Brussels, 20/07/2012 (AgenceEurope) - Nearly two of every thousand Europeans are subject to forced labour and human trafficking in one of the 27 EU member states, something that EU legislation describes as “a violation of fundamental human rights”. There are around 880,000 victims of forced labour or trafficking in Europe, often trapped by false job offers. Working conditions fall far short of what they had been led to expect and they are forced into illegal labour with little scope for improvement or freedom.
A recent report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) sheds light on this forced labour, most of whose victims are women, many of whom are forced into prostitution. The research showed that most of the victims are EU citizens, others coming from southern and Eastern Europe or Africa. Some 70% of them are forced to work as virtual slaves, with 30% forced in prostitution. “Our analysis of cases clearly shows that agriculture, domestic work, manufacturing and construction are the main sectors where forced labour was found in the EU”, said Beate Andrees of the ILO's Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, in a press release issued on 10 July. Action is being taken by national authorities in the EU, with the support of the ILO, to tackle the problem at the root by preventing people being conned by false job prospects and the promise of easy money. The economic crisis may well lead to a growth in human trafficking, suggested Andrees, who is critical of the low number of prosecutions of those responsible. (JK/transl.fl)