Labour exploitation is a growing phenomenon and needs to be taken more seriously, said Diane Schmitt, the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator based in the European Commission, during a national conference on the prevention and combating of human trafficking here on Friday.
Schmitt cited Eurostat's Trafficking report published on Wednesday, according to which the number of registered victims of human trafficking grew from 7,155 in 2021 to 10,093 in 2022. She said that there are many unaccounted victims and specified that 80% of victims in Bulgaria are children. Schmitt was adamant that every effort must be made to prevent child trafficking.
Schmitt pointed out that there is a decline in some forms of trafficking, such as forced begging, surrogacy and organ trafficking.
Another participant at the forum, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel, said that the budget of the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings will be increased by 194%.
Minister of Interior Kalin Stoyanov said in his address: "Only through joint efforts can we identify the challenges and outline the measures necessary to achieve sustainable solutions in the fight against human trafficking."
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