2016 marks the 10th EU Anti-Trafficking Day

Publicated on: October 18, 2016

Mátyás Hegyaljai, national coordinator for the fight against human trafficking and deputy state secretary for EU and international relations held a press conference at a conference organized on the occasion of the 10th EU Anti-Trafficking Day.

The deputy state secretary stressed that human trafficking is one of the most serious violations of human rights, the severe restriction of the right to individual freedom and dignity. Today, the phenomenon is on the rise in the European Union, therefore it is particularly important that the European Commission has named 18 October the EU Anti-Trafficking Day. This year, on the Anti-Trafficking Day’s tenth anniversary, the Ministry of Interior organized a two-day international conference in cooperation with two NGO’s, White Ring Public Benefit Association and Anonymous Ways Foundation, with the main topic being victim assistance.

It is incompatible with Hungary’s core values that its citizens and the persons residing in our country become victims of human trafficking. Hungary, as it is typical of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, is mainly a country of origin of human trafficking, but statistics show that it is also a transit country. Countries of destination are usually located in Western Europe, notable examples being the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom.

As a result of globalization, the number of criminals is rising, the rate of organized crime and serious crimes in the region is also increasing, and therefore it is necessary that we pursue the widest possible form of cooperation to prevent trafficking in human beings – be it cooperation among states or between actors of the public and civil sector. However, this cooperation is needed not only to combat human trafficking, but also to draw attention to the importance of the matter at all possible forums.

The intention of the Ministry of Interior is to provide information on the most possible fields and in the most possible ways, and to encourage action against this phenomenon.

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