Brazil unveils new plan against human trafficking

Rio de Janeiro: The Brazilian government has announced a three-year nationwide strategy to fight human trafficking with tougher laws and tighter controls. The new plan, announced Tuesday, foresees a series of actions, including proposing laws in Congress to increase penalties for such crime, creating a specialized police force, and setting up a government hotline for victims to call from abroad, reported Xinhua. Under the current law, only human trafficking for sex exploitation can be convicted, while such crimes as domestic or slave labour, children adoption and human-organ selling go unpunished.

In border towns, 10 police units will be organized to attend to victims and confiscate property of those suspects involved in human trafficking. The government has also published a full report on human trafficking in Brazil that shows the crime is widespread and authorities find it hard to fight because of the difficulty in collecting evidence to prosecute those accused. According to official figures, 2,072 victims of human trafficking were recorded in Brazil between 2005 and 2011, most of whom were taken to Surinam, Switzerland, Spain and Holland. The government also said that during the period, a total of 381 people were charged with human trafficking, with only half receiving jail terms. IANS