EU issues report on human trafficking

EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom has issued the first report on human trafficking in the EU. The figures show that while there is an increasing number of victims, convictions of perpetrators have gone down.

At a press conference in Brussels on the 15 April 2013, Malmstrom introduced the results of the European Commission study that analyzed human trafficking in the EU from 2008 to 2010.

According to the figures, there were over 23,000 identified or presumed victims of human trafficking over the three-year period. This represents an increase of 18 percent in the number of victims, but at the same time, the number of convictions has dropped by 13 percent.

• Primary Source

Eurostat, Methodologies and Working Papers: Trafficking in human beings http://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/download.action?nodePath=%2FPublications%2FTrafficking+in+Human+beings+-+DGHome-Eurostat_EN.pdf&fileName=Trafficking+in+Human+beings+-+DGHome-Eurostat_EN.pdf&fileType=pdf

ESO: Background Information: Trafficking in human beings: more victims in the EU but Member states are slow to respond http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-trafficking-in-human-beings-more-victims-in-the-eu-but-member-states-are-slow-to-respond/

EurActiv, 16.04.13: EU slams member states for flouting human trafficking laws http://www.euractiv.com/justice/eu-slams-member-states-flouting-news-519125

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