SEX TRAFFICKING WORRIES AS EURO 2008 BEGINS

10.20.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 5th Jun 2008

LibDem MEP Liz Lynne is urging football fans travelling to Euro 2008 to watch out for possible cases of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, and tell the Swiss and Austrian authorities if they suspect anything.

It is estimated that tens of thousands of women, children and some men are smuggled into the EU each year and then forced into prostitution. In Switzerland the figure is thought to be in the thousands. It is thought that football fans travelling to Euro 2008 could boost demand for paid sex, which is legal in both the host countries.

Liz Lynne, Vice President of the European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee, who also sits on the Human Rights Subcommittee, has often campaigned on the need to better protect the victims of trafficking.

Speaking from Brussels today, Liz Lynne said:

"We are not talking about prostitution, where the prostitute knows what she, or he, is doing. We're talking about a modern slave trade where women, children and some men, have no choice whether they work as prostitutes or not, and are forced to do it against their will.

"In Switzerland, which has a particularly hard policy towards illegal immigration, many victims of trafficking are criminalised and deported. Only if they are prepared to give evidence in court are they allowed to stay, but because they are the victims of abuse and exploitation, many are too terrified to do so.

"Switzerland must join Austria in signing and ratifying the Council of Europe's Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, which came into force earlier this year. Implementing this Convention will mean that safe havens have to be provided for the victims and a 30-day breathing space so that they can decide whether or not to help in their abusers' prosecution. It also allows for renewable residence permits for victims. Sending the victims of trafficking home as criminals, as happens too often, does nothing to help, as quite often they are just re-trafficked.

"I welcome the advertising campaign which will run at the matches and hope that this will give a strong message to potential customers of these victims, as did the campaigns at the World Cup two years ago. I hope all the fans, footballers and sports associations, will help to stamp out this evil trade."

ENDS

More information on the Council of Europe's Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings: http://www.coe.int/t/dg2/trafficking/campaign/default_en.asp.