OSCE CONCERNED THAT ARMENIA MAY BECOME A "THIRD" CATEGORY
COUNTRY IN TERMS OF TRAFFICKING LEVEL
19-10-2006 14:02:00 | Armenia | Social
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. "We are concerned that
Armenia is on the verge of passing from the "second" to the
"third" category of countries in terms of the level of
trafficking. Ambassador July Finly, the US delegation's
representative to the OSCE, stated this at the OSCE-organized
October 19 seminar on fight against trafficking.
According to her, this circumstance shows that the RA
government's activities related to the fight against trafficking
are unsatisfactory: "International assistance cannot solve all
problems of trafficking, and the Armenian government must take
an active part in this fight," July Finly said. She expressed a
hope that Armenia in cooperation with international
organizations will be able to deal with these problems.
Valery Mkrtumian, Chairman of the Interdepartmental
Commission on Fight against Trafficking, assured that the fight
against trafficking is in the center of the Armenian
government's attention. He said that there has been success in
such issues as informing the population about the problem,
Armenia's joining the international documents in this sphere and
the development of the respective legislation. At the same time,
according to him, an efficient fight against trafficking in all
directions, particularly in identifying and punishment of
criminals, has not been conducted yet.
Head of the OSCE Yerevan Office Ambassador Vladimir
Pryakhin said that the RA government plans to work out a
national program on fight against trafficking in 2007-2009:
"OSCE's assistance for Armenia in the country's fight against
trafficking is one of our priorities and we will continue
providing necessary help to the Armenian government," V.
Pryakhin stated.