Some 880k slave labors in EU: EP report

A report by the European Parliament shows that there are some 880,000 slave labors in the European Union, of whom about a third are victims of sexual exploitation.

The report by a European Parliament special committee investigating crime, money laundering and corruption (CRIM) was seen and published by German weekly Der Spiegel on Monday.

According to the CRIM committee, there are 3,600 international criminal organizations operating in the European Union and the estimated damage done to the European economies by organized crime totals hundreds of billions of euros.

The report also revealed that human trafficking alone makes around 25 billion euros in profits, while the illegal trade in human organs and wild animals generates between 18 and 26 billion euros annually in estimated profits.

Furthermore, the report showed that crime conducted via the Internet causes an estimated 290 billion euros of damage.

In addition, the special committee called rampant corruption within the EU œa serious threat” with 20 million cases worth 120 billion euros reported in the public sector alone.

The European Parliament is to discuss and vote on the CRIM report on October 23.

Meanwhile, the report comes at a time while Europe is struggling with an economic crisis that erupted in early 2008, leaving millions unemployed and in financial distress.

The Red Cross revealed on October 10 that the financial crisis has left 43 million Europeans with insufficient food to eat and called it the worst humanitarian crisis to hit the continent in six decades.

The worsening debt crisis has forced EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered massive demonstrations in many European countries.

CAH/HN