VZCZCXRO9160
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHSQ #0589/01 3410917
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070917Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8732
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE 0574
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SKOPJE 000589 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR G/TIP, EUR/PGI, EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PBTS SMIG SOCI ELAB TI KS SR
GR, MK 
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: NEW TIP COMBATING AND PREVENTION 
ACTIVITIES 
 
SKOPJE 00000589  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Macedonia has continued to refine its 
victim protection and TIP prevention activities and is 
attending to the shortcomings identified in its established 
TIP infrastructure.  Partnering with the international 
community, the government has begun expansive training 
projects focused on the continued dissemination of the 
nation's Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and addressing 
the nation's changing TIP atmosphere.  The government has 
also extended its efforts to root out corruption where it 
increases Macedonia's vulnerability to human trafficking, and 
has continued to assume more direct financial responsibility 
for TIP victim protection.   Macedonia has broadened its 
efforts to improve TIP awareness and high-ranking Macedonian 
officials have continued to demonstrate their commitment to 
fighting TIP through domestic and international engagement. 
In June, a TIP NGO, working with GoM support, received a 
major international award for its work. (End Summary) 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
Building Capacity and Strengthening Victim Identification 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) The success Macedonia has achieved in eliminating 
traditional forms of trafficking in recent years has allowed 
the government to focus on programs that maximize TIP 
awareness and victim identification capabilities, as well as 
to re-focus some energy on uncovering the more discreet 
victim profiles and more subtle forms of trafficking that 
have emerged as a result of that success.  One important goal 
for Macedonia this year is to increase national capacities to 
expose and eradicate potential labor trafficking crimes.  To 
address this, the Ministry of Labor and OSCE have begun a 
series of four three-day workshops focused on training more 
than 120 labor inspectors.  The trainings are designed to 
help the inspectors identify the less obvious indicators of 
labor trafficking and educate them on appropriate procedures 
for investigating and reporting those crimes through the 
National Referral Mechanism (NRM).  The OSCE reported that 
the new Director of the State Labor Inspectorate has shown 
enthusiasm for these trainings and has been an advocate for 
the participation and education of the labor inspectors. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In a separate project, utilizing Macedonia's EU 
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) funds, the IOM 
and the Ministry of Interior have begun a five week intensive 
training aimed at improving the understanding and consistent 
implementation of the SOPs in victim identification by 
front-line law enforcement officials.  Eight two-day seminars 
will be conducted to train 250 local police and border police 
throughout the country. The trainings will include a special 
focus on identifying the new, more discreet victim profile 
and adapting police methods to the changing modus operandi of 
traffickers that have emerged due to Macedonia's vigorous 
crackdown on human trafficking over the past three years. 
Those trainings will be followed by a specialized training 
for prosecutors, members of the Ministry of Interior's 
Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, and the office of the NRM to 
ensure proper and efficient coordination between local 
authorities and central government authorities.  These 
trainings specifically address recommendations from the 
international community that Macedonia seek to more 
thoroughly implement the SOPs at regional levels. 
 
------------------- 
Fighting Corruption 
------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Due to the rise in human smuggling cases transiting 
through Macedonia in the last couple of years, law 
enforcement officials have increased their efforts to root 
out any corruption that makes Macedonia more vulnerable to 
organized international human smuggling and trafficking 
networks.  On July 1, 13 people in Macedonia, including one 
senior MOI police officer, were arrested and charged with 
human smuggling for the smuggling of Asian migrants from 
Serbia, through Macedonia, to Greece.  Operation "Kanis" (as 
the case has been dubbed) was coordinated in cooperation with 
Serbian officials through the SECI center. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Separately, beginning on August 25, the Organized 
Crime Unit began arresting border police and customs officers 
in operation "Boomerang" for allegedly taking and/or 
soliciting bribes at border entry points.  To date, 92 
officers have been arrested and an additional 52 officers are 
still being investigated.  There is no evidence connecting 
these bribes to smuggling or TIP crimes, but Macedonian 
authorities consider "Boomerang" a significant win in 
securing the borders against vulnerabilities to international 
 
SKOPJE 00000589  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
smuggling and trafficking crimes. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Government Funding of TIP Combating Activities 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6. (SBU) For the first time, the new National Action Plan 
(NAP) for combating trafficking, formally adopted by the 
government earlier this year, included detailed funding 
responsibilities.  Previously the NAP only detailed 
Macedonia,s specific TIP combating goals and objectives but 
did not define specific funding sources to achieve those 
goals.  Therefore, where ambiguity existed, the ministries 
tended to pass the buck and some activities went unfunded. 
Now, every one of the goals and objectives in the NAP 
includes a funding directive that defines which ministries 
are responsible for funding that specific activity.  This 
change will make budget allocations easier and compel 
ministerial accountability for TIP combating 
responsibilities.  This year the GoM also completed the 
process of taking over full financial responsibility for the 
office of the NRM.  (Note: The NRM was previously working 
within the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy but its 
employees and activities were mostly funded by the OSCE. End 
Note)  In addition, the government has finally settled on an 
appropriate building for the new government-run shelter for 
domestic victims of trafficking and-- in conjunction with the 
two NGOs that will run the shelter-- is developing plans to 
get the shelter fully operational.  The government's Agency 
of Youth and Sports also granted the NGO OpenGate direct 
government funding to continue TIP prevention lectures to 
youth around the country. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
On-going Efforts to Elevate TIP Awareness 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) Seeking to address client demand for trafficking 
victims, the National Anti-Trafficking Commission (NC) has 
translated the IOM's "Buy Responsibly" demand reduction 
awareness campaign into Macedonian and will be broadcasting 
the campaign over the state television network.  On October 
18, EU Anti-trafficking day, the National Commission 
distributed anti-trafficking flyers and brochures in Skopje's 
two largest shopping centers.  The NC is in the process of 
organizing nationwide TIP awareness campaigns and prevention 
activities for its annual National Anti-Trafficking week, 
which will be held again in December. 
 
-------------------------- 
International Coordination 
-------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) In addition to the domestic awareness activities 
conducted on EU Anti-Trafficking day, the Macedonian 
Ministers of Interior and Justice attended a TIP conference 
in Brussels.  Both delivered speeches on the continued 
importance of combating trafficking throughout Europe. 
Through a post nomination, the Minister of the Interior and 
Director of the NGO OpenGate have been selected to attend the 
State Department's "The Courage to Lead: Women World Leader's 
Summit" in Geneva, Switzerland in December for their efforts 
and success in fighting TIP in Macedonia.  In September, 
senior officials from the National Anti-trafficking 
Commission had an extensive meeting with the Deputy Minister 
of Justice and Deputy General Prosecutor of Tajikistan on 
best practices for combating TIP.  The Tajik officials sought 
advice from Macedonia on ways they could implement effective 
anti-TIP programs in their own country. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Macedonian NGO Wins Major International Award 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) In June, the Macedonian TIP NGO OpenGate received the 
2009 ERSTE Foundation Award for Social Integration for their 
Child Trafficking Prevention Campaign.  OpenGate's project 
included visits to almost 50 schools in the highest risk 
areas of Macedonia, reaching approximately 3000 students from 
ages 11-18 and more than 60 teachers to educate them on the 
threats of human trafficking.  The NGO's project was awarded 
first prize out of 1,300 projects from eight different 
countries.  The prize included a 40,000 EURO award for future 
project funding. 
NAVRATIL