Human trafficking

Five police officers accused of cooperating with human traffickers to facilitate the entry of at least 100 migrants into Greece are being held in custody pending trial.

The five officers had been testifying before an examining magistrate since Saturday morning at the border town of Orestiada, in northeastern Greece.

With the support of Eurojust and Europol, the Regional and District Prosecutor's Office in Dobrich together with the Main Directorate "Fighting Organized Crime", the police and the prosecutor's office of the city of Heilbronn, Germany, have taken action against an organized criminal group for human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, announced the Prosecutor's Office.

A team of lawyers representing a 12-year-old Athens girl who has exposed one of the country's biggest cases of child sex trafficking by speaking out about her own rape and exploitation by dozens of men is demanding a police guard for their client after she was attacked by a man with a knife. 

In the report prepared by the Women's Platform for Equality (EŞİK), it is emphasized that the prevalent gender inequality and discrimination deepen in times of disaster.

The report, which also includes the narratives and observations of EŞİK representatives in the region, commented that "gender even determines the places where women die."

Croatian law on sex work is outdated and vague. Photo: EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT

An Athens court on Tuesday rejected a request for release from pretrial custody of the mother of a 12-year-old victim of rape and sexual exploitation.

The decision was unanimous, with the judges on the Council of Misdemeanors ruling that the 37-year-old woman is facing serious charges, including of profiting from the pimping of her daughter and other related offenses.

Turkish Cyprus has registered its first-ever conviction for human trafficking after two Nigerians forced their schoolmates into prostitution.

The case involved a Nigerian woman in her 20s brought to the island as a student with promises of "education and work," Fezile Osum from Turkish Cyprus' Human Rights Platform said.

The Independent Labor Inspection Authority, as part of a joint European action, carried out inspections at workplaces that present a high probability of cases of human trafficking, for the purpose of labor exploitation.

Prague – Interior Minister Tanja Bobnar attended an informal EU ministerial in Prague on Monday, telling her colleagues from the other EU members that the Slovenian police had not yet detected major security threats stemming from the war in Ukraine. However, the police is paying close attention including because of potential human trafficking.

The Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, GRETA, an independent monitoring group, said in a report for the Council of Europe published on Tuesday that Bosnia and Herzegovina's has improved legislation to combat human trafficking but it needs to be implemented more effectively to ensure protection and justice for victims.