Countries gather to examine the human trafficking threat

Representatives from more than 25 nations meet here March 7-9 to examine the threats that human trafficking poses to national security and democratic development throughout Europe and Eurasia.

Participants at the conference, entitled Human Trafficking: Security Implications, will examine current trafficking patterns and trends in Europe and Eurasia. They will also highlight transnational and regional security implications of human trafficking and discuss the avenues for cooperation. The keynote address will be given by Ambassador Gérard Stoudmann, director of the Geneva Center for Security Policy.

The conference follows a related conference on Soft Security Threats held here in April 2003. Participants expressed interest in the serious issue of human trafficking in Europe and Eurasia, linking it with organized criminal networks that deal in lucrative commodities that include people, small arms, drugs, and the basics of weapons of mass destruction.

The conference is organized and hosted by the Marshall Center. It will be conducted in English and Russian using moderated plenary open panel sessions and facilitated workshop sessions. A total of more than 80 participants are expected from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, the Hellenic Republic, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, the Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.