US State Department: 500 citizens of Georgia annually become victims of human trafficking

500 citizens of Georgia annually become victims of human trafficking. Such information is contained in the report on human trafficking (illegal trade in human beings) prepared by the US State Department. This has been reported to the Black Sea Press agency by Khatuna Chitanava, representative of department on trafficking issues of the Georgian non-government organization "Association of Young Lawyers."

According to her, "the annual State Department report runs that measures to combat this problem have recently begun to be taken in Georgia, investigations are under way and suspects are detained. However, considering the scale of trafficking in the country, the government of Georgia fails to undertake the required minimum to combat the problem."

The report notes that the citizens of Georgia who have become victims of trafficking for the purpose of forced labour, including the sphere of sexual services, are mainly exported to Turkey with which Georgia has no visa regime. Georgia is also mentioned as a transit country.

"Many Georgian victims are exported to Turkey, which is due to the fact that there is no visa regime between the two countries. Victims from Ukraine, Moldova, Russia and other ex-Soviet countries are exported via Georgia to Turkey, UAE, Greece and Western Europe. According to the International Organization for Migration, each year, at least 500 Georgian women are illegally exported," runs the document.

"Information on human trafficking inside the country, both for sexual exploitation and for forced labour continues to arrive. According to certain data, the victims are exported for forced labour into the separatist region of Abkhazia, and South Ossetia may be used by the human traffickers for transporting victims from Russia to Georgia and back," notes the report.

The report notes that the government of Georgia fails to meet the standards of combating trade in human beings, however, it undertakes considerable effort to do so. In 2005, the authorities increased the number of arrests of human traffickers and the number of criminal cases initiated against them.