Following an initiative of the Ministry of Public Order and of the Hellenic Police Force Headquarters, an Operational and Inter-Service Action Plan has been drawn up to fight human trafficking.

The Plan has the code name “ILAEIRA” and its main objective is to produce an essential, coordinated and effective response of all bodies involved in the fight against trafficking, through joint operations in the entire Greek territory.

The Plan includes preventive and suppressive aspects and it will be developed based on two axes, whereas it will be concluded at the end of eight planning and implementation stages. In particular, the first axis includes operational (police) action to do away with organized international criminal circles and set the victims free. The second axis seeks to offer protection and help to the victims (adults, minors, protection, hospitality, repatriation, health care, asylum etc), as a result of the first axis.

The implementation stages of the Plan are the following:

Human trafficking is an international phenomenon of modern times and hundreds of thousands of women and children become its victims, every year in the entire world, since they are being trafficked, so as to be sexually and financially abused. Trafficking is one of the principal forms of organizedcrime in Greece, today and unfortunately, it is one of the major problems from organized (imported) crime, despite the significant and pioneer actions that have been adopted in the recent years, by the Hellenic Police Force.  The problem is focused at the movement from the Balkan and South East European Countries, which are mainly the countries of origin and action of the organized groups recruiting and trafficking the victims.

Due to the international character and the inherent risks in this problem, a greater form of cooperation is needed so as to successfully deal with it. In particular, it is more than necessary to establish a close, cross-border, regional cooperation with countries belonging to the Balkans and South East Europe, so as to exchange know-how, experience and information. However, joint operations still are of paramount importance. To this purpose, the Plan will be developed at the Cross-Border and at the Trans-Regional Level.

This National, Operational, Inter-Organizational Action Plan to fight human trafficking is part of a more comprehensive planning to coordinate all the institutions involved in this endeavor. Through concrete actions in all the countries of South East Europe and the Balkans, the Plan aims at promoting a coherent approach in the context of the European Union domestic security.

This Action Plan seeks to develop simultaneous actions in the countries of South East Europe, at the level of law enforcement authorities and at the level of support to the victims, so as to produce best results. Greece wishes to lead this fight against human trafficking, mainly in the region of South East Europe, and can certainly do so, by utilizing the Olympic and the European Union ‘acquis’.