Minister in talks over sex trafficking
Government ministers from eastern Europe have been invited to Ireland for talks on the sex trafficking issue, it emerged today.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has requested meetings with his counterparts from Poland, Latvia and Lithuania to discuss the welfare of the estimated 150,000 citizens of those countries in the state.
Mr Ahern has also asked his department’s officials as well as embassy staff in eastern Europe to step up their liaison work with Europol and government agencies on the issue.
Irish Government sources believe that a major crackdown on trafficking in the UK will force international gangs to increasingly target Ireland.
RTÉ’s Prime Time Investigates programme on sex trafficking last night claimed Ireland was two years behind the rest of the EU in legislation for the area.
Sinn Féin today called on the Government to make human trafficking a crime so that swift prosecutions would follow.
Mr Ahern said today: “We are stepping up our efforts to try and smash this trade in human misery and we are expanding our international contacts with other police forces through Europol and Interpol.
“As part of our efforts to build links between eastern Europe and Ireland, particularly in light of the many thousands from that part of the world living in Ireland, I have invited the foreign ministers of Poland, Latvia and Lithuania to come to Ireland for wide-ranging discussions on their citizens’ welfare.
“A crucial part of these talks will be the growing threat of trafficking in people and sex trafficking in particular. I have no doubt that the foreign ministers of these countries will be equally determined to combat this sordid trade.
“Details of numbers are difficult to obtain but we are certain it is a growing problem.”
Sinn Féin’s justice spokesman Aengus Ó Snodaigh called for Dáil business to be suspended this afternoon to discuss the issue.
“We need to introduce legislation making human trafficking a crime and provide for the prosecution of traffickers. We also need supports for the many women and children who are victims of trafficking including provisions for residency,” he said.
Mr Ó Snodaigh accused Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney of failing to account for the disappearance of children from the care of the Health Service Executive, whom he claimed may be victims of human trafficking.
Mr Ahern said that the individual stories of women who have fallen victims to sex traffickers made tragic reading.
“These stories tell of women, many poorly educated, who have been lured with the promise of jobs as cleaners or cooks in western Europe,” he said.
“These people are from the poorest margins of eastern Europe. They are desperate to earn money for their families at home but once in their new country are effectively taken prisoner in brothels and massage parlours.
“One life of poverty and misery is exchanged for an even greater living hell. We can and must put a stop to this.”
Mr Ahern said the European Union has been developing a comprehensive approach against human trafficking since 1996 in partnership with NGOs as well as social, judicial, law enforcement and migration authorities.
Last year, Britain’s National Criminal Intelligence Service ranked organised immigration crime among the top four threats to the country.
Britain maintains a full-time police official at its embassy in Vilnius in Lithuania.
There have been a number of high-profile arrests and successful prosecutions of traffickers in the UK as a result.
