Once a narcotrafficking corridor, the “Balkan route” has become one of the primary migration pathways to Western Europe. It brings a variable but constant flow of people: exiles from the Middle East, Asia and Africa; Eastern European workers filling labour shortages in the West; Romanian women ending up in the sex trade… Over the long term, the scale of movement is immense.
So are the financial stakes. Organised crime, “intermediary agencies” and other actors profit from it, perpetuating and exacerbating the phenomenon. They prey on people’s dreams and desperation, exploiting loopholes in law enforcement and the weaknesses of bilateral cooperation on human trafficking. They orchestrate migrations with the pure purpose of making money, disregarding human rights.
What is overlooked are the long-term political and societal consequences — some of which are time bombs.
This cross-border investigation exposes various forms of human trafficking, challenging common clichés about traffickers and their victims. While criminal networks exploit exiles from war zones and dictatorships, many other players — including individuals, companies and even EU states — directly or indirectly contribute to and benefit from this scourge.
Western Europe’s ageing population and workforce shortages attract masses of Balkan workers seeking better prospects abroad. And they are legion: for instance, six in 10 Albanians express a desire to leave their country.
This mass exodus depletes the workforce of the source countries, deepening instability and planting the seeds of future problems — for the entire continent.
Another example: about a third of the women exploited in the European prostitution industry come from Romania. A vast majority of them have been lured in through scams, coercion or economic desperation.
While organised crime benefits from this trade, expanding its toxic techniques all throughout the continent, European (male) clients fuel the demand, and governments mostly turn a blind eye to this modern form of slavery. Neither the EU nor national authorities have taken serious action to weaken these exploitative systems.
This investigation shows that human trafficking poses grave risks to Europe — to its security, social stability and the fundamental rights of its people. Politically, it erodes public trust in state authorities, fostering the toxic perception that human lives are mere commodities in an unregulated market.
At first, the victims may seem like they are “foreigners”. In reality, it is all of us — the entire European community — who bear the consequences.
See the initial articles below. More stories coming soon.