The State Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and National Coordinator for the fight against human trafficking and illegal migration, Petruševski, spoke at the inter-ministerial conference on the topic "Labor Migration within the Central European Initiative – CEI: Safe Pathways and Sustainable Labor Market."
The State Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and National Coordinator for the fight against human trafficking and illegal migration, Sašo Petruševski, participated in the Inter-Ministerial Conference "Labor Migration within the Central European Initiative – CEI: Safe Pathways and Sustainable Labor Market," held on November 6 and 7 in Belgrade, Republic of Serbia.
The National Coordinator was a speaker on the panel of national coordinators for the fight against human trafficking on the topic "Human Trafficking and Labor Exploitation in the Context of Labor Migration," which also included the national coordinators from Serbia and Slovenia, as well as representatives from victim protection institutions.
In his address, Coordinator Petruševski emphasized that labor exploitation represents a form of human trafficking that often remains hidden behind legal or semi-legal forms of employment, and he stressed the need for a strong institutional and coordinated response from the states in the region.
Petruševski reflected on the progress our country has made in recent years, including the revision of the Standard Operating Procedures for the identification of victims of human trafficking, the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Labor Inspectorate, as well as the enhanced coordination through the National Referral Mechanism and the mobile teams operating in the field.
During the panel discussion, National Coordinator Petruševski emphasized that the growing trends of economic and seasonal migration, the emigration of Macedonian citizens in search of a better existence on one hand, and the influx of foreign workers from Asian and Latin American countries on the other, are creating new trends and challenges for institutions, necessitating tailored measures and regional coordination.
The conference was organized within the framework of the Central European Initiative (CEI), with support from international partners, and aimed to enhance institutional capacities and establish regional cooperation in the field of labor migration and the fight against labor exploitation.
