The EU Anti-Trafficking Day was established by the European Commission in 2007 and is marked on 18 October of every year. On this occasion on 14 October a Conference was organised in the Ministry of Interior which highlighted the law enforcement aspects of this issue.
In her opening remarks, Ms Krisztina Berta, Deputy State Secretary, National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator emphasised the importance of awareness-raising as well as the cooperation of relevant organisations to which capacity building and continuous trainings of experts provide major contribution. In the framework of the event participants were provided opportunity to broaden their knowledge with practice-oriented presentations in priority fields from the representatives of the Airline Ambassadors International civil organisation, DCAF, Hungarian National Office of Interpol, National Bureau of Investigation and the National Police Headquarters.
Ms Nancy Rivard, president of the Airline Ambassadors International highlighted the key role of airport personnel in victim identification and prevention. Based on an ongoing project, the Head of Asylum, Migration and Counter Trafficking Programme of DCAF held a presentation about the root causes of demand and possible strategies to reduce it. A chief investigator of the Hungarian National Office of Interpol presented the measures and tools of Interpol in the fight against human trafficking as well as several successful international operations in this field. In their presentations the representatives of the National Bureau of Investigation and the National Police Headquarters focused on the experience of Hungary in the international law enforcement cooperation and the importance of the victim-centred approach in the fight against human trafficking.
After the Conference awareness raising training was held for the airport personnel in cooperation with the Airline Ambassadors International civil organisation.