Officials at the Embassy of Albania in London have warmly thanked British Baptists for their partnership with the Albanian government in the fight against people trafficking.
An 11,000-name petition of people who signed up to In transit, BMS World Mission's anti-trafficking campaign, was handed over at the Embassy on Wednesday (20 February).
BMS director for mission David Kerrigan and Hannah Wilson, representative for counter-trafficking work, met with the Counsellor to the Albanian Ambassador, Mr Myzafer Alushi.
David told Mr Alushi that the petition was not in any way a protest to the Albanian government but an expression of thanks and encouragement for the work they are undertaking to stamp out the practice of people trafficking in that country.
"We are grateful to the Albanian government for taking this issue so seriously", explained David.
Mr Alushi responded by saying, "The Church plays an important role and I want to thank you for what you are doing. Your contribution is very much evaluated by the Albanian government and we hope that together we will stop the shameful trafficking problem".
He added, "The issue is being tackled very carefully by our government and with full support of the UK and other governments in Europe. We have established successful centres to help trafficked women and the care by the government is certainly not lacking. We are doing what we can with limited resources, with support from other countries".
Mr Alushi said that he would pass the petition onto the Albanian Ambassador, Mr Zef Mazi - who was unable to make the meeting due to a prior engagement - and talk with others at the Embassy and within the Albanian government "in order that we continue to have co-operation".
During the 20-minute conversation with Mr Alushi, Hannah outlined the work that she and Christians in Albania were doing in co-operation with the government - working together to help victims and raising awareness.
She handed Mr Alushi an Albanian translation of the booklet produced by the European Baptist Federation for church leaders, and contains the contact details of the 12 regional government anti-trafficking committees in Albania.
One of the key things that the In transit campaign asked for was for representation by the Church on these committees. Hannah was delighted to announce at this meeting that Iva Zajmi, the Vice Minister of Interior in Albania, has agreed for the churches to have representatives on the 12 committees.
Even in this short meeting, Mr Alushi was clearly impressed by BMS' commitment to working in Albania since the early 1990s, when the country 'opened up' following Communism and welcomed future ways in which BMS is able to help people there.
The meeting at the embassy drew the In transit campaign to a close. BMS would like to thank every individual who signed a postcard and every church that ran the campaign and raised awareness of the issue.
Visit our website in the coming weeks for further information about forthcoming anti-trafficking events and meetings in Albania.