The Director General of the Global Affairs Directorate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ulyana Bogdanska met with OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking Valiant Richey
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"Bulgaria is a party to the main international instruments in the field of human trafficking of the UN and the Council of Europe, and we have implemented the relevant EU legal standards in our national legislation," said Ulyana Bogdanska, Director General of the Global Affairs Directorate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a meeting with Valiant Richey, Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
"Bulgaria is among the few countries that have regulated these issues in a special law passed in 2003 - the Combating Human Trafficking Act," she added.
During the conversation, Ulyana Bogdanska pointed out that human trafficking is a serious violation of human rights, a serious crime against the person, individual freedom and dignity.
The Director General also drew attention to the efforts of our country to prevent human trafficking and stressed that we rely on close bilateral cooperation, as well as cooperation with international organisations to implement effective countermeasures.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs works in close cooperation with the Administration of the National Commission for Combating Human Trafficking, the Ministry of Interior, the State Agency for Child Protection and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy in cases of human trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation”, said Ulyana Bogdanska. She shared that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established a mechanism for action of the consular services in cases of identification and support of possible victims of human trafficking, as the consular officers are trained to assist the victims.
The OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking, Valiant Richey, is visiting Bulgaria from 22 to 24 June 2021 - a visit organised by the National Commission for Combating Human Trafficking. Its program includes meetings with representatives of the competent institutions of Bulgaria in the fight against human trafficking, as well as with representatives of non-governmental organisations, and the main purpose of the visit is to discuss Bulgaria's response to human trafficking, to provide recommendations, and to exchange good practices.