Balkan Insight reported yesterday that at least 1,500 newborn babies have been reported missing from Serbian hospitals since the 1970s. Most of the parents said that doctors or nurses told them that their babies had died, but refused to let them see the bodies. Many of the parents believe their babies were stolen by hospital staff and then sold to adoptive parents. The police have said they can't investigate because the statute of limitations has expired. Last October, the Serbian government proposed compensating the parents 10,000 Euros for their loss, but the parents don't want to accept the proposal, fearing the police won't bother to investigate if they can just pay off the parents. Serbian Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic said in a report in 2010 that a lack of proper documentation made it impossible to determine whether a crime had been committed. A working group set up by the government in 2011 said it couldn't investigate the cases of the missing babies unless the state constitution was amended. The article doesn't specify why a constitutional amendment is necessary.

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/parents-of-missing-babies-accuse-serbia-for-pushing-problem-under-carpet-01-26-2017#sthash.9zWWK1gt.dpuf

http://archive.is/T83bu

DW places the number of missing babies even higher -- between 6,000 and 10,000. There's a short video on the page.

http://www.dw.com/en/serbia-missing-babies/av-18267935

http://archive.is/Hq6jl

This page says Serbian babies have gone missing over the last five decades, and some parents think a criminal network is responsible for the kidnappings. Short audio segment included.

http://www.dw.com/en/the-mysterious-fate-of-missing-babies-in-serbia/av-18449952

In Nov. 2014, the Union of Parents of Missing Babies of Serbia tracked down the 75th newborn suspected stolen from its parents. The article reported that if the DNA samples matched, it would be the 43rd proven case of a baby having been sold after birth. Most of the missing children (some now grown) were found in Serbia, but others were found in other European countries and Canada. The group said that some mothers were administered the drug Formidal to put them to sleep. Some of them were given adoption papers to sign while they were under the influence of the drug, and they later didn't remember having signed papers.

https://inserbia.info/today/2014/11/serbia-baby-theft-proven-in-42-cases/

http://archive.is/g14uy

It's unclear who is behind the trafficking, but at least a few of the missing children who have been located have turned up in other countries, so the people who are responsible may be part of an international trafficking ring.