£22bn 'epidemic' of human trafficking

HUMAN trafficking has reached "epidemic proportions" over the past decade, with a global annual market of about £22 billion, Europe's leading human rights watchdog has said.

The problem has become more visible in Europe, as some eastern European countries that are frequently noted as points of origin have joined the EU or are candidates to do so, officials of the Council of Europe told a two-day seminar on the subject in Athens.

It flourishes because "it is much easier to cross borders with persons than with drugs or weapons", said Marta Requena of the council's directorate general of human rights. "The profits are very high, and the risks are very low."

More than 200 experts, government officials and representatives of non-governmental agencies were attending the seminar, organised by the council and the Greek interior ministry to discuss strategies for combating what is often called slavery in its modern form.

Organisers also were pushing for governments to implement last year's Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings, which Ms Requena called "the first treaty in its field" because it distinguishes between victims of trafficking and migrants who are illegally but willingly smuggled across borders.

"Trafficking is a crime of indifference," said Athanassia Sykiotou, a criminologist from the University of Thrace. "We are all responsible."

Up to 800,000 people are trafficked each year, about 80 per cent of them women and children forced by economic deprivation into the illicit sex trade, according to US State Department figures. Other victims include forced organ donors and farm labourers.