Brussels, 19/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 19 June, the European Commission presented a European strategy aimed at combating the trafficking of people in the EU, to which hundreds of thousands of people fall victim each year, said Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström. The Commission hopes to eradicate the phenomenon over the next five years. “Unfortunately, slavery has not yet been left to the history books. It is appalling to see that in our times human beings are still being put up for sale and being trafficked into forced labour or prostitution”, Malmström deplores.
The strategy comprises 40 new measures that should complete binding legislation already adopted and being transposed into member state law, in this case the directive on the prevention of human trafficking and measures to combat the phenomenon. Member states must transpose the directive into national law by April 2013.
Measures proposed include: - the setting in place of national law enforcement units to crack down on human trafficking but these do not yet exist in all member states; - the creation of joint investigation teams involving Europol and Eurojust in crossborder cases; - clear information to victims on their rights (assistance, health care, their right to a residence permit, as well as their rights under labour law) or the creation of an “EU mechanism to better identify, refer, protect and assist trafficked victims”. The idea is also to work within major coalitions (companies, associations, etc) on the root causes of the trafficking phenomenon and to reduce supply and demand of potential victims, Malmström said.
According to estimates by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), victims of forced labour, including forced sexual exploitation, number 20.9 million worldwide, including 5.5 million children, the Commission points out. In the developed economies (United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Norway and EU member states) “the estimated number of victims … amounts to around 1.5 million forced labourers, 7% of the total worldwide. Trafficking in human beings generates more than €25 billion profits a year for international criminal organisations worldwide”, the Commission states. It adds: “While many victims come from non-EU countries, internal trafficking (i.e. EU citizens trafficked within the EU) appears to be on the rise.” The EU strategy presented will run until 2016. The Commission plans to report on progress in implementation of the strategy every two years, with a first mid-term report in 2014. (SP/transl.jl)