They're usually in groups of two or three while they do the table rounds. Then they meet in the corner with a few more groups. All these children know each other, there are ten-fifteen of them, the boys shyly laughing and jostling each other, the girls more serious and reserved. But they all throw worried looks over their shoulders. I've never seen an adult with them, but the waiter assures me there's one nearby, keeping an eye on them.

Who are these kids and where are they coming from? Where are their parents? The waiter shakes his head, "they're gangs, they have a boss, they're Albanian, they're Gypsies.

"Their parents hire them out. They steal, they beg, who knows what they do..."

He waves his hand dismissively, uninterested and bored. The cops who stop in the bakery next door for coffee and croissants on their break don't even look at the kids. No one does, really. I don't know why I notice. I think I've been in the States too long.

Albania has been a major source country for the trafficking of women and children (The Convention on the Rights of the Child defines children as under 18 years old.) since the collapse of communism in 1991. It is estimated that there are 30,000 Albanian prostitutes abroad. Despite this, until 1997, Albanian authorities were reluctant to admit that many were the victims of trafficking. Today, trafficking is high on the political agenda, but still very little research has been done into the trafficking of Albanian women and children abroad. Apart from the efforts of some national non-government organisations, the fate of trafficked women and girls has, by and large, been ignored.

The study concluded that trafficking has been, and still is, widespread in the country and the majority of victims are children. Trafficking is usually conducted through offers of false marriages and jobs, or abduction and selling. In some parts of Albania, there is hardly a village that remains untouched. While the trend has shown a slight decline since 1997/98, trafficking of children for prostitution continues on an almost daily basis and the risks of recruitment remain high, especially for the poor and ill educated.

For example, in Puke district in the north, village teachers have identified 87 females trafficked in the last three years, 80% of them children. Local sources claim 2000 women from the Berat district are working as prostitutes abroad, 80% of them were children when they were trafficked. In a handful of villages in the Zadrima area, it is estimated that 30 women have been forced into prostitution. There are countless other examples and a significant number of those have occurred in the last 6 months.

The trafficking of children to Greece for begging and forced labour is no less alarming. It is estimated that there are 1000 mainly Albanian gypsy children in the city of Thessaloniki alone. They, too, tell stories of systematic violence and exploitation at the hands of their traffickers.
Child Trafficking in Albania