Child trafficking victims

BELGRADE -- Child victims of human trafficking in Serbia are sexually exploited, forced into marriages or begging.

According to the domestic and foreign services providing assistance to the victims of trafficking, 100 children have been identified from 2001 to 2006, most aged between 16 and 17.

Until recently, Serbia was a transit point, with victims coming mostly from Romania and Moldavia, however, the number of Serbian nationals in the grim statistic has grown since 2004.

State secretary with the ministry of labor Ljiljana Lučić told a news conference organized by Save the Children that contrary to popular belief, the victims are not only the Roma children.

The organization presented a study aimed at pointing to risks of human trafficking and protection factors.

The study shows that risk groups include children from marginalized ethnic communities, those living in extreme poverty, children in care of the social protection institutions, illegal immigrants, internally displaced from Kosovo and homeless children.

The recommendations urge the state to protect the children through health and social systems, and an improved network of identification and assistance, as well as research and monitoring of human trafficking.