Professor Leslie Holmes

Professor Leslie Holmes
(University of Melbourne)

Human and Drug Trafficking from and through Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract:

The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 led many to believe that a wonderful new era was dawning, one in which people throughout Europe would be freer and more prosperous than ever. The subsequent reality has been rather different. A large number of factors have resulted in a rise of transnational crime in Europe since the beginning of the 1990s, and what amounts to slavery for thousands, mostly women and children. Among these factors are softer national boundaries in many parts of Europe; economic crisis and high rates of unemployment in many post-communist states (at least in the 1990s); the disintegration of three post-communist states, accompanied by wars in one of them and desperate attempts by many citizens to flee their war-torn regions; growing technological sophistication among criminal gangs; and increased corruption among state officials (especially customs and police officers). One of the most visible aspects of the rise of organised crime and corruption is the growth in human trafficking, people smuggling and drug smuggling. This has serious negative implications for the people directly involved (other than the criminals themselves), and for the populations more generally in virtually every European country. This paper will provide information on human and drug trafficking, primarily from and through Central and Eastern Europe; analysis of the reasons for this; an overview of what measures are being taken to counter this phenomenon; and speculation on likely future scenarios. It will also include some survey results from four European states on attitudes towards trafficking – data that will be presented for the first time at this conference!

Biographical note:

Leslie Holmes is Professor of Political Science and Deputy Director of the Contemporary Europe Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. He specialises in communist and post-communist politics, with particular reference to corruption and organised crime. In connection with this, he is currently engaged in a project on people-smuggling and human trafficking in Europe, funded by the Australian Research Council. He was President of the International Council for Central and East European Studies (ICCEES) 2000-2005, and is currently President of the Australasian Association of Communist and Post-Communist Studies (AACPCS). Among his publications are Post-Communism (1997), Post-Communist Democratization (co-authored with John Dryzek, 2002), and Rotten States? (2006). His latest book is an edited one, due to be published in January 2007 – Terrorism, Organised Crime and Corruption: Networks and Linkages; that book is the result of an earlier CERC Annual International Conference.