Debate article
Svenska Dagbladet 19 October 2009
Beatrice Ask, Minister for Justice

Concerted efforts against trafficking in human beings

Trafficking in human beings is a heinous practice that must be stopped using joint initiatives across national borders. International cooperation must involve countries of origin and transit around the world. The Swedish Presidency of the EU is now working to focus efforts by inviting a large number of ministers and other senior representatives to a conference in Brussels today and tomorrow to strengthen cooperation against human trafficking.

Every day around the world a large number of people are bought and sold by ruthless criminals who exploit their victims' vulnerability to make large sums of money. We do not know exactly how many victims there are worldwide, but they number in the hundreds every year in Sweden alone.

Some are lured by the promise of a job and a better life in another country, while others are exposed to coercion and violence by traffickers. Regardless of whether the purpose is the sale of sexual services or slave labour, the scale of human suffering is great. Children are ruthlessly exploited for everything from begging to the production of pornographic material.

There is already cooperation, primarily within the EU, to combat trafficking in human beings. NGOs play a significant role in preventing human trafficking and providing support to the victims, while the police services and judicial systems within the EU are becoming better and better at cooperating across borders. But this is not enough.

We must reach beyond the borders of the EU, to countries from which the victims come and to countries through which victims pass en route to their final destinations. At the same time we must look at ourselves, not least by working to reduce the demand for both sexual services and illegal labour.

For the second half of this year, Sweden has been holding the Presidency of the EU. This gives us a unique opportunity to push joint EU initiatives forward. One of our major priorities is combating trafficking in human beings. We are working to strengthen the legal framework in the EU. We are also producing an action plan for cooperation with countries outside the EU to combat trafficking in human beings.

Awareness of human trafficking must also be spread further afield, not least to people who are at risk of falling victim to false promises of jobs in other countries. We also want politicians, police services, prosecutors, social service agencies and others who are in a position to help to shift their efforts to combat human trafficking into a higher gear.

This is the background to the Swedish Presidency conference being held on 19-20 October in Brussels on the theme of trafficking in human beings. The conference is being held in cooperation with organisations including the International Organisation for Migration, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the European Commission. A number of other EU countries and NGOs are also contributing to the running of the conference.
The aim of the conference is to strengthen EU policy and measures against trafficking in human beings that concern countries outside the EU, with the focus on cooperation with countries of origin for human trafficking and with countries through which it passes, known as transit countries. This has never been done previously. Our primary hope, however, is that proposals for tangible and effective measures will be produced both ahead of and during the conference.

A wide range of politicians, senior officials and NGOs will take part in the conference. These include a Vice President of the European Commission and justice, home affairs and migration ministers from Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Slovenia, Hungary, Norway, Armenia, Ghana, Brazil and Thailand. Russia and the USA are also sending senior representatives to the conference. In addition, representatives of the UN and EU police and prosecutor cooperation will be given an active role. The Swedish Government will be represented by myself and Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy Tobias Billström.

It is well known that Queen Silvia is greatly committed to efforts to combat trafficking in human beings and to protect vulnerable children. I am therefore delighted that the Queen is to attend the conference, along with Queen Paola of Belgium.

I want this conference to make a difference. Given the list of participants, the prospects of producing constructive solutions to facilitate international cooperation against human trafficking are good.

By countries of origin, transit and destination meeting and developing a common conception of trafficking in human beings, initiatives can be better synchronised. In this way we will make it more difficult for hardened criminals to line their pockets at the expense of others' misfortune by luring individuals into human trafficking.

BEATRICE ASK (Moderate Party)
Minister for Justice