Statement of the Government of Romania

On the 2002 Report of the US State Department on Trafficking in Persons

The Government of Romania appreciates the assessments of the US State Department on the sustained efforts and results of Romania in combating trafficking in persons, which led to a superior classification of our country comparing to the last year within the 2002 Report on Trafficking in Persons released by the State Department.

We take note with satisfaction the fact that US Secretary of State Colin Powell singled out Romania along with Israel and South Korea for the strengthened efforts to eliminate trafficking in persons. Ambassador Nancy Eli-Raphel, Coordinator of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, has also assessed Romania as a “model” and a “success story” for the measures taken to counteract trafficking and for the cooperation with the United States in this domain.

These positive evolutions are the outcome of setting up, in Romania, the legal and institutional framework to prevent and fight trafficking in persons, as well as of the adoption of a National Action Plan with measures to prevent trafficking, protect victims and intensify arrests and condemnations of traffickers.

We want to take this opportunity to re-stress the commitment of the Government of Romania to further sustained efforts to eliminate trafficking in persons, including through fighting corruption within law enforcement institutions and ensure trafficking victims protection by opening new shelters. We intend to set up a hotline for victims of trafficking and a Resource Center for combating trafficking. The adoption by the Parliament of the witness protection law, recently completed by the Government, will provide our institutions with supplemental tools to counter this phenomenon. At the same time, we will continue public awareness and information activities with regard to the risks of trafficking and the legal means to protect from those who commit such crimes against human rights and human dignity.

The bilateral cooperation with source and destination countries for trafficking in and out of Romania, as well as with the European countries and the United States represents an essential component of our efforts to thwart trafficking. At the same time, Romania values the regional cooperation against trafficking within the SECI Regional Center against Trans-border Crime, which proved to be, during only one year of operation, a success story of the Southeast European countries. Romania is firmly committed to consolidate the role of the SECI Center of catalyzing regional wills and energies to fight human trafficking and other trans-border phenomena, with direct impact on curbing the threat of terrorism.

We want to convey our appreciation and thankfulness to our American and European partners for their collaboration and support in the fight against trafficking. We value the close and open political dialogue with the US State Department and the substantive cooperation with the FBI, US Justice Department, US Labor Department and USAID. We want to strengthen our bilateral dialogue and cooperation in this domain, as part of Romania’s efforts to bring a sustained and substantive contribution to eliminate modern slavery.