Azernews.Az

The number of crimes related to human trafficking in Azerbaijan has increased this year, Vilayat Eyvazov, the Azerbaijan national coordinator for fighting human trafficking and deputy interior minister said in parliament Friday.
According to Eyvazov, the rate of human trafficking crimes in the first nine months of this year increased 53.36% over last year, with 342 such crimes committed in 2008. This reflects 119 more crimes committed than in 2007.
The report said, further, that 336 people had been charged with human trafficking offenses. A total of 72 victims of human trafficking have been identified, all of whom are women. Also, 41 of 79 wanted suspects have been detained, including six through the Interpol network.
Eyvazov added that 38 criminal groups engaged in human trafficking had been detained in 2008.
The deputy minister described as "incomprehensible" the US State Department`s downgrading Azerbaijan`s ranking for human trafficking in its 2007 report. He said the sources quoted in the report and evaluation criteria were quite surprising. "Analysis shows that the document, which was prepared on the basis of subjective opinions of certain NGOs which have little experience in the area of human trafficking and biased positions of some rights champions, does not reflect the reality and is wide of the mark," the national coordinator said.
Eyvazov added that contrary to the State Department`s assessment, Azerbaijan`s efforts towards countering human trafficking in 2007 were even more vigorous than in past years.