NCCTHB holds the first regular meeting for the year

On the 29th of September 2022, the first regular meeting of the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings was held at the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The meeting was opened by Mr. Ivan Demerdzhiev, Deputy Prime Minister for Public Order and Security, Minister of the Interior, and Chairman of the NCCTHB. The meeting was attended by representatives of the member institutions of the Commission and experts from its administration.

As a consequence of the dynamic political situation and with a view to maximizing the effective implementation of the measures of the prevention of human trafficking and the protection of the victims, our country's commitment under all international legal instruments to which it is a party, as well as in relation to ensuring optimal conditions for the functioning of the administration of the NCCTHB, the annual report on the implementation of the National Programme for the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Human Beings for 2021, 2022 and 2023 was adopted at the meeting.

The National Programme for 2023 has been updated in response to the new migration processes, in order to add activities related to the prevention of human trafficking among migrants from Ukraine, in line with the General Plan for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings in the Member States disseminated by the Anti-Trafficking Coordinator of the EU, the Guidelines for Prevention of the Group of Experts against Trafficking in Human Beings, in support of States Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and the recommendations of the Special Representative and Coordinator of the Council of Europe.

Implementing the recommendation contained in the U.S. Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report 2021-2022, which placed Bulgaria on the watch list of Group 2 countries, as well as the recommendations of the Monitoring Report of the Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Secretaria of the NCCTHB took immediate measures to prepare and present to the Commission the National Programme for Combating and Preventing Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting Victims 2023, including the proposal for activities from the institutions represented in the NCCTHB, members of the Commission's Permanent Working Group, other international and civil society organizations working on the issue.

Other key highlights include a discussion on how to strengthen the administrative capacity and overall functioning of the Secretaria of the NCCTHB, the sustainable financing of specialized services for victims, and improving the effective functioning of local anti-trafficking structures.

Opportunities were also discussed to improve mechanisms for collecting, processing, and analyzing data on human trafficking, and the use of financial assets, movable and immovable property confiscated from convicted traffickers for the benefit of the recovery, reintegration, and financial compensation of victims.