US Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report: Montenegro makes notable efforts to combat modern slavery

Podgorica, Montenegro (20 June 2014) -- US Secretary of State John F. Kerry presented earlier today the 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP), drafted by the US State Department’s Office to Combat and Monitor Trafficking in Persons.

This year's report classified Montenegro in the second group including countries that are making significant efforts to develop standards for eliminating all forms of human trafficking.

The report acknowledges Montenegro’s commitment to combating trafficking and is very positive in general. It particularly praises and highly ranks Montenegro’s Office for Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings, as well as good coordination and cooperation with NGOs in planning and implementing policies for combating modern slavery.

The report also assessed positively the activities of the Montenegrin Government towards protecting victims and encouraging them to participate in criminal proceedings, through the provision of free legal, medical, psychological and social assistance, as well as complete funding of shelters for victims of trafficking.

When it comes to the prosecution, the report commends the amendments to the Criminal Code (Article 444), as well as the continuous work on sensitising the institutions responsible for high quality implementation of the law, and the increase in number of convicted persons compared to 2013.

The report praised the efforts undertaken by the Government in the field of prevention, particularly in implementing prevention campaigns, funding SOS phone lines, organising training programmes, and its developed indicators for the early detection of potential victims of trafficking.

The report is another confirmation that the Government of Montenegro systematically identifies upcoming problems in order to cope with these issues in a timely and efficient manner.

The positive tone of the report encourages Montenegro to continue investing maximum effort in the implementation of strategic documents in that field and recommendations from the presented report in order to prevent attempts of potential victims’ transition through the territory of Montenegro and as well as those of traffickers to make Montenegro the country of destination. To this end, Montenegro plans to empower regional cooperation and strengthen cooperation between countries of origin, transit and destination, Montenegro’s Office for Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings states in its press release.