The Colloquium on Human Trafficking and Refugee Rights Was Held with the Support of TİKA

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and the Turkish Justice Academy held the “Online Colloquium on Human Trafficking and Refugee Rights” for judges and prosecutors from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia.

During the program, which was held from February 23 to 25, Turkey’s experience in solving refugee issues and human trafficking has been shared with judges, prosecutors, and experts.

The opening session of the online colloquium, which was held for 25 judges, prosecutors, and experts from 9 countries within the framework of the South-East European Cooperation Process, was attended by Yavuz Selim Kıran, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Hasan Yılmaz, Deputy Minister of Justice; Serkan Kayalar, TİKA’s President; and Muhittin Özdemir, President of the Turkish Justice Academy.

In his speech in the program, Serkan Kayalar, TİKA’s President, stated that TİKA and the Turkish Justice Academy had contributed to the training of more than 2100 judges and prosecutors and the sharing of judicial experience through more than 110 training and experience sharing programs and regional colloquia since 2009. Kayalar noted that these countries are located on a migration corridor from east to west due to the wars, humanitarian crises, and great economic difficulties in the region. He said that the best way to solve the problems caused by migration was to increase cooperation between countries, harmonize the legislation, and lead the fight against crime through collective thinking.

Yavuz Selim Kıran, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, stressed the importance of joint efforts for the development of regional and permanent solutions to the refugee crisis, which is a common problem.

As part of the 3-day colloquium, seminars on various topics were held for judges and prosecutors from 9 countries. It is aimed to conduct various other training programs for judges and prosecutors in cooperation with the Justice Academy within the scope of TİKA’s Judicial Services Training Program.