EU meeting to address human trafficking

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, March 30 (UPI) -- European government officials and experts were in the Czech Republic on Monday to address a forum on combating trafficking of human beings in the region.

The two-day conference, which has brought together more than 80 government officials and other experts, is part of an effort to develop cooperation for increased efficiency in the exchange of information and to strengthen a comprehensive approach across the European Union toward combating the transnational criminal groups who traffic humans.

Eva Biaudet, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe special representative, announced Monday the OSCE's support for an EU network to address human trafficking and spoke of the need to develop effective policies to counter the ongoing trafficking threat, the OSCE reported.

"We lack an overall picture of the scope and trends of this issue, as well as an accurate assessment of the results of our actions," Biaudet said in a statement.

"For this compelling reason, the OSCE supports the establishment of an EU-wide network for exchanging information, which will enable more effective policymaking based on concrete and comparable information."