Council of Europe: Azerbaijan is source and transit country for human trafficking

Azerbaijan is a source and transit country for human trafficking, Head of Judicial Co-operation, Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation Unit at the Council of Europe Danuta Wisniewska-Cazals said at the seminar on fighting and preventing trafficking in human beings in Baku.

The two-day seminar is organized by the Council of Europe and Azerbaijani Interior Ministry's Department for Combating Human Trafficking.

Victims of human trafficking are sent from Azerbaijan to Turkey and Arabian countries for sexual exploitation and men to Russian for labor exploitation, she said. Noting that women are the main target, Wisniewska-Cazals said sometimes women became victims of the sexual exploitation and forced to begging within the country. She said that a limited number of victims of human trafficking are brought to Azerbaijan.

Europe adopted the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings only this year. The Convention was undersigned by 33 countries and 30 countries ratified it. Azerbaijan joined this Convention in February 2010.

The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry's Department for Combat with Human Trafficking reported that the department recorded 70 facts of human trafficking. 34 people were brought to responsibly over these facts. 34 people become a victim of human trafficking.

In 2010, the department recorded one fact on forced involvement in labor. Three Azerbaijani citizens were involved in forced labor in Poland. A criminal case was opened and the investigation is underway over the fact.


/Trend/