site.btaSofia Hosts National Conference on Human Trafficking Prevention

Sofia hosted Friday a national conference on preventing and combatting human trafficking. It was organized by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel, who is also Chair of the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.  The event was held in hybrid format, with some speakers joining in online.
 
The event was attended by Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov and EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator Diane Schmitt. EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson and US Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Cindy Dyer and OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings Dr. Kari Johnstone made video addresses. Among the participants were also representatives of Bulgarian institutions, politicians, public figures, representatives of international monitoring organizations, academia, and NGOs.
 
The event  featured two panels: "Bulgaria’s strategic vision of combating human trafficking: good practices, challenges, and perspectives" and "Measures for sustainable solutions in the fight against human trafficking". 
 
The organizers described the conference as “a call for dialogue” between all stakeholders at the national and international level aimed at identifying the challenges and perspectives in developing a strategic vision for Bulgaria in the fight against human trafficking. The participants shared good practices, identified necessary measures, and sought sustainable solutions for the effective prevention and counteraction of this crime. 
 
In her opening remarks, Mariya Gabriel said that human trafficking “is a serious crime, a crime against the individual, personal freedom and dignity, and it denies the achievements of democratic societies”. 

It transpired in her speech that the budget of the commission for combating trafficking in human beings, support for victims and shelter costs will be increased by 194%.

“For me and my team prevention and combating of human trafficking is not an ordinary challenge. It is a possibility to show that Bulgaria contributes significantly and decisively to fight against human trafficking,” said the Minister. 

"Human trafficking is the scourge of our time," she added. "My first message today is to do everything in our power to eradicate the root causes of this crime. To reduce poverty, to quell conflicts, to promote the education of those who could become victims of human trafficking in the future," Gabriel said. 

Gabriel argued that the severity of the punishment for human trafficking should be proportionate to the crime, and said that sentences for human trafficking are many times lighter compared to other profitable forms of organized crime, such as drug and arms trafficking.  
  
Coordination at national and international level, commitment to work together - these two components are the basis for achieving better results in the fight against human trafficking, the Deputy Prime Minister said.   

Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov said: "Only by working together can we identify the challenges and outline the necessary measures to achieve sustainable solutions in the fight against human trafficking.   

In recent decades, we have witnessed deepening crises - economic, military, environmental, demographic. This has led to an increase in cases of human trafficking, and the ways in which this crime is committed are becoming increasingly diverse, requiring a swift and adequate institutional response."

EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said in a video conference that Bulgaria needs to be a full-fledged member of Schengen if human trafficking is to be fought successfully.

She said she will do everything in her power to make sure that land travel restrictions are lifted as soon as possible – and added that Bulgaria belongs to Schengen.

On December 30, 2023, the Council of the European Union unanimously voted to lift controls for Bulgaria and Romania at the air and sea borders with Schengen countries as of end-March 2024. The Council also committed to working towards the abolition of checks at land borders as well.

"Human trafficking is the most terrible manifestation of organized crime. Criminals can only sell drugs once, but they can sell a woman's body over and over again. More than 90% of Bulgarian victims are women and girls. Trafficking in women is mainly for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Human trafficking is an invisible crime, and we must do more to raise awareness. The most powerful tool in this fight is European legislation," Johansson said.

The scale of labour exploitation is increasing and it needs to be taken more seriously, said Diane Schmitt, the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator based in the European Commission. She 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.