CHIEF PROSECUTOR HOLDS MEETING OF TASK FORCE FOR FIGHT AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS AND ORGANISED ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Joint and coordinated activities of State, Entity and B&H Brčko District-level institutions regarding more efficient resolution of cases of human trafficking and smuggling of persons in BiH were agreed.

The Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gordana Tadić, held a meeting of the Task Force for Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings in the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, attended by representatives of Prosecutor’s Offices, law enforcement and security agencies and other institutions from the level of the State, both Entities and the Brčko District of BiH.

The Chief Prosecutor informed the participants in the meeting that in the past 6 months, despite the difficulties caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH carried out dozens of activities related to prosecuting crimes related to illegal migration and human trafficking, and that it took part in international operations with the countries in the region and in the EU, within the prosecution of organised criminal groups that smuggle illegal migrants.

Since 2015 to date, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has filed indictments in 111 cases against 147 persons for criminal offences of human trafficking related to illegal migration, as well as 16 indictments against 58 persons for committing the aforementioned criminal offences in organised forms.

The representatives of the institutions and agencies who are members of the Task Force had the opportunity to present the activities undertaken by the institutions they came from, which are related to human trafficking, smuggling of persons and prevention and processing of illegal migration.

The meeting emphasised the importance of the functioning of the Network of Prosecutors and Investigators for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, which was established earlier this year and which include prosecutors and investigators involved in the systematic prosecution of this type of criminal offences, as well as the importance of activities of coordination teams acting in the respective territories of District Prosecutor’s Offices in Republika Srpska.

The members of the Task Force agreed on further joint activities of all institutions in their respective segments, in order to achieve better results in the next period in the field of combating trafficking in human beings, as well as in the field of recognising elements of trafficking in human beings related to the smuggling of persons and illegal migration.

The importance of the exchange of information between the institutions, as well as regional and international cooperation in this area, was emphasised, and the meeting was attended by representatives of international institutions and agencies involved in the fight against human trafficking and illegal migration.