Armenia disagrees with U.S. State Department report on trafficking

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian authorities are decisive to combat trafficking and continue taking consecutive measures against this phenomenon, head of the International Organizations' Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said when commenting on the State Department’s recent country report.

“I do not agree with the part of the report saying that Armenia does not meet minimal standards for fighting against trafficking in people,” head of task force on combating trafficking Vahram Kazhoyan said when responding to a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter’s question during a press conference in Yerevan.

“Our expectations were justified, that is, Armenia entered the second group of countries by the index of combating trafficking. We must continue efforts to improve our positions,” Kazhoyan said.

Presenting statistics for 2010, he stressed that 4 cases of sexual trafficking were initiated last year, as a result of which 5 people were sentenced.

On June 27, the U.S. State Department published the 11th annual country report on trafficking. For Armenia, it was said that the country is the source of women’s and girls’ trafficking for prostitution and forced labor of people.

The U.S. State Department noted that the government’s actions do not meet minimal standards for the fight against trafficking, but works are carried out in this direction. The report also says that the abrupt decrease of the official record of trafficking victims as well as failure to investigate cases of forced labor also arouse concerns.