TIRANA – What is the fate of a child who has not been legally registered at birth and effectively has no name in the eyes of the state? If they fall into the hands of traffickers, authorities have much less, if any chance, of finding them.

Such is the reality for scores of Albanian children whose families cannot pay the court fees of about $20 to register a child later, if the child isn’t registered, like so many, at birth.

But the Legal Clinic for Minors (LCM) is working to change that as a grantee of The Albanian Initiative: Coordination Action Against Human Trafficking (CAAHT). This U.S. Agency for International Development initiative is implemented by Creative Associates International, Inc.

Through awareness raising campaigns and a multi-sectoral effort that includes police and shelter directors, these forces come together to share resources and knowledge to combat human trafficking. More than $2 million has been distributed to local NGOs to enable them to continue providing services to trafficked victims, preventing those at-risk of being trafficked, including, among others, special programs for minors.

“No action can be taken on behalf of a child without [legal] documents,” said Holta Kotherja, LCM Director. “A child without a name can’t be traced if he or she is trafficked.

“If a child is not registered legally within 45 days of birth, then a court procedure is necessary to register him or her,” Kotherja says. “After that, parents must pay a $20 fee to register a child, but for poor families, this becomes a burden. LCM covers families’ legal fees and fine.”

In addition to providing minors with legal birth registration records, LCM supplies a lawyer and psychologist to minors who have been deported from a third country and must undergo police interrogations. LCM has both male and female psychologists on staff to assist trafficking victims during police and court proceedings.

“With one case, when I arrived, seven policemen were questioning the child. So, I had all the policemen go out, except for the one responsible for the case,” said Klodi Gega, one of LCM’s staff psychologists. “The child was intimidated. So, I introduced myself to this child, explained why I’ve come, explained why he is at the police station, explained what’s going to happen and told him his rights.”

Police officers learn child trafficking interviewing techniques at an Legal Clinic for Minors training

As a psychologist, Gega says he has two primary roles during police interrogation of minors. He must facilitate the communication between the police and child, and also provide emotional support to the child. With CAAHT’s support, the Clinic has also has trained 235 police from 10 of the country’s regions in appropriate methods of interrogation, minors’ legal rights and psychological needs.

According to Gega, many of the children LCM treats are abused emotionally and physically; some are put to work by their parents and many come from the Roma community. Minors supported by LCM’s psychologists usually are followed for a year or a year and a half. As of September 2006, the Clinic supported 538 clients and had opened two other regional offices.

Prevention Strategies for at-Risk Minors

While LCM provides legal and psychological support for minors, CAAHT has also funded the Albanian Foundation for Conflict Resolution (AFCR) as a way to pursue alternative means of trafficking intervention and prevention for at-risk minors. Andon Lula is AFCR’s Coordinator in Gjirokastra. The town’s location near the Greek border has made it a prime location for smuggling of humans by traffickers headed for Greece or elsewhere in Europe.

“We had three cases of children in which we intervened to prevent them from being trafficked. Each story is painful. We were informed by a partner organization that a 15-year old boy had left home to find a job,” Lula said. “We went to his home and I was shocked when I saw the situation in his home. The family had six children and were so poor they survived by searching for cans and selling them. They had two beds for the entire family.”

AFCR found the boy and helped him to get a job where he now makes about $200 a month. “This boy could have fallen into the hands of traffickers who study carefully the kids who are begging in the streets and give them temporary support to win them over,” Lula said.

According to Lula, AFCR has trained police in conflict resolution that has led to positive results. One officer who underwent training managed to convince a teen-age girl to not run away. “When the mother realized her daughter wanted to leave home for Greece, she became afraid and called the police,” Lula said. “The officer who came to their house had been trained in conflict resolution in our workshop. The officer talked to the girl and told her that what she sees on TV is not reality and that reality is different. Now the relationship between the mother and the daughter has normalized.”

“The CAAHT program is necessary!” Lula said. “It is a great support by USAID for the Albanian people. CAAHT’s work is related to the future of our country. To keep the phenomenon of trafficking decreasing, CAAHT’s objectives and strategies should continue to be pursued. We should continue.”

 

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