Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, said trafficking in human beings is caused by such factors as illegal migration, corruption, defective functioning of the justice system or poverty. Beyond this, human trafficking is first of all a serious human rights violation that affects women, men and children alike, IPN reports.

In a message on the occasion of the EU Anti-Trafficking Day, Nicu Popescu said that this day is a good occasion for raising public awareness of the risks posed by this phenomenon and for informing about the existing assistance mechanisms and the rights of victims and potential victims of human trafficking.

“I ascertain that the Republic of Moldova remains a country of origin for this scourge, taking primarily the form of labor exploitation,” stated the official. He noted that the authorities and the anti-trafficking community are committed to taking measures to prevent trafficking, to protect the victims, to hold the perpetrators accountable and to annihilate criminal organizations involved in the commission of this type of offense.

Nicu Popescu also said that the pandemic that affected societies worldwide reduced the number of cases of trafficking in persons owing to border closures, but the risk of trafficking increased considerably, accentuating already existing vulnerabilities, such as loss of jobs, increase in poverty and higher incidence of cases of domestic violence.