Trafficking in People on Rise in Czech Republic
Date Posted: 4/3/2006

Trafficking in people on rise in Czech Republic
The Prague Daily Monitor, April 3, 2006
http://www.praguemonitor.com/ctk/?id=1705
 
Prague, March 23 (CTK) - The number of cases of human trafficking is growing in the Czech Republic, the daily Lidove noviny writes today referring to a survey by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the civic association La Strada that provides help to prostitutes.

The rise could be attributed to the growing number of refugees coming to the Czech Republic from high-rish countries. They most often become victims of this crime, mostly labour exploitation, the survey, that was carried out at the Interior Ministry´s request, revealed.
"Human trafficking for sexual exploitation is on decline while trafficking in people for labour exploitation is growing," Jakub Svec from the Interior Ministry security policy department told the paper.
He said that the perpetrators were now mainly using various forms of psychological pressure, extortion and scam.
According to Lidove noviny, 16 cases of human trafficking were uncovered in the Czech Republic in 2005, while it was three cases fewer in 2004. Ten cases were registered by the police in 2003.
Labour exploitation mostly takes place in the construction industry, odd jobs, agriculture and forestry. People from Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Vietnam, China and Mongolia are mostly victims of labour exploitation, the paper says.
 
VietACT Note: There may be Vietnamese victims of human trafficking labor exploitation in the Czech Republic. It is important to note that migrant workers from Vietnam are recruited and sent to places other than Asia Pacific.