{"id":12624,"date":"2026-06-24T16:50:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T13:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=12624"},"modified":"2026-06-24T16:50:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T13:50:00","slug":"ioannis-bougas-a-key-reform-against-human-trafficking-what-changes-under-the-new-european-directive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=12624","title":{"rendered":"Ioannis Bougas: A Key Reform Against Human Trafficking\u2014What Changes Under the New European Directive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>New measures for stricter prosecution of human trafficking<\/b>, <b>strengthening <\/b>the <b>protection <\/b>of victims <b>and special care for children through the new European directive<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>The <b>strengthening of the framework for combating<\/b> <b>human trafficking was the focus of the remarks by Deputy Minister of Justice Ioannis Bougas<\/b> in the <b>Parliament<\/b>, who <b>presented the latest data and institutional measures<\/b> taken by <b>government <\/b>in a field that <b>is changing rapidly and taking on new, more complex forms of exploitation<\/b>. With a focus on <b>the transposition of European Directive 2024\/1712<\/b> and the strengthening of <b>mechanisms for the early identification of victims, the ministry is promoting a stricter and more effective protection framework<\/b>, while <b>official data for 2025 record hundreds of new cases<\/b>, highlighting the <b>ongoing expansion of the phenomenon and the need<\/b> for immediate <b>institutional safeguards<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>The <b>latest data and institutional initiatives<\/b> to <b>strengthen the protection of victims<\/b> of <b>trafficking<\/b>were presented to the <b>Parliament by the Deputy Minister of Justice, Ioannis Bougas<\/b>.<\/p>\n<h3>The session<\/h3>\n<p>At the meeting of the Subcommittee on Combating Trafficking and Exploitation of Persons of the Special Standing Committee on Equality, Youth, and Human Rights, on the topic \u201cCriminal Prosecution of Trafficking and Exploitation of Persons and Victims\u2019 Rights,\u201d Mr. Ioannis Bougas emphasized that human trafficking constitutes \u201cone of the gravest violations of human dignity and freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He placed particular emphasis on the importance of the timely identification of victims, stressing that \u201cthe protection of victims begins with their identification.\u201d As she noted, the National System for the Identification and Referral of Victims of Human Trafficking is a key tool of the national policy against trafficking, as it ensures the timely identification of victims and their immediate access to protection, assistance, and justice.<\/p>\n<p>Presenting recent data on the extent of the phenomenon, Mr. Bougas noted that the number of new cases of human trafficking victims reached 881 in 2025, of which 773 involved adults and 108 involved children. These figures, he noted, demonstrate that human trafficking is constantly evolving, with an increase in cases of labor exploitation, coercion into criminal activities, and other forms of coercion.<\/p>\n<p>The Deputy Minister also briefed the members of the Subcommittee on the Ministry of Justice\u2019s initiatives regarding the transposition of the new Directive (EU) 2024\/1712 into national law. As he noted, the relevant Working Group has already completed its work, and a draft bill is expected to be submitted shortly, with the aim of further strengthening the protection of victims, tackling new forms of exploitation, protecting children, and ensuring more effective investigation and prosecution of related crimes.<\/p>\n<p>In closing his briefing, Mr. Bougas emphasized that the State must identify victims in a timely manner, protect them effectively, and enable them to rebuild their lives in safety and dignity, reaffirming the Ministry of Justice\u2019s commitment to continuously strengthening the institutional and criminal framework against human trafficking and exploitation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New measures to crack down on human trafficking, strengthen victim protection, and provide special care for children through the new European &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}