For the last three years, the Swiss Foundation, Terre des hommes, has been fighting against the trafficking of children from poor villages around Elbasan and Korca in Albania to Greece. The traffickers force the children to beg in tourist places in Greece. Albanian girls are also taken to Italy and forced into prostitution.
Large-scale awareness measures in schools and counseling of families at risk has led to a significant fall in the number of children transported to Greece. With the cooperation of other organizations and authorities in both the countries, victims of child trafficking have been freed and reunited with their families. Social service organizations ensure that these children are safe and not sold off again.
In the subsequent years, the activities to prevent child trafficking have been extended to other districts of Albania. Sixty thousand children are said to have been reached and warned in this way. For this work, Terre des hommes has been awarded the Human Rights’ Prize of the French Republic in December 2002.

More information: www.tdh.ch

last update 01. 06. 2005