La Unión Europea frente al reto de la trata y el tráfico de inmigrantes irregularesanálisis de sus principales instrumentos jurídicos

Abstract

ABSTRACT Human trafficking is not only an issue of in present times. The attention it arouses in society has its roots long ago, coming from the era of slavery and sexual exploitation of women, common in the 19th century (¿trata de blancas¿). At present, human trafficking is reaching a new high, being associated with population movements or migratory fluxes. These fluxes, if not covered by the legislation of the country of destiny form part of the group of illegal immigrants, which very often suffer inhumane and humiliating treatment and, in order to remain in the country that they chose to come to. This type of exploitation is on the rise in Europe. It is carried out by networks of criminals that make millions of dollars per year and it involves, according to the UN, approximately 215 people, indicating that large extent of the problem. In the face of the challenge that immigration represents, the purpose of this research was to give a historic perspective of the phenomenon of human trafficking, how it arose, its characteristics as well as pertinent differences and similarities between and types of human trafficking. The main focus of research concerned the different types of human trafficking, with an emphasis on sexual exploitation and exploitation of labor, which are characterized by souring numbers. This reality makes it necessary to adopt an active position for the international community and the European Community in order to counteract the increasing numbers of men, women and children that face these types of exploitation. For that reason different legal mechanisms were created and imposed on the European member states along with mechanisms of law enforcement with the goal to improve the cooperation between different police units in the different countries. In conclusion, the current measures are important and necessary, but their implementation ought to be extended to the Countries of origin as well. Keywords: Exploitation of illegal immigrants, illegal immigration, European legislation, human trafficking of immigrants, human trafficking