The number of cases of human trafficking in Armenia has increased 10 times, Azernews reports, citing local media outlets. Official statistics also prove the increase in the number of criminal cases. According to the information of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia, the cases of human trafficking or exploitation recorded in January-August are 10 times more than in the same period last year.
Tigran Kirakosyan, deputy head of the Ministry's Office for the Investigation of Sexual Immunity of Minors and Drug Trafficking Crimes, said that during the 8 months of , the country's Investigative Committee considered 28 criminal cases related to human trafficking or exploitation. In , during the entire year, the investigators of the Investigative Committee reviewed 22 cases.
At the same time, it is noted that the cases of exploitation of minors have been increasing in Armenia in recent years. In the busy streets of the capital Yerevan, the wholesale sale of napkins, which is not allowed by law and is not controlled by authorities, is flourishing.
Towel consumers are mainly passers-by, drivers who promote this form of sale as an alternative to begging and often leave extra "pocket money" for the offered product. But sometimes questionable forces and personalities lurk behind seemingly "harmless" retail. Today, two of the real beneficiaries of the travel trade are accused of human trafficking, which is also accused of long-term labor exploitation and abuse of vulnerable people.
Given the sensitivity, anonymity, privacy, and ethical standards of trafficking victims, and the fact that criminal cases are still not legally binding sentences, the names of the victims in the article have been changed and the names of the accused have been presented in capital letters. It is noted that those who declare themselves "entrepreneurs" are also accused of human trafficking.
