New York Times: “Albanians were selling their sisters for money,”

18.7.2009 by Atahualpa.

July 17, 2009

On Speedboats, Albania’s Sex Trade Could Flare

Matt Lutton for The New York Times

An abandoned fishing boat on a beach in Vlore, Albania, a city known for being a hub for human trafficking across Europe.

By DAN BILEFSKY

VLORE, Albania — It was only after her trafficker sealed her mouth with electrical tape, drugged her and threatened to kill her family that the childlike woman, now 27, says she realized that the man she had planned to marry had seduced her with a terrible lie.

Her journey at age 18 from an Albanian village to a London brothel, where she said she spent five years working as a prostitute, began with a gold engagement ring, the promise of a better life abroad and — like many before her — a speedboat trip to Italy under the cover of night.

So many women, men and children had been trafficked abroad to work as prostitutes, forced laborers or beggars that the Albanian government three years ago barred all Albanian citizens from using speedboats, the favored transportation used by traffickers to get people out of the country.

This drastic measure, coupled with stricter border controls and revenge killings of traffickers by victims’ families, had a significant effect, reducing trafficking by more than half and all but ending Albania’s role as a major transit point for people trafficked to Western Europe from eastern and southern parts of the Continent, say experts who follow trafficking.

But the ban prompted loud protests from fishermen and people in the tourism industry, and in May it was reversed. Law enforcement and human rights officials are concerned that as a result, human trafficking may explode anew — at an especially difficult time.

The financial crisis, many experts said, could increase human trafficking around the world. A United States State Department report in June warned of the potential risk, saying that the crisis is causing “a shrinking demand for labor and a growing supply of workers willing to take ever greater risks for economic opportunities.”

In the case of Albania, a poor, southern Balkan country that joined NATO in April and seeks to join the European Union, the government’s ability to fight trafficking is viewed as a critical test.

For victims like the woman from the small village, ensnared by the false promises of her trafficker, that fight is a matter of survival.

“I was in love with him, I dreamed of living my life with him, but it was all a big lie,” she said in a recent interview at a shelter for trafficking victims. “I wanted to run away, but in the eyes of the law, I was a prostitute with fake documents. Where was I to go?”

She said the man who abducted her had gained her trust over months, then locked her in a room and took her passport and cellphone. She said he beat her and cut her with a penknife, a warning of what he would do if she tried to escape. She said she was forced to be a prostitute in London and in Antwerp, Belgium. To cover their tracks, the man’s family had called her parents and said that the couple had moved to neighboring Kosovo.

The woman would not provide her name for fear of retribution from the trafficker, making it impossible to corroborate her story with the police report she said she had filed against the man. But the coordinator and director of the shelter where she is staying have reviewed the details of her case and vouched for her credibility.

At the height of the trafficking, experts estimate, thousands of women, men and children were taken to nearby Greece and Italy and elsewhere for sexual exploitation or forced labor.

The United Nations estimates that 12.3 million people globally are employed in sexual servitude or forced labor. Many are lured by fake engagements, real marriages or false job offers. In some cases, victims have been sold by their families. Others go voluntarily.

Even with the speedboat ban last year, the State Department said in its June report that in 2008, Albania did not comply with “the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,” although it made “significant efforts to do so.” The report said corruption remained pervasive.

In June 2007, the Ministry of Interior arrested 12 police officers accused of human trafficking in three cases, including six officers with direct responsibility for anti-trafficking enforcement.

Albanian law enforcement officials say that help from other countries in getting evidence to convict traffickers is often lacking. Iva Zajmi, the anti-trafficking coordinator at the Ministry of Interior, stressed that as a result of legal or tolerated prostitution in countries like Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, many trafficked women were not identified as victims in those countries.

“The legalization of prostitution has created a wall behind which traffickers can hide and repress victims,” she said.

Trafficking took root in Albania in 1991, in the aftermath of the fall of Communism, and for nearly 10 years, traffickers worked with impunity in the absence of trafficking laws. The problem peaked in 1997 as a financial pyramid scheme shook Albania and pushed the country to the brink of civil war.

“Albanians were selling their sisters for money,” said Ilir Yzeiri, an Albanian writer who made a documentary on human trafficking.

In 2004, the government created courts to try trafficking cases and passed tough trafficking laws, including prison sentences of up to 15 years for traffickers.

But human rights experts say prosecutions are too rare, partly because many victims are afraid to testify. Last year, 22 trafficking cases were prosecuted, according to the State Department report, fewer than half the number prosecuted in 2007.

Brikena Puka, the executive director of Vatra, an outreach group that has helped trafficking victims, said prosecutions were scarce partly because many victims were being tried for prostitution. In some cases, women are jailed after having been deported from other countries.

“Trafficked women are being victimized twice,” she said. “First by the traffickers, then by the Albanian justice system.”

Even if they want to press charges, trafficked women who were interviewed say it is extremely difficult to escape from their captors, who are part of an organized international network.

The trafficking victim who shared her tale recalled that her trafficker had contacts in each city they visited. She said the trafficker also employed a forger, who provided fake documents.

She thought she would finally be freed when her trafficker was arrested in London in 2006 and deported to Albania. Instead, she said, his brothers and their wives, who were in London, put her back to work in the sex trade. She said at times she would make more than 1,000 euros daily, about $1,400, but was never allowed to keep it….

 http://www.nytimes.com/

in Albanian

“Tregtia seksuale mund të rikthehet”

» Vendosur: 18/07/2009 - 08:11

•  

DAN BILEFSKY

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http://www.panorama.com.al/index.php?id=30711

Related

Times Topics: Sexual Slavery

Geschrieben in Balkan (Englisch) | Keine Kommentare »

Wer steht hinter Obama?

18.7.2009 by Lupo.

Jeder weiß das die Vorgänge um den 11.9.01 ein Bush Lüge war, weil sich alle Fachleute es als absurd ansehen, das ein Bin Laden oder Moslem den Anschlag organisierten. Das war eine Geheimdienst Operation westlicher Geheimdienste.

Chr. Hörstel: “Obama lügt wie Bush”

Samstag, 18. Juli 2009

Der neueste Film von Frank Höfer - Kriegsversprechen

Die neue Dokumentation von Frank Höfer “Kriegsversprechen” zeigt an Hand von Interviews mit Experten die Verbrechen und Konsequenzen der Kriege auf, wo auch Uranmuntion eingesetzt wird. Damit bewirken die kriegsführenden westlichen Länder seit dem ersten Golfkrieg 1991 im Irak, im Balkan, im zweiten Golfkrieg und in Afghanistan einen schleichenden Genozid in diesen Regionen der Welt, die man am liebsten in Chaos oder sogar menschenleer sehen möchte, weil es um Machtpolitik geht.

Bitte unterstützt Frank Höfer mit einer Spende oder kauft die DVD in bester Qualität auf NUOVISO.

Vortrag von Webster G. Tarpley

Webster G. Tarpley erklärt uns das Wesen von Obama, wie er an die Macht kam, wer hinter ihm steht und wie seine Politik aussieht. Er ist eine Marionette von Wall Street und er dient nur ihren Interessen: “Government of the banks, by the banks, for the banks!”

Geposted von Freeman um 09:00 6 Kommentare  

Geschrieben in Welt News Spezial | Keine Kommentare »

Gauweiler und Prof. Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider über das Urteil zum Lissabonvertrag

18.7.2009 by Lupo.

Zum Urteil des BvG zu Lissabonner Vertraggegen die Abzocker, Volks Verräter in der Regierung

und

Prof. Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider über BvG-Urteil zu Lissabonner Vertrag

Schönes Debakel für die Steinmeier Bande, dessen Gesicht bei Urteils Verkündung weiss anlief.

Geschrieben in Welt News Spezial | 1 Kommentar »

75 Glücks Spiel Automaten werden in Tirana / Albanien durch die Polizei beschlagnahmt

18.7.2009 by Atahualpa.

URL: http://www.balkanweb.com/index.php?id=40156

 

(Dërguar më: 17/07/09) Gjatë një aksioni ditën e sotme njësia e mbikqyrjes së lojrave të fatit, ka bllokuar 75 makineri elektronike. Shkak për këtë është bërë mungesa e certifikimit dhe përmbushjes së standarteve të reja, për këto lojra.

TIRANE- Njësia e mbikqyrjes së lojrave të fatit, ka bllokuar gjatë një aksioni mesditën e së premtes 75 makineri elektronike te Regency Casino. Shkak për këtë është bërë mungesa e certifikimit dhe përmbushjes së standarteve të reja, për këto lojra. Specialistë nga kjo njësi mbikëqyrëse, sqarojnë se në 15 korrik të këtij viti, skadoi edhe afati 6 mujor gjatë të cilit sipas ligjit të ri për këtë lloj aktiviteti, duhej të përfundonte certifikimi i të gjitha makinerive elektronike në kazino apo në sallat e lojrave të fatit në të gjithë vendin.

Njësia mbikëqyrëse e lojrave të fatit ka nisur një aksion të gjerë në shkallë vendi, për bllokimin dhe më pas shkatërrimin e makinerive të padeklaruara apo që nuk përmbushin standartet. Specialistët e njësisë mbikqyrëse sqarojnë se certifikimi i makinerive elektronike ka të bëjë me një sërë kushtesh teknike, të cilat mbi të gjitha i ofrojnë lojtarit mbrojte maksimale, ndaj çdo forme të abuzivizmit nga zotëruesi i makinerive. (a.r/news24/balkanweb)

Geschrieben in Kosovo-Albanien (Albanian) | Keine Kommentare »