The program to combat human trafficking for 2011-2013 has been developed in Belarus

June 16, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Since 2002, 22 criminal organizations involved in human trafficking have been suppressed in Belarus. This was announced today in Vitebsk at the seminar "Cooperation of State, International and Public Organizations in Combating and Preventing Human Trafficking" by Dmitry Tsayun, Head of the 5th Department (Combating Inter-State Human Trafficking) of the Department for Drug Control and Combating Human Trafficking of the Criminal Police (UNiPTL KM) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, BELTA correspondent reports. Since 2006, the republic has seen a gradual downward trend in crimes related to the export of people abroad for sexual exploitation. According to Dmitry Tsayun, this was facilitated by the targeted work of state bodies, international and public organizations. In Belarus, 15 ministries and departments are involved in the implementation of the state program to combat human trafficking. In recent years, the Criminal Code has been supplemented with 2 articles providing for punishment for human traffickers. Belarus is one of the recognized leaders in combating human trafficking in the world, stated Dmitry Tsayun, and despite the achieved results, it does not intend to stop the fight against this evil. The 3rd state program to combat human trafficking, designed for 2011-2013, has been developed. It has been submitted for approval. In Belarus, over 5 months of the current year, 232 crimes related to human trafficking and other related crimes have been identified, of which 114 crimes are related to trafficking, and 61 crimes are classified as serious and particularly serious. The event in Vitebsk will last until June 18. During its work, the role of law enforcement and judicial bodies in preventing and detecting crimes in the sphere of human trafficking will be considered, issues of psychological, social and medical rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking will be discussed, and proposals to strengthen cooperation between state, international and public organizations in this area will be developed. The seminar is attended by representatives of city and district executive committees of the Vitebsk region, the regional executive committee, IOM, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, public organizations, as well as representatives of law enforcement agencies of Latvia, Smolensk and Pskov regions. The seminar is held with the financial support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) within the framework of the international technical assistance project "Combating Human Trafficking: Republic of Belarus," implemented by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus and the IOM Representation in Belarus, as well as within the framework of a joint project of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus and the UN/UNDP and UNICEF Representations in Belarus. -0-