Aizsalnieks: EU will continue supporting Belarus to fight trafficking in people
EU's partners in Belarus tell the European Radio for Belarus about how many women have escaped foreign brothels, how many slave traders have been detained and how many pornographic sites have been shut down. Beginning from 2007, Europe has marked the Day Against Trafficking in People. The year of 2009 was marked under the slogan "EU's Global Action Against Trafficking in People". Janis Aizsalnieks, a diplomat from European Commission's representative office in Belarus, noted the program is about cooperation between the European Union and the countries where the victims of trafficking come from. Parallel to the press conference titled "Prevention, fighting and minimization of social affects in the field of trafficking in people in Belarus" and held on October 19 in Minsk, a two-day international conference on improving EU's policy against trafficking in people took place in Brussels.
Janis Aizsalnieks: “EU's Swedish presidency and the European Commission have been in collaboration to develop a document which aims to raise the significance of fighting the trafficking in people in EU's foreign policy. It is expected that this document will have been passed in the autumn of 2009 after discussions at this conference”.
1 million 250 thousand people have become victims of trafficking, including 98 percent of women. According to Janis Aizsalnieks, the European Commission has drafted amendments to a framework agreement of the Council of the European Union on fighting the trafficking in people and on protecting the victims of the trafficking. The amendments aims to prioritize the human rights.
"The new document will allow to raise the level of victim protection with a special focus on children. The definition of trafficking will be widened in line with the legal instruments of the United Nations and the Council of Europe. The document will help protect the rights of victims better during legal proceedings. It will also provide for special treatment of those who were exposed to heavy psychological and physical traumas”.
The European Commission, UNDP and Belarus have launched a joint project aimed to minimize the social consequences of the trafficking in people. The project started in July 2009. It is financed by the European Commission, Valiantsina Staluha from the UNDP Office in Belarus, said the project costs $1,335,000. The funding is mainly provided to deliver social and rehabilitory assistance to victims as well as to support law-enforcement agencies in prosecuting slave traders.
Siarhei Kaltun from Belarus' Interior Ministry told reporters how the police used the funding of the project.
“This year, 321 crimes in the field of trafficking in people were recorded. The operation of 9 international criminal groups and 2 criminal organizations was halted. 57 channels of trafficking for sexual exploitation of Belarusian citizens in 12 countries of the world were busted. 9 porno sites were shut down. 2 porno studios were closed”.
Responding to a question of the European Radio for Belarus, Janis Aizsalnieks said that the joint project between the European Union and Belarus will not end this year. He stressed that if necessary the European Union is prepared to support cooperation of all the European Partnership countries to fight trafficking in people.
Janis Aizsalnieks: “EU's Swedish presidency and the European Commission have been in collaboration to develop a document which aims to raise the significance of fighting the trafficking in people in EU's foreign policy. It is expected that this document will have been passed in the autumn of 2009 after discussions at this conference”.
1 million 250 thousand people have become victims of trafficking, including 98 percent of women. According to Janis Aizsalnieks, the European Commission has drafted amendments to a framework agreement of the Council of the European Union on fighting the trafficking in people and on protecting the victims of the trafficking. The amendments aims to prioritize the human rights.
"The new document will allow to raise the level of victim protection with a special focus on children. The definition of trafficking will be widened in line with the legal instruments of the United Nations and the Council of Europe. The document will help protect the rights of victims better during legal proceedings. It will also provide for special treatment of those who were exposed to heavy psychological and physical traumas”.
The European Commission, UNDP and Belarus have launched a joint project aimed to minimize the social consequences of the trafficking in people. The project started in July 2009. It is financed by the European Commission, Valiantsina Staluha from the UNDP Office in Belarus, said the project costs $1,335,000. The funding is mainly provided to deliver social and rehabilitory assistance to victims as well as to support law-enforcement agencies in prosecuting slave traders.
Siarhei Kaltun from Belarus' Interior Ministry told reporters how the police used the funding of the project.
“This year, 321 crimes in the field of trafficking in people were recorded. The operation of 9 international criminal groups and 2 criminal organizations was halted. 57 channels of trafficking for sexual exploitation of Belarusian citizens in 12 countries of the world were busted. 9 porno sites were shut down. 2 porno studios were closed”.
Responding to a question of the European Radio for Belarus, Janis Aizsalnieks said that the joint project between the European Union and Belarus will not end this year. He stressed that if necessary the European Union is prepared to support cooperation of all the European Partnership countries to fight trafficking in people.
