site.btaBulgarians among Most Common Victims of Human Trafficking in EU - EC Report

Bulgarian nationals are among the most common victims of human trafficking in the European Union, according to a report presented by the European Commission on Tuesday. The report examines the progress made in the EU in combating trafficking in human beings. 

The figures show that 46% of the registered victims were EU citizens and 54% were third country nationals. This is a shift compared to 2019-2020 when the majority of registered victims was EU citizens (55% EU citizens).

The top five EU citizenships of trafficking victims by numbers were Romanian, French, Hungarian, Bulgarian and German. The top five non-EU citizenships were Nigerian, Ukrainian, Moroccan, Colombian and Chinese. A total of 34% of all victims were citizens of the country in which they were registered (internal trafficking). Nearly all victims in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Latvia were their own citizens, the report says.

Forced begging remains present in several Member States as a form of exploitation. Mainly underage Romanian, Bulgarian, Slovakian and Hungarian nationals were represented amongst the victims, including Roma ethnicities.

Suspected trafficking for the purpose of removal of organs was reported by Bulgaria, Greece and Slovakia, which also included the exploitative removal of cells, tissues and blood as organ trafficking. This form of exploitation represented less than 1% of registered cases in the EU in 2021-2022, according to the report.