Skopje, 1 November 2022 (MIA) – The number of domestic victims of human trafficking, who are mainly sexually exploited, has grown in recent years, forced marriages of minors have also been identified, Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski told a meeting with Ambassadors of EU member states on Tuesday. According to Spasovski, an especially worrying fact and one that stresses the need for decisive action by everyone, is the continuous rise of underage victims of human trafficking. “Seven out of the eight identified victims of human trafficking in 2022 were children,” stressed the Minister. Spasovski touched upon the mobile teams made up of representatives from the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and NGOs as a successful concept with the aim of identifying vulnerable categories including victims of human trafficking. Focusing on the fulfillment of recommendations of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), Spasovski said they have recently established the Operational Team for Coordination, Monitoring and Management of Human Trafficking Cases, which, besides representatives from the state bodies, also includes a representative of a civil association. “All analyses and reports indicate that human trafficking is one of the most profitable businesses, often connected to migrant smuggling, drug trade and terrorism. Because of this, in the set of measures that we are implementing, I would like to note the importance of conducting financial investigations in parallel with the criminal investigations. Only by taking away the main motive of the traffickers, usually money, can we create an efficient response to this crime. To that end, in the Ministry we have established a special unit for financial investigations, which is responsible for identifying and uncovering illegally acquired property,” said the Minister. He emphasized the activities in this area which are being conducted at a national level: the National Strategy for Strengthening of the Capacities for Conducting Financial Investigations and Confiscation of Property, which includes concrete action plans for the development of all institutions that conduct financial investigations, temporary freezing and subsequent confiscation of illegally acquired property. According to Spasovski, the beginning of EU negotiations is a strong incentive to speed up their implementation and the implementation of the reform processes which will contribute to a stronger and more democratic country, but also to a better life for the citizens. The MoI added it is the country’s priority to implement the European standards in its daily operations. “Currently we are preparing for the bilateral meeting on Chapter 24, set to be held on November 21 in Brussels. Through an analysis of all relevant EU regulations for Chapter 24, in correlation with their implementation in the country thus far, we will jointly establish the guidelines for further development of all segments of our operations,” said Minister Spasovski. ad/ik/