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Opinions & Interviews

30 Jul 2014

UNDP: Belarus is much more serious about human trafficking than most countries

UNDP: Belarus is much more serious about human trafficking than most countries

MINSK, 30 July (BelTA) - Belarus takes a much more serious approach to the problem of trafficking in human beings than most other countries, UN/UNDP Resident Representative in Belarus Sanaka Samarasinha said at the roundtable dedicated to the first ever World Day against Trafficking in Persons which was declared by the United Nations on the initiative of Belarus, BelTA has learned.

“During my work in the United Nations, government and civil society institutions I have dealt with the problem of human trafficking, but I did not realize its severity, scope and harm for the individual and for society as a whole until I came to Belarus. This is not because the scale of this phenomenon in Belarus is bigger than in other countries, but because Belarus is much more serious about this problem than most other states," said Sanaka Samarasinha.

According to him, Belarus managed to draw attention to the urgency of the problem, to mobilize public opinion and the international community to combat human trafficking. The cooperation with Belarus in this area has changed over the past few years. Earlier more attention was paid to the training of personnel, assistance to criminal prosecution. Now focus has shifted to crime prevention and rehabilitation of victims.

Sanaka Samarasinha cited the UN data, according to which there are currently about 21 million victims of trafficking in the world. Millions more still live in the conditions of modern-day slavery. According to the estimates, annual profit of this criminal business is more than $36 billion.

"There is no measurement as to the degree of human suffering that occurs for every dollar of these profits. The problem of human trafficking is about human rights, human dignity, regaining faith in own’s own strength and creating chances and opportunities for the victims to rebuild their lives,” the UNDP representative said. 

 

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