Human trafficking is one of the most serious and drastic forms of violation of the basic human rights of victims, and the most common victims, primarily of sexual and labor exploitation, are women and children. That is why it is very important that we advocate for the fight against human trafficking not only on this day, but every day of the year, said the Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić today, on the occasion of 18 October, the EU Anti-Trafficking Day.

Pašalić emphasized that he has been dealing with the protection of victims of human trafficking since 2003 and is thoroughly acquainted with this problem. Human trafficking is a global problem and one of the most perfidious forms of crime in the world, affecting the lives of millions of people around the world and depriving them of their dignity. Every five minutes, one person in the world becomes a victim of human trafficking. The Protector of Citizens pointed out that experiences show that people tend to think in a way that "it can happen to someone else and somewhere else", and not in our closest environment and to our closest ones. He stated that the coronavirus pandemic has created circumstances in which human trafficking is developing faster than before, and the most endangered groups are seasonal workers and migrants.

Pašalić added that the Protector of Citizens, as an independent state body, has experience in conducting procedures to control the legality and regularity of the work of competent bodies after learning about a case of human trafficking, both on citizens' complaints and on his own initiative, so he initiated the idea to include in the new Law on the Protector of Citizens a provision according to which the Protector of Citizens will perform the duties of an independent national rapporteur in the field of human trafficking.