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| Several hundred thousand people are being trafficked to and within the EU every year. |
A two-day forum, called "Trafficking in Human Beings: Legal Practices and Challenges," began today in Sofia. Specialists from 14 countries have gathered in order to exchange knowledge and experience as well as the legal frameworks of the countries of origin, transit and destination of the victims.
According to the Deputy Interior Minister Veselin Vouchkov, the differences in legislation between the countries of origin and the destination countries for human trafficking is one of the biggest problems, facing those who seek to tackle the problem.
Her Excellency Judit Lang, the Hungarian Ambassador added: "The Hungarian presidency [of the EU] is making great efforts to deal with this issue, because the trafficking in human beings is becoming a more serious problem than we originally thought it would be. We want to unify somehow the approach of all the member states and enhance the cooperation." According to Ambassador Lang, the most important steps the member states need to take are data collection and cross-border cooperation in tackling the problem.
A particular focus was also put on the trafficking for purposes other than sexual exploitation. The UK was mentioned as one of the destination countries were this is a big problem. According to David Dillnutt, Head of the UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC), domestic servitude is especially hard to tackle: "The difficulty with domestic servitude is its nature. We are encouraging the reporting of the crime, there is also provision of victim services throughout the UKHTC and various NGOs in order to try and get people to report and then prosecute the offenders."
The case of Mwanahamisi Mruke, which emerged in March this year shed some light on the problem. The Tanzanian woman had had her passport taken away from her, denied liberty and communication with her family. She was forced to work for 18 hours a day and was kept on a poor diet and lived in appalling conditions. All these factors, combined with her inability to speak English meant that she was unable to seek help for a very long time.
Dillnutt added that a new government strategy, involving tougher border control, working with the countries of origin, a multi-agency work within the UK and a continuation of victim services, is also being implemented in Britain.
Photo source: http://ec.europa.eu/news/justice/101018_en.htm
Related links:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/17/slave-wins-case-hospital-director
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13440736
http://www.mtvexit.org/traffic_is.php?lang=1
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