Belgian PM urges action on human trafficking

Date: 26/09/02

By Martin Banks

GUY Verhofstadt, the Belgian prime minister, has called for criminals who profit from human trafficking to have their proceeds confiscated to compensate victims.

He said such a move might encourage more victims to come forward and report traffickers.

Speaking at a conference at the European Parliament in Brussels, Verhofstadt also called for:

• stiffer sentences to act as a deterrent;
• free legal aid for victims;
• increased use of video technology in court;
• more witness protection schemes, and;
• psychological and medical care.

The Flemish Liberal said that the victims themselves should not face prosecution but, instead, be offered temporary residence permits before being helped to return to their country of origin.

He added: 'The overall integrated approach I am advocating would, hopefully, also increase the willingness of victims to report their traffickers and cooperate with the authorities.'

His comments were echoed by another keynote speaker, Italy's Deputy Foreign Minister Margherita Boniver, who said tens of thousands of women and children were being smuggled each year for sexual and economic exploitation.

'The problem transcends national borders and that is why each country has a moral responsibility to tackle the problem,' she said.

Anna Diamantopoulou, the social affairs commissioner, said concerted action was crucial to defeat the organised criminal gangs who had turned western Europe into the 'heart of a modern-day slave trade'.

She said up to 500,000 women and children are being trafficked into the EU each year.

'They are bought and sold into forced prostitution, to domestic labour as servants and forced into sham 'marriages' where they are held as prisoners.

'[They are] raped and often forced to provide their so-called 'husbands' with children.

'The bodies of several hundred of these women are discovered each year.'

She said that, while there was an overall need to address all forms of trafficking, a specific policy approach was needed to address trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

The conference, organised by the International Organisation for Migration, the European Commission and European Parliament, heard that the trade in people smuggling is worth €50 million a year.

• WILLY Bruggeman, deputy director of EU police agency Europol, admits national police forces are 'losing control' in the battle against human trafficking.

He said: 'We have to accept that we have not been as successful as we would have liked in this area. I am afraid to say it is not getting the priority it deserves by some member states and some police forces are not taking it seriously enough.'

Bruggeman, a former senior police officer in the Belgian force, added: 'This is a growing problem compounded by the fact that the criminal gangs involved are flourishing and becoming more and more violent.

'An all-round, higher-quality effort is needed, including the sharing of information. I would like to see each member state set up its own agency, including police, immigration and customs officials, dedicated to combating human trafficking.'

Guy Verhofstadt, the Belgian prime minister, has called for criminals who profit from human trafficking to have their proceeds confiscated to compensate victims. He said such a move might encourage more victims to come forward and report traffickers.