A two-day training on the topic of Combating Human Trafficking was held on May 8 and 9, 2025, at the KIRS Training Centre in Plandište. The training brought together experts from the refugee and migrant protection system with the aim of strengthening knowledge and skills in the field of prevention and response to human trafficking.
The event was jointly opened by Bojana Ćirić, Acting Assistant Commissioner for General Legal Affairs (KIRS), Marko Tanasković from the Ministry of Interior – Office for the Coordination of Activities in Combating Human Trafficking, Ana Konstantinović from the Centre for the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking, and Vuk Raičević, Advisor on the EU4FAST project from GIZ Serbia.
Through interactive sessions led by representatives of the Ministry of Interior, the Centre for the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking, the Protector of Citizens, and civil society organizations, participants had the opportunity to learn about the criminal offense of human trafficking, the role of institutions in the victim protection system, harmful practices that put children in mixed migration flows at risk, as well as the importance of providing free legal aid in reception and asylum centres.
The second day of training was opened by the National Coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking, Nenad Simić, who further emphasized the importance of multisectoral cooperation and the continuous education of employees in the system.
Among the lecturers were Marija Borisenko (Ministry of Interior), Mirjana Lukić and Slobodan Simić (Protector of Citizens), and Rajko Matuško (Centre for Crisis Policy and Response).
Our own Jelena Ilić, Coordinator of the Asylum and Migration Programme at the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, spoke about the role of civil society in providing free legal aid in the reception and transit centres of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration.
Through interactive sessions and experience sharing, participants gained deeper insight into the roles and responsibilities of institutions in victim protection, methods for identifying persons at risk, and the importance of intersectoral cooperation and a sensitive approach to particularly vulnerable groups.
The training was organized by GIZ in cooperation with KIRS, as part of the project EU Support to Strengthening the Fight Against Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking in the Western Balkans (EU4FAST).
We continue to build a protection system that recognizes the needs of the most vulnerable and responds in a timely manner.
© photo: BCHR
