BUCHAREST, May 20th – Experts from the SECI Center member countries analyzed the trends and identified future actions regarding the fight against human trafficking and people smuggling, at the 15th meeting of the Task Force established on this topic at the SECI Center.
“Obviously the number of victims is decreasing. Although there are differences from country to country, this is the general conclusion. This might be a sign that the countries’ efforts are finally coming to good results. More and more we can notice trafficking for labor exploitation. In the same time, the countries’ reports show that illegal migrants are seeking traffickers and not vice versa. The number of illegal crossing of the borders decreased, and it is increasing the migration with forged documents. Probably this phenomenon will escalate, due especially to the changes that appear regarding the member states’ status. Countries in the region that once were source, now might become destination countries,” Gabriel Sotirescu, the SECI Center’s deputy director stated.
The member countries took an important decision during the meeting: to highlight the elements related to trafficking of minors (child exploitation for different purposes) as a specialized activity to be analyzed in the future and to focus also on cases regarding trafficking with the purpose of organ and tissue removal.
The two days seminar had as special guest the Deputy Attorney General of the United States of America, Mark Filip, who appreciated the countries’ efforts on countering organized crime in the region: “The SECICenter is a unique institution in Europe and it is doing a better job than any institution in the region. In particular, the work of the SECICenter in the area of human trafficking is remarkable, it is noteworthy and it is making obviously a positive difference. Human trafficking is a terrible problem; in many respects it is almost like a modern day slavery and it leads to exploitation of human beings in a very tragic way. You are all fighting to combat that and for that I very much commend you”.
Catalin Dragota, Romanian and National Coordinator of the Task Force activity underlined the importance of the common fight: “I am convinced that the phenomenon of human trafficking can be reduced through our joint effort. We cannot say that the human beings trafficking will ever disappear, but we can be sure that the law enforcement agencies in Southeast Europe can bring a meaningful contribution by working together to lower the intensity of the phenomenon.”
The SECI Center member states will review in the following weeks the information regarding the trafficking in human beings and people smuggling, and the SECI Center’s analysts will issue a comprehensive report regarding this phenomenon.
The Task Force on Trafficking in Human Beings and Migrant Smuggling is one of the seven Task Forces established within the SECI Center (Anti Drug Trafficking TF, Anti Fraud and Anti Smuggling TF, Financial and Computer Crime TF, Stolen Vehicles TF, Anti Terrorism TF, Container Security TF).
The SECI Regional Center for Combating Trans-border Crime, headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, was launched in 2000, and is a unique operational organization in which police and customs liaison officers from 12 member states (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey) work together in direct cooperation, coordinate joint investigations and facilitate information exchange.
Besides the member countries, there are 21 observers, countries and organizations: Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, EUBAM, France, Georgia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Ukraine, UNDP Romania, the United Kingdom, UNMIK, and the United States of America.
Italy and the United States maintain permanent representation at the SECI Center, and Interpol and the World Customs Organization are permanent (non-resident) advisors to the SECI Center.
