Det talade ordet gäller.

Your Royal Highnesses, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I have the pleasure to warmly welcome you all to the conference Towards Global EU Action against Trafficking in Human Beings  and the third anti-trafficking day.

Everyday, around the world, a large number of children, women and vulnerable persons are bought and sold by ruthless smugglers, pimps and other criminals. The victim’s vulnerable situation is exploited for the simple cause that it’s profitable. For the traffickers it’s just a merchandise.

Some victims are deceived that they will get a decent job abroad. Others are being exposed to threats and violence in order to accompany the traffickers to an unknown country, sometimes far away from home. Children are particularly vulnerable in this situation. They are used by the traffickers in various criminal activities, from begging and petty crime to production of pornographic material.

These victims are not just deprived of the possibility to go home. They loose all form of human dignity in the hands of the traffickers.

You all know this already. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here today. But I think that the suffering of these victims cannot be stressed too many times. Neither can we accept the lack of basic respect for others shown by traffickers and those using and buying what services they provide. We all need to remember that we are talking about serious crimes and thousands of victims in many, probably all countries.

Since the EU anti-trafficking conference Global challenge for the 21st Century, held here in Brussels in 2002 and leading to the Brussels Declaration, we have seen improvement in terms of co-operation, legislation and awareness raising within the EU. A number of NGO:s are also actors in this field and are making tremendous efforts, for example in the field of victim support and assistance. Some of these organizations are represented here today.

But the work done so far is not enough. We need to broaden our approach. The main purpose of this conference is to strengthen the co-operation between government administrations, international institutions and NGO:s in countries of origin, transit and destination. There is a mutual dependence between us in order to effectively fight and prevent trafficking in human beings. We have to work together, and we need to step up our efforts.

The Swedish Presidency of the European Union and our partners in this project are all eager to make progress in this field. We want this conference to make a difference. Indeed, I hope to conclude tomorrow afternoon that we have established a new momentum for joint efforts against trafficking. I also hope that we can reach a broad consensus on the key objectives of the Draft Declaration that we are proposing. During the Conference, we welcome your input to the Declaration.

Before I leave the floor to Baron van Daele, I will give you some practical information.

As you can see in the agenda, the conference consists of four panel discussions, each taking one of the three P:s as a starting point: Panel one focus on Prevention, panel two and four on Protection, and panel three on Prosecution and law enforcement cooperation.

I am very grateful that this conference has gathered a long list of prominent speakers. Thus I must ask you to take notice of the time table in order to give everyone the same opportunity to share their views on this topic.

Lunch is served for the speakers and other invited guests. Coffee is served for all participants. During the coffee breaks, may I suggest that you visit the exhibitions in the atrium hall.

After the second session today you are most welcome to a reception in the hall upstairs from the atrium.

The press is allowed to participate in the entire conference and the reception tonight. There will be no press conference but several opportunities for individual interviews, for example in connection to the lunch and coffee breaks.

Now, Baron van Daele, the floor is yours!

Thank you!