Yearbook on Illegal Migration, Human Smuggling and Trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe A Survey and Analysis of Border Management and Border Apprehension Data from 2009 With a Special Survey on Return and Readmission of Illegally Staying Migrants International Centre for Migration Policy Development, Vienna 2011 2009 Yearbook on Illegal Migration, Human Smuggling and Trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe, International Centre for Migration Policy Development, Vienna, 2011 Prepared and published with financial support provided by the Ministry of Interior of Hungary and the Ministry of Interior and Administration of Poland with the aim to support and strengthen the Prague Process/ Building Migration Partnerships knowledge base. This publication was prepared with the help of the border and migration services of the states covered. The names of the co-operating authorities are listed at the end of each country chapter. We are very grateful for their co-operation and commitment in answering a long and detailed questionnaire. The yearbook was prepared by ICMPD staff. This edition of the Yearbook relies on the analytical approach of previous editions, edited by Peter Futo, Michael Jandl and Thomas Tass. The responsibility for any errors rests solely with ICMPD. International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) Gonzagagasse 1 A-1010 Vienna Austria www.icmpd.org © International Centre for Migration Policy Development 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission of the copyright owners. Country maps and the figures for country areas and country populations were taken from the WORLD FACTBOOK, which was published by the Central Intelligence Agency, Washington D.C. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/). Printed and bound by OstWest Media ISBN 978-3-900411-73-2 Page 2 Table of Content Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 5 Irregular Migration in CEE in 2009 – Comparative Analysis................................................ 7 Border apprehensions ....................................................................................................... 7 Rejections at the border .................................................................................................. 15 Human Smuggling ........................................................................................................... 17 Trafficking in Human Beings ............................................................................................ 19 Return and readmission .................................................................................................. 21 Country Chapters ............................................................................................................ 29 Armenia .......................................................................................................................... 30 Azerbaijan ....................................................................................................................... 35 Bosnia and Herzegovina .................................................................................................. 45 Bulgaria .......................................................................................................................... 54 Croatia ............................................................................................................................ 64 Cyprus ............................................................................................................................ 78 Czech Republic ................................................................................................................ 86 Estonia ............................................................................................................................ 97 Georgia ......................................................................................................................... 105 Greece .......................................................................................................................... 111 Hungary ........................................................................................................................ 115 Kosovo under UNSCR 1244 ............................................................................................ 126 Latvia ............................................................................................................................ 132 Lithuania ....................................................................................................................... 142 The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia .................................................................. 155 Montenegro .................................................................................................................. 163 Poland .......................................................................................................................... 176 Romania ....................................................................................................................... 189 Serbia ........................................................................................................................... 201 Slovakia ........................................................................................................................ 213 Slovenia ........................................................................................................................ 230 Turkey .......................................................................................................................... 242 Ukraine ......................................................................................................................... 248 Questionnaire ............................................................................................................... 258 Page 3 Page 4 Introduction This is the 13th edition of ICMPD’s Yearbook on Illegal Migration, Human Smuggling and Trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe. The Yearbook provides a comprehensive overview and detailed analysis of irregular migration flows in the wider CEE region. The basic information for the Yearbook has been collected through a questionnaire, disseminated to border agencies, ministries of interior and other national authorities dealing with issues related to irregular migration. Through this method, detailed assessments and authentic information on the situation and developments of irregular migration, human smuggling and trafficking in the countries is obtained directly from reliable sources. In the last decade several European countries have engaged in negotiations and conclusions of bilateral readmission agreements. In addition, return and readmission of illegally staying immigrants has become the major response of countries to the challenge of irregular migration. Against this background, the Yearbook 2009 takes a closer look into the practices of return and readmission in the wider Central and Eastern European region. In 2009 the trend of decreasing numbers of apprehensions in the region has continued. Migration-related border apprehensions decreased by more than a fifth from 2008 to 2009. Greece and to a much lower extent Turkey represent the countries with the largest numbers of apprehensions of persons who enter or stay in a country without authorisation. The most important source countries are Albania, Afghanistan as well as the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Apprehensions of human smugglers and traffickers show a decreasing tendency in 2009 as well. With the Yearbook, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development provides a reliable and continuously available source of information on the development in the area of irregular migration. It serves its Member States as a basis for the development of fact based policy responses to irregular migration in Europe. I would like to genuinely thank all collaborating authorities in the countries for their excellent co-operation, their efforts and inputs to the Yearbook. I would also like to thank ICMPD staff members for their dedicated work. Peter Widermann Director General, ICMPD Page 5 Page 6 Comparative Analysis Irregular Migration in CEE in 2009 – Comparative Analysis The comparative analysis of ICMPD’s Yearbook presents a synthesis of the statistical information provided by each country. The aim of the comparative chapter is to present an overview on the situation and developments in the area of irregular migration, human smuggling and trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe in 2009. Comparative tables provide information on the most important countries in each area of analysis as well as on changes in the statistics from 2008 to 2009. Altogether, 23 countries and territories responded to the questionnaire for the 2009 Yearbook. Due to differences in the availability of several statistics, international comparison is limited to the number of countries that did provide the requested statistics. The statistics were collected through a questionnaire, which was sent out to the responsible bodies in the countries and territories in 2010. The questionnaire contains qualitative and quantitative questions. The qualitative questions focus on