ONLINE MEETING OF THE TASK FORCE FOR FIGHT AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS AND ORGANISED ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

The meeting discussed the reporting and consideration of joint activities of members of the Task Force in overcoming current problems in the field of human trafficking and illegal migration.

The Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, Gordana Tadić, chaired the meeting of the Task Force, which was held via video conference.

The Task Force was attended by representatives of judicial, police, security and law enforcement agencies from the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, both entities and the Brčko District of BiH, as well as representatives of international institutions involved in the fight against human trafficking.

The Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, Gordana Tadić, informed the participants about the activities on the establishment of a new Section for Smuggling of Persons and Human Trafficking within the Special Department for Organised Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption and Terrorism, in which prosecutors will work on cases of human trafficking and illegal migration, which will significantly contribute to more efficient work on cases in this field.

The meeting discussed joint activities in the prosecution of crimes of human trafficking and smuggling of illegal migrants, and following the presentation of the results of all institutions in the past period, it was concluded that there are positive developments in the prosecution of this type of criminal offences.

One of the topics was related to the trainings and educations conducted by the centres for education of judges and prosecutors in the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska, as well as by international institutions, which are important for the exchange of experiences and improvement of knowledge and skills in this field, in particular in respect of providing protection to victims of human trafficking.

It is important to point out that a meeting was held recently with regard to the preparation of a regional expert workshop, which will refer to the strengthening of the capacity for prosecuting criminal offences of human trafficking and smuggling of persons with a focus on the work of task forces. The meeting was held within the Project - Combating Serious Crime in the Western Balkans - IPA 2019, and the participants were representatives of the Republic of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and GIZ officials.

Despite the difficult conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Task Force meetings were held continuously over the past period and this was the sixth meeting this year, which indicates the continuous work of the Task Force in combating human trafficking and organised illegal migration in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.