At its regular session on April 23, the Slovak Cabinet approved a programme to tackle human trafficking up to 2010, the SITA newswire wrote. The Interior Ministry has earmarked Sk8 million for the effort this year. It projects similar expenditure for the next two years. The majority of the money is designated for NGOs involved in the National Programme and the Programme for Support and Protection of Human Trafficking Victims. This year, the organisations include Slovak Crisis Centre DOTYK, Prima Civil Association, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Cultural Association of Romas in Slovakia and the Slovak Catholic Charity.
The funds are to be used primarily for provision of care for victims, including their protective and temporary accommodation, psychological and legal counselling, and provision of social aid after their return home. In 2007, the police reported thirteen cases of human trafficking in Slovakia, which is six fewer than in 2006. The police have uncovered four cases so far this year. The cases are most frequently supranational forms of human trafficking, where victims are forced into prostitution abroad or sold to other persons. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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