On the occasion of the International Day to Combat Human Trafficking, the General Secretariat of Vulnerable Citizens and Institutional Protection of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, in collaboration with the international anti-trafficking organization A21, presented the new informational campaign entitled “Do you see me?” for sexual exploitation.

The aim is to inform the population and frontline professionals about the new campaign.

At the same time, during the event, there was also a presentation of the case of dismantling an international human trafficking ring last June that led to the release of 52 women of Latin American origin.

According to Marina Donopoulou, director of A21, global statistics indicate that there are approximately 49 million people living in slavery at the moment while for Greece there is research that estimates that around 50,000 people are victims of trafficking and live in conditions of slavery.

The evidence shows that Greece is a transit and destination country for victims of human trafficking. Transitbecause due to its geographical position it unites Europe with the rest of the continents and destination due to a great need for cheap labor and a great demand for sex services, points out Ms. Donopoulou of A21.

“Traffickers prey on victims of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities,” said the US ambassador to Greece, George Tsounis, adding that no country is immune to this phenomenon and that every person has the right to be seen, referring in the slogan of the campaign.

“Every person has the right to be seen, to be heard and to be respected and to have value,” said Mr. Tsounis.

Ministry of Immigration and A21: In the fight against trafficking with interpreter training and a new information campaign

By training interpreters working in migrant structures of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum in the context of the implementation of the Recovery Fund actions and the presentation of the new campaign of the international organization A21 “YOU SEE ME?”, Greece was “present” at the European Day to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings.

The Integration sector and the General Secretariat of Vulnerable Citizens and Institutional Protection continue in this way to combine theory with practice, with the responsible Deputy Minister Sofia Voultepsi integrating the fight against human trafficking horizontally into all integration actions. As he said, “the fight against trafficking is at the core of our integration policy, as there is no integration when there are people – slaves of criminal networks that rob them of their freedom and violate their human rights. The training of interpreters is the next big step after the successful international exercise Medusa 2022”.

This is a targeted action, during which the professionals who come into contact with potential victims have been trained and who, as they speak their language, have the opportunity to approach them more easily and the possibility to contribute to the investigation of this of transnational crime.

They participate in this third educational series interpreters from 8 different countries of origin (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Morocco, Greece, Iraq, Georgia, Syria, Turkey) who speak at least 13 different languages (Greek, Urdu, Punjabi, Farsi, French, Berber, Arabic, Spanish, Turkish, Kurmanji/Kurdish, English, Hindi).

The start of the training was announced by Mrs. Vultepsi, while the archpriest Dr. Kalliopi Saini has the general mandate as general coordinator. At the presentation of the A21 campaign, a greeting was also addressed by the US ambassador, George Tsounis, whose, according to the ministry’s announcement, his interest in dealing with trafficking is warm and lasting – as is that of the New Republic state parliamentarians Ioannas Lytrivi and Giorgos Stamatis, who also took part in the events.

“To look down on a human being, a victim of trafficking, is a form of fascism,” Mr Moskoff said. “It is extremely important that victims can speak. We are working to make the victims visible with the help of professionals. Line 1109 of the A21 gives a voice to the victims”.

The head of the mission of the International Organization for Migration in Greece, Ambassador Gianluca Rocco, underlined that “the training of trainers is an important step to further develop the system of protection and identification of victims”.

All the integration programs of the Recovery Fund are implemented through the cooperation of the Integration Sector of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, which belongs to the portfolio of Deputy Minister Sofia Voultepsi, with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the general coordinator is the arch-priest Dr. Kalliopi Saini.

The action is implemented within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” with funding from the European Union -NextGenerationEU.