Sofia has hosted a forum, devoted to a boosting global issue – human trafficking and also to its prevention. The National Commission for Combating Traffic in Human Beings, the Hanns Seidel Foundation and the British Council were the organizers of the event.

The fight against this crime is among the priorities of the Bulgarian EU presidency. So the country will cooperate with its neighbors from the Western Balkans, Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Sterk said.

“Human trafficking is among the worst crimes, aimed at somebody’s personality and dignity. It is still one of the most profitable organized criminal activities and there is huge money there, just like in arm and drug trafficking. Not a single country is capable of fighting alone in this field, as it is cross-national. Joint international efforts and exchange of information at all levels are necessary.”

Secretary of the National Committee for Curbing Traffic of Human Beings (NCCTHB) Kamelia Dimitrova gives us more details on the profile of the vulnerable groups of people that are target of the criminals:

“The victims’ recruitment process tends to go online more and more often. Traffickers tempt their victims with promising ads and international agencies, across chat-rooms and on the most widespread social media. Labor exploitation victims are mostly attracted via job advertisement websites. Internet is also used for blackmailing the victims; it makes easier direct exploitation and generated further forms of exploiting people.”

British Ambassador to Bulgaria Emma Hopkins says that both traffickers and their victims leave tracks online which can be traced, in order for the crime to be solved. The deepening of the cooperation between the investigators and the private sector in this fight is essential. At the same time a broader and more serious information campaign is necessary, explaining to users the risks hidden behind online communication and the job search there. According to Kamelia Dimitrova, it is easy to find out whether the wannabe employer is risky – the company should be on the list of registered intermediaries. The Employment Agency keeps the list online. The lack of a contract form in a language the would-be worker can use or a suspiciously high wage could be other landmarks.

Research of the Center for the Study of Democracy shows that human trafficking with the purpose of sexual exploitation uses three main methods: fake marriages, fake job advertisements and the usage of women who have already worked as prostitutes, as this is not so risky. The full text of the study is here.

Investigative methods were also part of the discussion and representatives of Europol, the Interior Ministry, the Chief Directorate for the Fight with Organized Crime and also of social media discussed the issue. According to Head of Facebook’s Public Policies Gabriella Cseh, the main goal of the social network in this field is to fight against exploitation of children for pornography and other illegal purposes. According to data of the British Scotland Yard, presented by their Cybersecurity adviser David Rich they are currently working on over 400 cases of human trafficking, and more than 170 of those are with the purpose of sexual exploitation. In fact these numbers are higher, as these are only the registered cases. The issue shouldn’t be underestimated in Bulgaria as well and the talk on online communication and its potential dangers should start in the early childhood years.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev