Number of human trafficking victims in Finland on rise
Published : 22 Jul 2021, 03:26
The Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking (NAS) has more clients now than ever before, according to the semiannual report of the Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking published on Wednesday.
Out of its 992 clients, 770 are presumed or identified victims of human trafficking and 222 are their minor children, said the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) in a press release, quoting the report.
The number of clients has more than tripled during the recent years. A year ago, there were 804 people within the scope of services at the end of June. On 30 June 2019 the same number was 587, a year before that it was 379 and in 2017 it was no more than 269.
A total of 109 new clients were admitted into the Assistance System at the beginning of 2021 and 45 of them had become victims of human trafficking in Finland, while 64 had been exploited outside Finland.
Persons who became victims of human trafficking in Finland had most commonly been exploited in forced labour, prostitution or sexual slavery, forced marriage or in forced criminal activity.
Forced labour was typically identified in the restaurant and cleaning industries, but individual cases were identified in other industries, as well.
Victims who had been exploited in Finland found their way to the Assistance System most often through their own request for help or were referred to assistance by Victim Support Finland. Those exploited outside Finland were typically identified and referred to the Assistance System by the Finnish Immigration Service.