Slovenia among Best in Fight on Human Trafficking, Report Says
The US State Department released on Wednesday the "2008 Trafficking in Persons Report" which places Slovenia among the 29 most successful countries world-wide in fighting human trafficking.
Slovenia was ranked as a Tier 1 country in the fight on human trafficking, according to State Department criteria, which place countries around the world in three tiers.
The Slovenian Foreign Ministry responded on Thursday with a press release which says Slovenia's placement among the most successful countries in this field is a result of years-long cooperation involving government institutions and NGOs.
The State Department report for 2007 says Slovenia is a transit and destination country for men, women and children trafficked from Ukraine, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Turkey, Albania, and Montenegro for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour, also in the construction industry.
Slovenia is also a source country, however, to a lesser extent, as Slovenian women are trafficked within the country or to countries in Western Europe for commercial sexual exploitation, the report adds.
The State Department recommends that Slovenia provides trafficking awareness training for judges and ensures that the majority of convicted traffickers are imprisoned.
According to the report, the authorities conducted six trafficking investigations in 2007, courts prosecuted three trafficking cases and convicted five traffickers, while the police provided anti-trafficking training for 165 police officers.
The government earmarked in 2007 over EUR 67,000, some EUR 12,000 more than in 2006, to two NGO's which provided assistance to 26 victims or potential victims. The number of such victims in 2006 stood at 43.
Countries in Tier 1 fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, as defined by the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Slovenia had moved up from Tier 2 to Tier 1 last year.
Slovenia became actively involved in the fight against human trafficking in 2001, when it established an interdepartmental task force, which focuses on prosecution of traffickers, raising awareness and training of those involved in the fight against human trafficking, among others.
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