Human trafficking in Albania

Albania ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in August 2002.

Albania is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor, including the forced begging of children. Albanian victims are subjected to conditions of forced labor and sex trafficking within Albania and Italy, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Western Europe. Approximately half of the victims referred for care within the country in 2009 were Albanian; these were primarily women and girls subjected to conditions of forced prostitution in hotels and private residences in Tirana, Durrës, Elbasan, and Vlorë. Children were primarily exploited for begging and other forms of forced labor. There is evidence that Albanian men have been subjected to conditions of forced labor in the agricultural sector of Greece and other neighboring countries.

The Government of Albania is making significant efforts to combat trafficking. It has improved its capacity to identify, protect, and reintegrate trafficking victims. It has also successfully prosecuted some sex trafficking offenders, imposing significant penalties. In March 2009, the government approved an amendment to the Social Assistance law which will provide victims of trafficking with the same social benefits accorded to other at-risk groups in Albania and provide government funding for shelters. The government continues to track and analyze trafficking trends through a nationwide database. Government officials have increased public attention to trafficking in Albania. There are serious concerns, however, about protection for victims who testified against their traffickers. The government has not vigorously prosecuted labor trafficking offenders. Because of lack of political will and corruption in some key government agencies, the government has sometimes been less than vigorous in its prosecution of human trafficking. In 2013 Albania introduced harsher penalties for human trafficking, but there were very few arrests. In 2013, only three people were convicted for human trafficking, and in 2014, according to the US State Department, only nine were convicted. In 2015, the National Coalition of Anti-Trafficking Shelters (NCATS) reported 85 cases of human trafficking. However, they estimate that the number is much higher. Impoverished girls and women who are manipulated through sham marriages and false employment opportunities are named as particularly at risk. The other group of victims includes children, poor and socially excluded people, economic migrants, refugees and victims of domestic violence and other forms of abuse.

The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017. Statistics from the British National Crime Agency showed that in 2017 the majority of victims of human trafficking are Albanians who are exploited as cheap labor or in the sex industry. The country remained at Tier 2 in 2023.

In 2023, the Organised Crime Index gave the country a score of 5 out of 10 for human trafficking, noting improved support for victims.