site.btaUS Department of State: Bulgaria Does not Meet Minimum Standards for Elimination of Human Trafficking, but Makes Significant Efforts

US Department of State: Bulgaria Does not Meet Minimum Standards for Elimination of Human Trafficking,
but Makes Significant Efforts

Washington, June 28 (BTA) - The Government of Bulgaria does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, however, it is making significant efforts to do so, reads the US Department of State's 2016 report on trafficking in persons.

The report notes the efforts made by the Bulgarian authorities, including more investigations of human trafficking cases for the purpose of labor exploitation, providing support to victims of trafficking, adopting a national anti-trafficking strategy for 2017-2021, and the law enforcement authorities' actions against public officials and police officers complicit in trafficking offenses.

Despite this, the Government did not demonstrate overall increasing anti-trafficking efforts compared to the previous reporting period. Efforts to prosecute traffickers, which declined markedly in 2014, modestly improved in 2015 as prosecutors tried more traffickers. However, courts convicted fewer traffickers and issued suspended sentences for most of those convicted. The country's overall capacity to shelter and provide services was minimal relative to the number of victims identified, the report says.

The recommendations to Bulgaria are to enhance efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers, particularly for labor trafficking, and hold convicted traffickers accountable with prison terms; increase the capacity of assistance available to women and children victims of human trafficking.

Bulgaria is a source and, to a lesser extent, transit and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Bulgaria remains one of the primary source countries of human trafficking in the EU. Bulgarian women and children are subjected to sex trafficking within the country, as well as in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and the United States. Several NGOs assert internal trafficking is increasing. Bulgarian men, women, and children are subjected to forced labor in other European states and Israel, predominantly in agriculture, construction, and the service sector. Bulgarian children and adults with disabilities are forced into street begging and committing petty theft within Bulgaria and in Austria, Greece, Italy, Sweden, and the UK. Romanian girls are subjected to sex trafficking in Bulgaria. Government corruption creates an environment enabling some trafficking crimes, and officials have been investigated for suspected involvement in trafficking, reads the report's part on Bulgaria.