Number of human trafficking victims on rise

The number of clients of the country’s Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking has been on a non-stop rise this year.

The number broke the 200-mark for the first time at the end of June, Finnish Immigration Services said in a recent press release.

The total number of clients including the children of adult victims who also required assistance is 270.

Till the end of June, 89 people had been proposed for inclusion in the system and 55 new clients were accepted, six of whom were underage when they were registered.

A record-breaking number of asylum seekers arrived in Finland in 2015, and the majority of the new clients of the assistance system also came seeking asylum. Most of them became victims of human trafficking while abroad.

Sixteen of those who became clients of the assistance system in 2017 were victims of abuse indicative of human trafficking in Finland.