In 2002, the Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour estimated that 1.2 million children had been trafficked. Babies were trafficked for adoption. Pre-pubescent boys and girls were trafficked as beggars or selling items on the streets. Adolescent girls were used for prostitution and sexual exploitation. In Greece, thousands of children were working in the streets - begging, and selling small items - in all the major cities of Greece. Ninety percent of them were Albanian. One can only imagine how these children were being treated.

An Albanian girl trafficked to Greece told Terre des Hommes that “Our bosses ill-treat us when we play or don’t want to work”. A former police officer investigating their predicament reported to Terre des Hommes that: "Numerous children described to us the ill-treatment they had been subjected to, such as being burned with cigarettes on their bodies, slapped, insulted, made to swallow shampoo for having looked ill, and obliged to sleep outside..."

Children in all forms of exploitation are conditioned to believe that they have no alternative and are thereby deprived of motivation to escape. The research in Greece revealed that Albanian children were taught that the police would beat them, that social workers were also a source of danger and that the only person the child could trust was his or her boss.

Terre des Hommes: Study on Child Trafficking

In many countries it's standard practice that illegal immigrants are deported, children as well as adults, without any court proceedings. Greece, not only denies the children victim status, it also considers them guilty of illegal entry into the country, arrests them and deports them. These minors end up back in the hands of traffickers who simply wait at the border where trafficked children are being dumped and take control of them again.

We went to Greece on foot. Four days' walk. We injured ourselves when we tried to escape from the police who were pursuing us. We had a lot of "scares" during this journey to the Greek border, because it was very dangerous". Mirela, 15 years old, describing her first journey to Greece when she was 4 years old.

Until 2000, their main activity was begging. The technique for making money is summed up by Mirela: "during the winter we had to wear light clothes to provoke pity among the Greeks and encourage them to give money." From 2000, the trend moved towards the sale of small items (handkerchiefs, icons, telephone cards…) and flowers.They are now "more presentable", well-dressed and no longer aim to inspire pity like before. What has not changed is the exploitation of the children who often work more than 12 hours a day, constantly walking through the town, and subject to ill-treatment inflicted by their employers.

Naïm, 14 years old, says, he "lost control" of how many times he went begging in Greece since he was 6. Today, his former bosses are his role model. They encourage him to cross the border with two kilos of marijuana.

The trafficking of Albanian children in Greece

What happened to the children who were trafficked the last ten years in Greece? We don't really know, there isn't much information on the subject. Children are not being reported missing in Albania for several reasons, including distrust of the authorities in the Roma communities where a lot of these children come from, lack of awareness and education about human rights, and also involvement of the parents in the trafficking. Greek police measures may have made the traffic less visible but it didn't go away - the children are still there.

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On an end note: I've been keeping track of Maria, Alexandra and Constantino. Maria graduated from 7th grade last year. She's behind in school but she's catching up and she's self-confident and well-adjusted. Maria's mom had another baby, this one didn't come home either, but Maria is not working anymore. Alexandra and Constantino are in school but continue to work at night selling small icons. All three of them dream of going back to Albania and they miss their grandparents. Maria said she liked it better in Korça because "everyone is poor there so you don't feel it as much." I told you she was wise.

Mirupafshim, my friends.

(evariste - faleminderit, and a thimbleful of cognac to you)