The EU Anti-Trafficking Day is organised every year on 18 October. The first Anti-Trafficking Day was held in 2007.
The Ministry of Interior takes part in the fight against human trafficking in cooperation with the relevant authorities and is also responsible for the national coordination. In the recent period important steps have been taken in the field of legislative changes, prevention and awareness raising.
Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA were properly transposed into the national legislation on time, until 6 April 2013. This new Directive establishes minimum rules at European Union level concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions in the area of trafficking in human beings. It also provides measures aimed at better prevention of this phenomenon, and at improving the protection of victims.
The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings aims to prevent trafficking in human beings, protect victims of trafficking, prosecute traffickers, and promote coordination of national actions and international cooperation. Transposition of Directive 2011/36/EU lifted the obstacles to ratification of the Convention with Act XVIII. of 2013 which entered into force on 1 August 2013.
The New Criminal Code was passed by the Hungarian Parliament on 25 June 2013 and entered into force on 1 July 2013. It incorporates the criminal offence of trafficking in human beings which was harmonized with the Directive 2011/36/EU, with the legal provisions of the Palermo Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially woman and children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.The new Criminal Code contains a new provision on forced labour too.
Specific provisions of Act CXXXV of 2005 on Crime Victim Support and State Compensation have been amended, therefore victims of trafficking in human beings are entitled to services independently from their cooperation in criminal proceedings.
Government Regulation No 354/2012 of 13 December 2012 on the identification system of victims trafficking in human beings applies regulation on the national victim referral system which is of general scope and obligatory for all responsible authorities, it laid down the system of the authorities’ cooperation. The regulation satisfies the requirements of Article 11 Assistance and support for victims of trafficking in human beings of the Directive 2011/36/EU.
On 29 May 2013 the Government accepted the new national strategy against trafficking in human beings for the 2013 – 2016 period. According to the future vision of the strategy Hungary endeavours to combat against all manifestations of human trafficking as efficiently as possible at the national level, and as a reliable partner at the international level, respecting human rights, free of discrimination and paying special attention to the protection of children.
The Ministry of Interior participated in the project “Integrated approach for prevention of labour exploitation in origin and destination countries” funded by the Directorate General Home Affairs of the European Commission, the general objective of which is to decrease labour exploitation in origin, transit and destination countries. In the framework of the project a transnational study has been developed on „Characteristics of policies on trafficking in human beings for labour exploitation”. A regional seminar was held in March 2013 in the Ministry of Interior to improve inter institutional cooperation and increase the capacity of fighting against trafficking in human beings for labour exploitation for labour inspectors, judges, prosecutors, police officers, social workers, NGOs. During the project a prevention campaign was implemented that aimed to increase public awareness about the risks associated with labour exploitation and to increase the awareness of the population, policy makers and potential victims of human trafficking on the dimension and forms of labour exploitation.
Between 7 and 11 August 2013 a prevention and awareness-raising programme took place at the Sziget Fesztivál, where visitors were provided with information on the phenomenon of human trafficking, preventive measures and victim assistance opportunities.