USA to provide $250 000 to fight human trafficking in Azerbaijan

The USA will provide Azerbaijan with $250 000 to fight human
trafficking, the head of the press department of the US embassy Terry
Davidson said. He was speaking at the third regional council for aid
for victims of human trafficking in Baku, Trend reports.

The council is being held under financial support of the International
Organization for Migration and the US State Department. The council
will continue for 3 days.

According to the information of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Interior
Affairs, 70 people were found guilty of human trafficking in the first
half of 2010 - 65.7% of them are women. The number of such crimes rose
by 3.2% (from 95 cases to 98), compared with the same period last
year.

Davidson said that the US State Department plans to provide $22
million to finance the program against human traffic.

The USA is realizing 178 projects in 65 countries worth $54 million.
800,000 people became victims of human trafficking on state borders,
millions become slaves in their own countries. Most of them are women
and children used for sexual exploitation, Davidson added.

According to last year's report by the State Department, over 49,000
people become victims of human trafficking worldwide. Davidson
believes that this figure is far below the real number.