18 October has been known as the European Anti-Trafficking Day for eight years now.
Trafficking in human beings is one of the gravest violations of human rights. The personal safety of Hungarian citizens is one of the fundamental interests; and combatting human trafficking plays an important role in guaranteeing this. Tackling this phenomenon requires coordinated State action and cooperation at national and international level.
In 2010-2012, European member states registered 30,146 victims of human trafficking, 1,000 of them sexually-exploited children. A third of the victims were European Union passport-holders. The figures were revealed on Friday 17 October by European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström when she unveiled a report on the victims and perpetrators of human trafficking. Over the same period, 8,551 prosecutions against traffickers were reported across the EU. Eighty percent of the victims were female.
On the initiative of the Dutch Police and with the operational support of Europol a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has been set up against a criminal group involved in prostitution. Colleagues of the Belgian Police and the Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation were cooperating in the JIT as well.
The premiere of a Swiss movie called Victoria – A tale of Grace was held this week in Budapest. The Swiss-funded movie presents a story of a Hungarian young woman who – because of the deep poverty and the desire of success and a better life – decides to go to Western-Europe to earn money as a prostitute. The movie was shot with Hungarian actors.
The office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Project Co-ordinator in Baku plays a leading role in supporting Azerbaijan in the fight against trafficking in human beings. The Project Coordinator in Baku, in cooperation with its international partners, closely monitors the counter-trafficking actions in the country and implements a large-scale and long-term support project.
As in the past two years, the Ministry of Interior was presented at the Sziget Festival this summer as well, at the Civil Island as part of an awareness raising campaign in the topic of fight against human trafficking. The visitors could gain information about the phenomenon of human trafficking, the indicators of victimisation and possible solutions, important steps and measures to be taken before going abroad to work and the activities of the organizations taking part in the fight against human trafficking.
Hungary's Ministry of Interior has launched a campaign against human trafficking in cooperation with five embassies, Krisztina Berta, Deputy State Secretary for EU and International affairs and national coordinator of the anti-human trafficking campaign announced on Wednesday.
A delegation of the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) carried out an evaluation visit to Hungary from 8 to 11 July 2014. The visit was organised in the context of the first round of evaluation of the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.
In 2013 the United Nations General Assembly designated 30 of July as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons which is celebrated in 2014 for the first time.
According to the Embassy of Hungary in Ottawa, Canada, 20 members out of 22 are being sent back to Hungary.