1 December, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. Over the past four years, the number of crimes related to labour and sexual slavery in Belarus has decreased fourfold, stated Sergey Koltun, Deputy Head of Department - Head of the Second Department (Combating Morality Crimes) of the Department for Drug Control and Human Trafficking Counteraction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to journalists today, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. The head of the MIA department is participating in a meeting of the regional working group responsible for combating human trafficking, reintegration and rehabilitation of trafficking victims, which is taking place in Vitebsk. Preventing cases of labour and sexual slavery is becoming a primary task for internal affairs bodies in modern conditions, noted Sergey Koltun. Certain successes have been achieved in Belarus in combating human trafficking: regulations have been adopted, and state bodies and public organisations have consolidated their efforts in this area. Currently, the interaction between public and state structures in the rehabilitation and reintegration of trafficking victims, as well as the prevention of crimes in this sphere, is relevant, especially concerning new threats related to cybercrime and child pornography. According to the MIA, 420 crimes in the sphere of human trafficking were identified over 11 months, including more than 120 serious crimes, and 13 crimes were related to child pornography. Law enforcement agencies prevented 16 attempts to smuggle people for forced labour. The meeting of the working group is considering the possibility of creating interdisciplinary working groups for the reintegration and rehabilitation of human trafficking victims. The meeting is held within the framework of the state programme for combating human trafficking, illegal migration and related unlawful acts. Representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, and the Belarusian Red Cross Society are participating. -0-

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