Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

EU ringed by human trafficking offenders

  • Trafficking route runs from Nigeria, via Libya, to Italy or Germany (Photo: frehdyboy)

The EU is encircled by a ring of the world’s worst offenders on human trafficking, a US state department report has said.

In the south, it neighbours the “special case” of Libya, and is ringed by Mauritania, Mali, Sudan, Eritrea, Syria, and Iran - all of them countries that do not meet US “minimum standards” on prevention of trafficking and “are not making significant efforts to do so”, the report, out on Tuesday (27 June), said.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Lack of rule-of-law made Libya a "special case" (Photo: Internews Network)

In the east, Russia and Belarus fell into the same category.

The state department's yearly survey said Libya’s government “lacked the capacity to address basic security challenges, including human trafficking” and that there was “lack of rule-of-law”.

“Migrants in Libya are extremely vulnerable to trafficking, including those seeking employment in Libya or transiting Libya en route to Europe”, it said.

It said that jihadist group IS had taken captive “at least 540 migrants and refugees” to use as slaves since mid-2015.

It also said that “elements of the Libyan Coast Guard have reportedly worked with armed groups and other criminals, including traffickers, to exploit migrants for profit”.

The report noted that more than half of Syria’s pre-war population had been displaced and that women and children were being forced into sexual and other forms of slavery in neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.

On the EU’s eastern side, the US said women from Belarus and Ukraine were being trafficked for sex in Russia, Poland, and Turkey.

It said that “fuelled by Russian aggression, the conflict in eastern Ukraine has displaced nearly 2 million people, and this population is especially vulnerable to exploitation”.

It said that in Russia “organised crime syndicates … sometimes play a role in exploiting labour migrants, and corruption among some government officials and within some state agencies creates an environment enabling some trafficking crimes.”

Most EU countries scored the highest ranking in the US survey, but Hungary and Bulgaria were put on a “watchlist” over issues including increase in victims and poor law enforcement.

Traffickers continued to claim victims in the heart of the EU, whether among people coming via Libya to Italy or moving north to Germany.

“The estimated number of trafficking victims in Italy increased significantly due to the continued dramatic flow of migrants and asylum-seekers arriving by boat from sub-Saharan Africa,” the US said.

It noted that the number of estimated Nigerian women who were trafficked in Italy almost tripled last year.

It said Nigerian, Bulgarian, and Romanian women are being trafficked for sex in Germany, while Afghan, Bulgarian, Pakistani, Polish, Romanian, and Vietnamese people were being used as forced labour.

“The large influx of migrants during the 2015 and 2016 refugee crises continues to place a significant strain on [German] government resources at all levels and among agencies responsible for combating trafficking”, the US said.

Egypt eyes $5-6bn in EU cash under migrant deal

Egypt expects to receive between $5-$6bn [€4.6-€6.5bn] in funding from the EU under a major 'cash for migrant control' pact which is set to be finalised this weekend when EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen travels to Cairo.

Analysis

Election in sight, EU mood music changes on offshoring asylum

Designating a country like Rwanda as 'safe' under EU rules to send an asylum-seeker there requires strict conditions to be met first. But a backdoor clause introduced into EU legislation allows a future commission to strip out those requirements.

Analysis

Election in sight, EU mood music changes on offshoring asylum

Designating a country like Rwanda as 'safe' under EU rules to send an asylum-seeker there requires strict conditions to be met first. But a backdoor clause introduced into EU legislation allows a future commission to strip out those requirements.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us