‘Human trafficking victims in the millions’

France's Interior Minister Claude Gueant, left, and Justice Minister Michel Mercier, centre, seen with UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov.

France's Interior Minister Claude Gueant, left, and Justice Minister Michel Mercier, centre, seen with UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov.

Published Apr 23, 2012

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A senior UN official says that as many as 2.4 million people may be victims of human trafficking worldwide at any given time.

Yury Fedotov calls human trafficking “a shameful crime of modern-day slavery.”

Fedotov is the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. He was speaking Monday at an international conference focused on preventing the exploitation of illegal migrants and other crimes linked to human trafficking.

Corruption is another concern of the meeting. Fedotov told the opening session that estimates put the amount of money lost through corruption in developing countries at $40 billion annually. - Sapa-AP

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