By DPA
Vienna : Delegates at the opening of a United Nations-sponsored anti-trafficking forum Wednesday declared human trafficking, which includes sex trade, forced labour or recruiting children as soldiers, is a global crime on par with the worst kind of torture and slavery.
Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said the Vienna meeting was a “rally” of all those committed to fighting a “crime that shames us all.”
Costa called on countries to draw up a roadmap for fighting what he refers to as “modern slavery.”
The head of the UN crime office urged countries to speed up the drive for implementation of the so-called Palermo Protocol, criminalizing human trafficking and increasing protection for victims.
Activists said that human traffickers were making an estimated $31.6 billion annual profits from the plight of their victims. People from 127 countries were trafficked into 137 countries.
In Vienna, international organizations and NGOs are trying to increase awareness and push still reluctant countries to abandon their neglect of the problem. According to UN statistics, for every 800 persons trafficked only one criminal is convicted.