Beatrice Ask hosted EU conference on human trafficking

Minister for Justice Beatrice Ask hosted a major conference on trafficking in human beings held in Brussels on 19-20 October. Over 400 participants, including ministers and senior representatives of agencies and organisations, gathered to discuss how best to prevent human trafficking.

Among those present were a wide range of politicians, senior officials and NGOs, including a Vice President of the European Commission and justice, home affairs and migration ministers from EU countries and from Norway, Armenia, Ghana, Brazil and Thailand. Queen Silvia and Queen Paola of Belgium also took part in the conference.

"The conference is helping to strengthen EU cooperation with countries of origin for trafficking in human beings, and with countries through which human trafficking passes. By expanding cooperation we will become better at preventing human trafficking, and we can thereby hopefully prevent potential victims from being drawn into trafficking. At the same time we will make life more difficult for the hardened criminals who line their pockets at the expense of others through human trafficking," says Ms Ask.

Trafficking in human beings is a priority issue for the Swedish Presidency, which is working to strengthen the legal framework in the EU.

"I hope that we will reach an agreement on improvements to the framework decision on combating trafficking in human beings. We are also producing an action plan for cooperation with countries outside the EU to combat human trafficking," says Ms Ask.