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Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Tier 2 Watchlist again

Zlatko Ikonic — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 19:19:28 +0000

Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the Tier 2 Watchlist again. According to the 2019 State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report the BiH government was not sucessful in taking actions to counter the phenomenon. Potential downgrade to Tier 3 status is detrimental to BiH, thus more needs to be done and very soon, othervise the U.S. government will be forced to restrict providing technical assistance, training, or capacity development to all BiH government institutions!

This situation has been discussed by the USAID Mission Director Nancy Eslick and the State Anti-Trafficking Coordinator in BiH, where the State Coordinator briefed on progress in reforming the referral and coordination mechanism in BiH since the recent adoption of the Strategy for combating trafficking in human beings in BiH for the period 2020-2023 and thanked USAID for its assistance in these efforts. The interlocutors concluded that additional joint efforts are needed to assist BiH’s more efficient response to this serious problem.

Monitoring of strategic litigations on TIP and related crimes – webinar

Zlatko Ikonic — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 19:18:44 +0000

MFS-EMMAUS, supported by the USAID, through the VICAPT project, organized a webinar for 45 students of the Faculty of Criminalistics, Criminology and Security Studies, the University of Sarajevo, as targeted training for monitoring of strategic litigations on trafficking in persons.

Webinar training on monitoring of strategic litigations on TIP and related crimes

Zlatko Ikonic — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 19:17:38 +0000

Students of the Faculty of Law (General program) and students of Criminology and Security Studies of Džemal Bijedić University of Mostar, on Wednesday 15.03.2020 ,received webinar training on monitoring of strategic litigations on TIP and related crimes within project ” Victim-centred Approach to Prevention of Trafficking in Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Improving Identification, Protection and Access to Justice (VICAPT) organized by the International Forum of Solidarity-EMMAUS, with USAID support.

Eminent faculty lecturers, Mr Elmedin Muratbegović, Mr Denis Pajić, Ms Sunčice Hajdarović ,and Ms Hajrija Hadžiomerović Muftić, former federal prosecutor and CEST educator, enabled this group of students to gain additional knowledge about:

the phenomenon of trafficking in human beings and related criminal offenses, criminal elements, forms, and applicable legal provisions on trafficking in human beings in BiH and related criminal offenses, with reference to international standards and European instruments related to trafficking in human beings;
victim profiles, victimization and secondary victimization, psychological and health impact of trafficking on victims;
procedural elements and actions – court and other proceedings in cases of trafficking in human beings and related criminal offenses, as well as codes of ethics of judicial institutions and procedures on confidentiality and data protection that must be observed during trial monitoring.

Each student will receive the certificate.

Working Group on the Development of Manual for lawyers and legal representatives on providing legal aid representation to the TIP victims

Zlatko Ikonic — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 19:16:28 +0000

Following the first round of consultation with the members of the Working Group on the Development of Manual for lawyers and legal representatives on providing legal aid representation to the TIP victims, organised by IFS-EMMAUS, with the support of USAID through the VICAPT program, through a workshop held on March 16-17, 2020 in Konjic, the work continues. The Working Group, in the light of and adapted to the current epidemiological situation, will continue the consultation activities on the development of the Manual using electronic remote communication solutions.

In this way, we reaffirmed our humanity, professionalism, adaptability, responsibility and commitment to the suppression of trafficking in persons as a form of modern slavery. Extraordinary circumstances do not undermine BiH’s commitment to combating trafficking in persons and supporting victims.

BAN III Regional Conference on Importance of National Rapporteur and Equivalent Mechanisms on Trafficking in Human Beings

Zlatko Ikonic — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 19:14:33 +0000

As Bosnia and Herzegovina, the partner representative of the BAN III –Balkans ACT Now, the regional project supported by the EC, MFS-EMMAUS leads BiH Project Delegation participation in the Conference organised in Belgrade, Serbia, in order to:

Review the state of anti-trafficking activities in each of the partner countries and wider;
Present findings from the five national pilot reports;
Enhance advocacy for the establishment of the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings;
Present the developed national mechanisms of monitoring of policies and treatment of the THB victims by governmental and non-governmental
actors in each of the partner countries.

BIH BAN III Project delegation, which will present the state of play and sit-rep on the project implementation and pertinent findings, consists of: Ms Amela Efendić – MFS-EMMAUS Sarajevo Office Manager, Ms Hajrija Muftić Hadžiomerović- National Working Group Coordinator, Mr Eneid Hasanović National Working Group Member – Expert/MA Political science, and Mr Elmedin Muratbegović – National Working Group Member and author of the Pilot Report /the University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Criminalistics, Criminology and Security Studies- Criminology Department.

Balkan Act Now III

Visit of the USAID DA Glick and US Ambassador Nelson

Zlatko Ikonic — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 19:11:40 +0000

Today, International Forum of Solidarity – Emmaus (IFS-EMMAUS) was honored to welcome the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick, the United States Ambassador in Bosnia and Herzegovina Eric Nelson and the USAID/BiH Mission Director Nancy Eslick, with a delegation from Washington, to discuss the seriousness of the situation in the area of trafficking in persons (TIP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the response of the BiH government and civil society organizations.

Mrs. Glick commended the work of IFS-EMMAUS as a civil society organization that has been active on the suppression of trafficking in persons for over 20 years now, not only in providing direct assistance and protection to TIP victims, but also implementing policy actions, capacity building and awareness raising activities on TIP in BiH.