Courtesy translation
The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, released the following statement:
«The hateful form of exploitation – similar to slavery – represented by the trafficking in human beings, is still now topical at international level, to the extent of having prompted the United Nations Organization to designate a World Day Against Trafficking in Persons about ten years ago.
Trafficking constitutes a very serious violation of human rights and, in order to defeat it, we need a determined and mutually-supportive response from the International Community, the commitment of the Countries concerned in the phenomenon with the involvement of multilateral organizations and raising the awareness of public opinion and civil society.
In order to protect the children, women, and men who every year are ensnared in the net of trafficking, we need to pursue the traffickers and act on the causes that lead entire populations to such despair that they are driven to abandon their own homeland and entrust their fate to unscrupulous individuals, putting their lives at risk.
Bringing peace where there is conflict, generating social and economic growth opportunities where poverty reigns and there is a lack of perspective, contributes to eliminating the conditions that make human trafficking possible.
Italy supported the adoption of the supplementary protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and remains fully committed to preventing, repressing, and punishing people trafficking».
