile

with the end of the war, Kosovo was not only a transit country, but it is a source and destination

country for women and children, sexual victims trafficking and forced labour. This paper represents

an attempt to highlight the growing phenomenon of trafficking in human beings both in the region and

in Kosovo, base d on available literature, reports, contacts and personal research. The paper gives a

brief summary of the criminal law aspect, namely the material law aspect. The problem is also

associated with increased migration and because of the complexity of the problem trafficking of

human beings, especially young women and girls for prostitution purposes is identified. This paper is

primarily leaded by these issues and seeks to investigate what happened in Kosovo in that area and

what are the steps needed by prosecution authorities and NGOs to prevent human trafficking in the

future.

Keywords: Trafficking with human beings; Victims of Trafficking, Organized Crime; Non-

Governmental Organizations; Prevention and Combating Human Trafficking

1. Introduction

Human trafficking, as a very sophisticated form of organized crime, is about

victims a nd their families, as well a s society in general. It is present in unstable

places, conflicting and post-conflict condition, in the economic and political

1 Professor, PhD, Faculty of Law, Iliria University, Republic of Kosovo, Address: Street Gazmend

Zajmi no. 75. 10060, Pristina, Republic of Kosovo, Corresponding author:

maloku.ahmet@gmail.com.

2 Teaching Assistant, LL.M. Faculty of Law, Iliria University, Republic of Kosovo, Street Gazmend

Zajmi no. 75. 10060, Pristina, Republic of Kosovo, E-mail: malokuelda@gmail.com

AUDJ, Vol. 16, No. 1/2020, pp. 21-44

Protection of Human Trafficking Victims

and Functionalization of Institutional

Mechanisms in Kosovo

ACTA UNIVERSITATIS DANUBIUS Vol. 16, no. 1/2020

22

transition. This issue covers particularly vulnerable categories of women and

children, but does not exclude men as well.

In countries with great political and economic instability and with extreme poverty,

many people leave their countries in an attempt to provide better living c onditions.

Their motives are largely in pursuit of work, profits and a more dignified life.

According to Ayhan, unemployment, lack of education, lack of job skills, li mited

access to the labor market, political pressures and civil conflicts, are also among

the factors attracting people, making them vulnerable victims of cri minal groups.

(Ayhan, 2006) However, these people often fall prey to the criminal networks of

human traffickers.

Human tra fficking as a new f orm of slavery in the twenty-first century is a new

area that has not been suf ficiently r esearched. I n the last 15-20 years, about this

issue has been largely discussed with the aim of making t he problem visible in

society and to view it without prejudice.

Human trafficking is prohibited under the C onstitution of the Republic of Kosovo

(Constitution of the R epublic of K osovo, 2008, Article 28. paragraph.3. of), is a

transnational phenomenon and the most heinous crime. As a form of organized

crime it is equivalent to contemporary slavery and is developed through an

organized crime network. Crime as such involves perpetrators committing unlawful

acts inside or outside the territory of a country. Due to the nature of trafficking, like

other countries around the world Kosovo has a lso been aff ected by the difficulties

it causes. (Maloku, 2016)

According to the circumstances, it is t he responsibility of the competent p ersons of

States to take suitable action by signing international documents, harmonizing

legislation in international documents, protecting victims of human trafficking and

preventing this activity.

Human tra fficking is a horrific crime and a brutal violation of human r ights that

takes place either through a network of organized crime or individually. Today,

human trafficking has become a tra nsnational phenomenon. Transnational

organized criminality in general, and tr afficking in human beings in particular,

have become the subject of many criminological studies in recent years. At the

same time, the study of criminality in the context of globalization is increasingly

focusing on criminologists. McDonald, W. (1995). There are not many authors who

have tried to st udy the transnational and local combination of organized crime and

human trafficking. As Dunnigham's Hobbs, Hobbs, D., Dunnighan, C. (1998) have