Over 80 children sold in BiH in the last three years alone

The minor girl whom O.N. from Sarajevo sold to S.N. from Goražde is of Roma ethnicity, the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP) learns.

Media reported yesterday that police in Goražde suspect that S.N., from the settlement of Podhranjen near this town, bought a fourteen-year-old girl in Sarajevo from O.N. The case has been handed over to the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), which is further investigating the matter.

- Podhranjen near Goražde is a Roma settlement, and we believe this is not the first time child trafficking has taken place there. However, no one talks about it, and no one in the state is seriously addressing this issue – says a Patria source.

Child trafficking in BiH has been on the rise, and the dramatic situation in recent times is also shown by numerous studies by the Ministry of Security and the non-governmental sector.

According to official data, more than 80 cases of child trafficking have been recorded in BiH in the last three years. However, in the opinion of experts, this is far below the actual number, which is much higher.

The Ministry of Security of BiH emphasizes that most children who are victims of human trafficking come from families without one or both parents, poor families, Roma families, and often include persons with disabilities.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, not only children from BiH are trafficked, but they also come from neighboring countries: Serbia, Montenegro, and Croatia.

Spokesperson for the Ombudsman for Children of Republika Srpska, Vesna Popović, previously warned that child trafficking is an increasingly common occurrence in BiH, leading to child prostitution and child pornography.

Last year, the State Department released shocking data stating that the police in BiH are also involved in child trafficking.

- Members of police structures in BiH are involved in human trafficking, stated the latest report on human trafficking for 2012 by the U.S. State Department.

- According to available reports, police complicity in human trafficking crimes, as well as the authorities' insensitivity towards child victims of trafficking, hinder bringing perpetrators of these acts to justice - warns the State Department.

Although, as further highlighted in the report, there has been some progress, the BiH authorities still do not meet even the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, NAP reports.