Brussels, 31/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 31 May, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström launched a fresh call to member states to transpose the directive on the fight against human trafficking. Only nine countries have so far implemented this directive.
Malmström issued the call at the launch of a new civil society platform to fight against human trafficking. This pan-European platform - which brings together around 100 associations - “will serve as a platform for civil society organisations working at European, national and local levels in the field of human rights, children's rights, women's rights and gender equality, migrants' rights and shelters”, a press release states. “Participants will be able to exchange experiences and concrete ideas on how to best assist victims, expand their networks, and prevent others from falling victim to this crime.”
Scarcely six weeks ago, Malmström criticised the slow transposition of the directive by the member states. Six fulfilled their obligations in mid-April 2013. The deadline for transposition had been set at 6 April 2013, and currently only the Czech Republic, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Finland have fully applied the text. Four other countries have carried out a partial transposition - Belgium, Bulgaria, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. Malmström urged the other countries to speed up the process. She also deplored certain abuses - especially the fall in the number of arrests of traffickers. In April, the data published by the European Commission showed a decline of 17% in the number of traffickers between 2008 and 2010, and a fall of 13% in the number of convictions. This is a trend which is hard to explain, Malmström repeated on Friday, unless it is through “the absence of legislation and a clear definition of the crime” of human trafficking, a gap which this directive, still overdue in most member states, is precisely intended to address. According to available data, the number of victims of exploitation - mainly for sexual purposes - identified in the EU is increasing and stood at 23,636 people between 2008 and 2010. Women are the main victims. (SP/transl.fl)