Europe: Trafficking Rises as Incomes Fall

The economic crisis sweeping Eastern Europe is leading to a sharp increase in people trafficking as people look to migrate for work amid rising unemployment and growing economic hardship, migration watchdogs and women's rights groups warn.

Trafficking gangs are preying on people they know are increasingly desperate for jobs as income dries up and people become willing to use any means they can to go abroad for work.

"The current economic crisis has had a great effect on countries of origin for people trafficking as people get poorer and want to emigrate at all costs," Jean-Philipe Chauzy, head of communications at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) headquarters in Geneva told IPS. "This leaves them vulnerable to people-trafficking gangs."


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