OSCE plays key role in fight against human trafficking, top official says

VIENNA, 11 September 2007 - The OSCE plays a key role in the fight against human trafficking, Silvia Escobar, Spanish Ambassador at Large for Human Rights, said at a meeting on how to best support trafficking victims that concluded in Vienna today.

Ambassador Escobar, representing the Spanish OSCE Chairmanship, said she hoped a decision or a declaration on human trafficking could be adopted at the OSCE Ministerial Council, to be held in November in Madrid.

"We need permanent awareness campaigns, training courses, exchange and promotion of good practices, international laws and decisions to fight the corruption that goes along human trafficking," Ambassador Escobar said. "Our fight against human trafficking requires the same determination as does our efforts to combat other security threats."

Eva Biaudet, the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Human Trafficking, encouraged the 56 OSCE participating States to address the gaps that still persist in policies and practices.

"We need in-depth research that will enable us to assess the results of national and international anti-trafficking policies and responses," she said.

Participants in the two-day conference presented studies on the effectiveness of anti-trafficking policies and programmes, changing trends and patterns of trafficking, profiling of victims and traffickers' operating methods. Recently approved anti-trafficking laws, their links to immigration laws and EU strategies also were discussed.

Portugal, which holds the rotating EU presidency, has proposed that all EU countries have a common basic level of anti-trafficking laws and penalties, said Jorge Lacao, Secretary of State of the Presidency.

"In Portugal, we are reviewing the definition of trafficking to expand it from transnational trafficking to encompass internal trafficking," he said, adding that the new Immigration Law allows foreign victims to get a one-year residency permit.

He also said Portugal had created a centre for trafficking monitoring and proposed that a similar centre be created for trafficking monitoring across Europe.