Moldovan foreign minister chairs National Committee on Combating Human Trafficking meeting

Chisinau, 9 April /MOLDPRES/ - Foreign and European Integration Minister, Deputy Prime Minister Natalia Gherman  today chaired this year's first session of the National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (THB), the Foreign and European Integration Ministry’s information and media communication service has reported.

The participants discussed the assessment of the degree of implementation of national policies to prevent and combat trafficking, particularly at the local level, as well as provisions of a draft on the rehabilitation of victims of crimes, including victims of human trafficking.

Also, participants in the meeting unveiled national reports for 2014 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and on monitoring the enforcement of the National Referral System Strategy (NRS) for the protection and assistance of victims and potential casualties of human trafficking. A separate chapter was focused on the challenges of the operation of the mechanism of the emergency placement for victims of human trafficking - adult / child and the participation of the child's legal representative at his/her hearing.

Minister Natalia Gherman, as chairwoman of the committee, informed its members about the government’s assessment procedure on the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (second round) and hosting the GRETA expert assessment mission in Moldova on 11 - 15 May.

The official stressed the importance of further strengthening the capacities and efforts of all national institutions in this area, which are found both among the government's priorities, and of the National Action Plan on Moldova-EU Association Agreement Implementation.

(Editor A. Raileanu)