On 8 February, an international seminar on combating trafficking in human beings and related money laundering in Latvia was held online. The seminar brought together high-level international and local experts to discuss forced labour as a modern form of human trafficking and related financial crimes, as well as the involvement of the financial sector in detecting such crimes.
Opening the seminar, Minister of the Interior M.Golubeva stressed: Combating money laundering is a huge challenge worldwide, including in Latvia. Every year, the criminals who run human trafficking networks profit from the human suffering caused by this degrading crime. Children, women, migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons are particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Each year, 17% of trafficked persons are trafficked for forced labour and 80% for sexual exploitation.
That is why we all need to work together to raise awareness of trafficking in human beings at both national and international level. Cooperation between all involved law enforcement agencies and the non-governmental sector needs to be strengthened to raise awareness of the manifestations and consequences of this violent crime. The protection of victims' and survivors' rights must be at the heart of any investigation into this type of crime. I therefore appreciate the work of the Financial Intelligence Unit and its willingness to raise public awareness and knowledge of this important challenge.”
Modern slavery and human trafficking affect countries all over the world, with an estimated annual illicit profit of $150 billion. The financial sector has a key role to play in the fight against modern slavery and human trafficking. It is often the active involvement of the financial sector that is key to stopping these crimes.
The Latvian Government recognized in its Prevention of Human Trafficking Plan 2021-2023 recognizes that the number of people affected by this hidden crime is growing rapidly, both globally and nationally. While capacity is being strengthened in Latvia to identify and work with victims of various forms of trafficking, many other and new forms of trafficking are being reported globally. As in many other countries around the world, the number of suspicious transaction reports in Latvia is still relatively low.
The seminar was organized by the Financial Intelligence Service in partnership with FAST (Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking), a global initiative of the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research to mobilize the financial sector against modern slavery and human trafficking. The target audience of the seminar is financial and public sector officials from Latvia and neighboring countries.