BRAMA, November 2, 2000, 11:00am EST

Police in Bosnia and Herzegovina take steps to stem human trafficking: UN mission
- UN Newsservice

31 October -- The United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) reported today that local law enforcement authorities had carried out a major operation aimed to stem illegal trafficking in women.

A spokesman for UNMIBH told a press briefing in Sarajevo that the local police in Ilidza and members of the Canton Sarajevo Ministry of Interior had conducted a raid Monday evening against a night club, the "Kenta Bar," where they discovered activities of illegal human trafficking.

According to spokesman Douglas Coffman, members of the UN International Police Task Force (IPTF) interviewed 17 possible victims of human trafficking. Twelve of the women told the Force that they had been held against their will and asked for UN assistance in returning to their home countries in eastern Europe - Moldova, Ukraine and Russia, the spokesman said.

During the raid, the police arrested the owner of the club and confiscated several weapons, Mr. Coffman added.

According to the UN Mission, the operation was "one of the most significant anti-trafficking actions taken so far by police in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

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