Opinions & Interviews

Kravchenko: Belarus supports any collective efforts to combat human trafficking

MINSK, 30 July (BelTA) –  Belarus upholds any collective efforts to fight trafficking in human beings, Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleg Kravchenko said at a regional seminar of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), BelTA has learned. 

“As part of its international initiative to improve coordination in combating human trafficking, Belarus welcomes and supports any collective efforts to fight human trafficking in all spheres of life and at all levels of cooperation,” the diplomat said.

Oleg Kravchenko recalled that in 2018 the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice passed the resolution “Preventing and combating trafficking in persons facilitated by technological means” that was initiated by Belarus. One of the goals of the document is to facilitate research in this field in order to develop efficient tools to challenge this crime.

This year, Belarus held thematic events in New York, Vienna and Geneva to discuss the role of technology in combating trafficking in persons. The events were arranged together with the Group of Friends United Against Human Trafficking and the Inter-Agency Coordination Group Against Human Trafficking.

“It is very important that the human trafficking issue is high on the agenda of the OSCE,” Oleg Kravchenko said. He added that it has already become a tradition to hold various awareness raising events on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons in Belarus. On 30 July national and international partners are launching a new awareness raising campaign aimed at prevention of sexual violence and exploitation of children. Everybody knows that communication means play an important part in children’s life and that children often fall victim to criminals in the virtual world. “This awareness raising campaign and the OSCE international seminar focus on very common aspects of prevention and fight against human trafficking. This means that our efforts are complementary and comprehensive,” the diplomat noted.

He thanked the OSCE partners for the initiative to hold this seminar in Minsk. “On this World Day Against Trafficking in Persons I would like to reaffirm Belarus’ strong commitment to eradicating this abhorrent crime – trafficking in human beings,” Oleg Kravchenko concluded.

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