23.05.2024

1 This reference has been compiled subject to for the purposes of the implementation of Article 7.5 of the Law ‘On Combatting Trafficking in Humans’ of the Republic of Azerbaijan and subject to the implementation of the relevant sections of the National Action Plan and the monitoring results, analyses and recommendations of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan, international organisations, the Office of the Ombudsman, 32 central and 68 local executive authorities as well as the subdivisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The criminogenic situation in the field of human trafficking was controlled also in 2023 what with such crimes remaining a serious threat to international security, armed conflicts’ geography expanding in most countries of the world, the demand for cheap labour raising and so forth. The preventive work, criminal prosecution, victim protection, cooperation and partnership were continued purposefully in consideration of those factors. It follows from the latest Global Report by the United Nations released in January 2023 and encompassing 141 countries that as new forms of abuse emerged, men accounted for the largest proportion of victims, their numbers having increased by about three percent compared to previous years, as well as that female victims of physical violence suffered three times more than men, and children did twice as often as adults did. At the same time, it is clear from the information released by international organisations that only 42% of male victims and 23% of female victims were identified in 2020; 0.7% of them had been made to beg, 0.9% subjected to forced marriages, 10.2% involved in criminal activities, 38% subjected to sexploitation and 39% to forced labour, and 10.3% were exploited otherwise. 2 The climate change, a global issue that concerns all, too, has caused the human trafficking risks to double and become a source of hazard for women and children from the vulnerable sections of the society. As many as 23.7 mn people became internally displaced due to natural disasters in 2021; many left their countries fleeing food shortages and poverty caused by the changing climate; all that gave rise to uncontrolled migration flows to increase. In the Republic of Azerbaijan, where the said processes were followed and analysed, continued the tenacious action in defence of the individual and public interest in line with the National Action Plan to avert human trafficking risks in a timely manner during the reporting year. With the task of improving the regulatory legal framework and institutional mechanisms of the action against the trafficking in humans being held in focus, the following amendments were made to one Decree of the President and one Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2023: - the list of the executive authorities encompassed by the National Action Plan against Trafficking in Humans in the Republic of Azerbaijan for the years 2020–2024 was concretised and some subparagraphs were harmonised with the regulatory instruments in force; - The establishment of a Centre for assistance to victims of human trafficking, provision of victims of human trafficking with medicines in a special institution, provision of urgent medical and psychological assistance were attributed to the functions of the Administrative Association for Territorial Medical Unit in accordance with the Rules of Establishing, Financing and Operating the Special Institutions for Victims of Trafficking in 3 Humans, for of Controlling the Operation of Such Special Institutions; - The Resolution No 158 of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 16 May 2023 affirmed the Make-Up, Organisation and Operating Procedure of the Working Group under the auspices of the National Co-ordinator of the Action against Trafficking in Humans. Our country subscribed to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and adopted the Regulations of the Hot Line serving actual, probable and potential victims of human trafficking crimes and the Regulations of the Shelter for the Temporary Residence of Victims of Trafficking in Humans. Last year, relevant amendments were made to the Labour and Family Codes as well as the Code of Criminal Procedure and Criminal Code as well as to the laws ‘On the Child’s Rights’, ‘On the Bar and the Bar Practice’, ‘On Education’, ‘On the State Dactyloscopic and Genome Registration in the Republic of Azerbaijan’ and so forth, all in connexion with the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. Thus, certain crimes against individual sexual immunity and sexual freedom (rape and violent acts of sexual nature) committed against minors was classified as an aggravating circumstance and penalties were graver regarding several offences constituting in sexploitation of children. Involvement of minors in activities contradicting the public morality, too, was classified as corpus delicti (Article 171) and stipulations provisions providing for criminal liability for harassment of children for sexual purposes were added to the legislation (Article 171-2). 4 In addition, those suspected or charged with crimes constituting in sexploitation or sexual violence against children, or those convicted for such crimes were added to the pool of the people obliged to ass the compulsory state genome registration. A decree was passed to define the rules for the repatriation and rehabilitation of underage Azerbaijani citizens found to be in difficult conditions in a foreign country whilst unaccompanied by their parents or other legal representatives. Also, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution defining the duties of the relevant state authorities concerning provision of children’s access to education as well as social, medical and psychological services in emergencies, at the time of a pandemic and similar emergency situations. The following were also in the focus: compiling and distributing methodical guides and awareness materials on preventing trafficking in humans, fostering social intolerance of the cases giving rise to such crimes and involving societal institutions and mass media in this action. The Ministry of Internal Affairs sent 14,000 enlightenment booklets and fliers to our citizens travelling abroad for work and to overseas nationals en transit in the country or coming to it. The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population had the booklet ‘Don’t Become a Human Trafficking Victim’ booklet (3,000 copies) and the State Family, Women’s and Children’s Problems Committee had printed and distributed to citizens and participants of the relevant enlightenment events the 1,000 booklets ‘The Action against Trafficking in Humans’. The Public Health and Reforms Centre of the Ministry of Health had the methodical guide ‘The Problem of Trafficking in Humans and its Prevention’ compiled 5 whereas the newly founded ‘Healthy Child’ internet portal had 583 articles and 331 enlightenment printed and video materials uploaded to it to cover the issue further. The Office of the Commissioner (Ombudsman) for the Human Rights awareness guide ‘The Defence of the Child’s Rights in the Ombudsman’s Work’ and the e-book ‘The Convention on the Rights of the Child’, translated to the sign language; both were presented to the public. Besides, the Ombudsman’s Office organised meetings with children to inform them of the nature, types and danger of the human trafficking crimes, prevention of such crimes, the use of child labour and its consequences. The cases conducing to crimes consisting in trafficking in humans and forced labour were spread across the media. Personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs gave 25 interviews on this topic to TV channels. The Audiovisual Council organised debates on the action against trafficking in humans on various TV channels; extensive information about the consequences of trafficking in humans was spread to the public. The Ministry of Internal Affairs uploaded 48 information pieces about the countering of the aforementioned crimes at the ministerial Chief Office against Trafficking in Humans (www.insanalveri.gov.az) whilst together with the Ministry of Science and Education they undertook awareness activities at 41 secondary vocational education institutions in towns and provinces. The personnel of 29 provinces’ law enforcement authorities as well as youth, media representatives, officials of executive authorities, members of the public, medics, local entrepreneurs, employees of the transport, education, social defence and employment centres as well as representatives of nongovernmental organisations took art in those sessions. 6 The Ministry of Science and Education organised meetings, demonstration lessons and round table sessions at schools where pupils belonging to the risk group were identified and then provided with the required psychological support and educated about early marriages. The State Family, Women’s and Children’s Problems Committee combined with the Ministry of Science and Education to organise awareness meetings to Trafficking in Humans and Forced Labour’ and meetings about employment, demonstrating videoclips and handing out methodology guides to the attendants at the Industries and Technology College of the State Oil and Industries University of Azerbaijan and at the Arts College of the Academy of Art of Azerbaijan. The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population organised enlightenment meetings and events at the regional ASAN and DOST Service Centres in Baku, Sumgait, Ganja, Tovuz, Balakyan, Agjabedi, Kurdamir, Nakhchivan, Salyan and Sabirabad. The Ministry of Culture organised more than 100 awareness events in total in the Baku, Absheron-Khizi, Ganja-Dashkesan, Highland Shirvan, Lenkoran-Astara, Central Aran, Mil-Mugan, Garabagh, Gazakh-Tovuz, Guba-Khachmaz, Sheki-Zagatala, East Zangazur and Shirvan-Salyan regions. A topical education and training campaign was initiated to enhance the relevant knowledgeability of the specialist state authorities’ staff. Senior officers of 38 town and provincial police units as well as 249 rank officers of the police units of 67 towns and provinces of the country were put on the ‘The Main Areas and Regulatory Framework of the Action against the Trafficking in Humans’ advanced training course. Furthermore, 7 1,650 officers of more than 78 police units attended the virtual training classes ‘The Trafficking in Humans and Forced Labour Crimes – a Kind of Transnational Organised Crimes’, ‘Differentiating between the Human Trafficking Crimes and Crimes against the Public Morality’ and ‘Apprehension and Prevention of the Human Trafficking and Forced Labour Crimes’. Besides, the consular personnel of our country’s diplomatic missions regularly attended the training programmes that covered various aspects of human trafficking, exploitation of children and victims’ exposure to violence and involvement in forced labour. They were also supplied with the relevant publications. The Ministry of Science and Education, the State Tourism Agency and the State Migration Service combined to conduct training sessions ‘Victims of Trafficking in Humans’, ‘Human Trafficking and Smuggling Protocols’, ‘Azerbaijan’s International Obligations in the Field of Countering Trafficking in Humans’, ‘The Struggle against Trafficking in Humans and Forced Labour’, ‘The Action against Trafficking in Humans and the Identifying Indicators of the Victims’ for 206 general secondary school psychologists, 30 tour operators, representatives of 20 hotels and travel agencies as well as personnel of the migration authorities. The State Family, Women’s and Children’s Problems Committee conducted the training sessions ‘Preventing Child Labour’ and ‘Detecting Children Victimised by Trafficking in Humans’ for its employees. The State Border Service undertook a course ‘Identifying Human Trafficking Victims Including Victims’ for its specialist military personnel. The State Agency for Public Services and Social Innovations arranged the training for more than 50 volunteers of the ASAN Service centres covering the topics of the 8 essence and forms of the trafficking in humans, the methods for identifying the victims, and first and services to the potential victims. Events of the same nature were also organised for clerics, representatives of the diaspora abroad and the staff of the electronic security service. Meanwhile, the Special Police Force personnel participated in the same sessions as lecturers. As many as 75 judges attended the ‘Adjudication of Trafficking in Humans and Related Criminal Cases’ and 71 barristers participated in the ‘A Professional Outlook on the Defence of the Rights of the Human Trafficking Victims’ at the Academy of Justice. The courses attended by more than 400 candidate employees of the justice, judicial and prosecution authorities and members of the Bar Collegium covered the following subjects: ‘International Legislation in Countering Trafficking in Humans (the European legislation), ‘The Action against Trafficking in Humans’, ‘The Public Hazard of the Human Trafficking Crimes; Domestic Violence and Countering It', ‘Human Trafficking and Related Crimes and the Specificity of their Adjudication in Courts of Law’ and ‘Countering the Cybercrime of Sexual Exploitation of Children’. The control of births outside of maternity homes and the action to identify early marriages by detecting such births were kept in the focus in line with the National Action Plan; 293 early marriages were curbed in this way during the reporting year. The ‘Mobile Population’ application, commissioned as a subsystem of the ‘Mobile Notary Office’ application, made it possible to register electronically births and deaths of citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan both in the country and abroad as well as to issue familial status and household member related certificates online during the reporting year. 9 At the same time, the ‘Emergency Electronic Call to the Ministry of Justice’, a service installed at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport and the DOST as well as ASAN Service Centres in Baku made it possible for citizens to have births registered without having to go to the registrar’s offices. The number of registration departments putting newborns on record in the field, that is, at health care institutions, rose in 2023; as many as 4,746 child births registrations were formalised that year, including the 427 theretofore unregistered births from earlier years. Graduates of the state childcare institutions were provided with socio-legal and socio-psychological aid and assisted in finding employment; those activities were continued so as to mitigate the risk of those graduates falling prey to trafficking in humans. The State Employment Agency conducted the seminars ‘Career planning and choosing a profession the right way’ seminars and individual consultations in the format of the ‘To the Future Together’ project for 290 children with health complications and derived of parental care. Also, the State Employment Agency engaged 6 graduates of childcare institutions in vocational training and put a further 2 graduates in the self-employment programme. The Ministry of Science and Education requested target funds (under consideration currently) to buy flats with for 10 young graduates of childcare institutions whereas the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population conducted the monitoring of the living conditions of 23 children – citizens of Azerbaijan – out of the total adopted by 1,146 overseas nationals in Azerbaijan. The State Family, Women’s and Children’s Problems Committee, in turn, undertook 56 monitoring sessions of children under guardianship and care in various families and 68 monitoring sessions of education evasion 10 cases. The police authorities organised legal, psychological and other kinds of aid to 132 waifs and other children left without parental or paedagogical influence for assorted reasons at the Child’s Rights Clinic and the Social Rehabilitation Centre for Children and Youth. The Ministry of Internal Affairs rewarded the 18 NGO representatives who had distinguished themselves in the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations against Trafficking in Humans with money (AZN 23,000 in total) and diplomas whilst the State Agency for the Support to Non-Governmental Organisations of the Republic of Azerbaijan financed their submitted 11 projects worth AZN 94,000 in the aggregate. In addition, AZN 120,000 was allocated towards the costs of social rehabilitation of victims of trafficking in humans, keeping them at the shelter and giving them lump-sum aid allowances. There was much focus last year on developing international co-operation in combatting trafficking in humans and forced labour, exchange of experience and its promptitude as well as maintaining the leading position of the country in this process. Namely, there were meetings with representatives of the Azerbaijani offices of the International Organisation for Migration and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development, the Embassy of the United States of America in Azerbaijan, the internal affairs authorities of the republics of Belarus and Bulgaria, the Council of Europe Committee of the Parties – Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, the International 11 Labour Organisation, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training and the Working Group for the UN Convention on Action against Transnational Organised Crime. The meetings were held physically as well as online. Furthermore, Also, answers were given to the recommendations and queries of the US Departments of State, of Justice and of Labour, and the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Humans (GRETA) as well as other organisations. Officers of the specialist police group were sent to Ankara, Vienna, Madrid, Lyons, Minsk and Almaty within the frameworks of projects implemented by various international organisations; those officers were posted there to learn the progressive international experience of acting against trafficking in humans. It should be noted that the endeavours of our country in legislation, criminal prosecution, protection of the victims, financing of shelters and co-operation were lauded in the report by the US Department of State on combatting trafficking in humans and the 3rd assessment stage report by the GRETA of the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Humans The ‘Forced Labour and Forced Marriage’ 2022 report on the global valuation of the spread of human trafficking crimes, drawn by the International Labour Organisation, the International Organisation for Migration and the Walk free suggested that 27.6 million people were forced to labour in 2021 and that 11.8 million of those were women and young girls and 3.3 million ere children. It followed from the estimates those organisations made that 1.3 million of the 17.3 million people subjected to forced labour in 2021 were children. In general, the number of men (11.3 million) was twice as big as that of women (6 million). Of all those people, 5.5 million were labouring in services, 3 million in manufacturing, 2.6 million in construction, 12 2.1 million in agriculture and 1.4 million in housework, whilst the rest were exploited in other areas. As many 60 sessions covering the issues of employee rights, prevention of forced labour and trafficking in humans were held in Baku and the provinces of the country to discourage forced labour in Azerbaijan; those were attended by more than 6,500 employers and their representatives. The relevant materials were taken out in mass and social media as well. The Labour Relations Monitoring Centre of the State Agency for Public Services and Social Innovations inspected 32 high-rises under construction and revealed the hire of 47 people without employment contracts; that find resulted in the administrative fines totalling at AZN 123,000 levied on 13 employers. The checks that the State Labour Inspection Service had undertaken in response to citizens’ appeals found 512 (+143) cases of uncontracted employment resulting in the aggregate fines of AZN 2,374,000 (+591.900) levied on the defaulting employers. Also, one employee was found to be forced to do the work unrelated to the job description; the concerned executive was brought to administrative accountability (fined) consequently. The study of the incoming alerts revealed 2 cases of employment of persons aged below 15, with the defaulting persons subjected to the appropriate administrative penalties. Acting on the request of the State Migration Service, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population issued 5,441 overseas nationals with work permits and extended the valid terms of the work permits held by 4,773 overseas nationals, all engaged in paid work within the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The action taken, including the State Employment Agency of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population finding employment for 1,198 out of the 118,398 jobseekers and unemployed persons and, in accordance with the quota, for 2,751, too, and putting 5,628 persons in paid public work, involving 17,362 persons in the self-employment 13 programme, assigning the unemployment insurance payments for 8,370 persons more, sending 9,518 to vocational training courses and giving professional advisory services to 281,529 persons reduced dramatically the citizens’ exposure to the risk of forced labour. The operative search by the personnel of the Chief Office against Trafficking in Humans of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the reporting year resulted in 2 criminal cases initiated upon discovery of 3 cases of forced labour; it was determined that the victims had been exploited in agriculture within the country. The search for and identification of human trafficking and forced labour victims revealed 8 migration channels and led to the detainment of 154 persons who were then evicted from the country on administrative grounds. The police raids of the period identified 342 minors condemned to living in the street and involved in pauperism or illegal services; the 345 parents who had incited those minors to the illegal activities were handled as prescribed by the law and, at the same time, the commissions as well as the guardianship and patronage units functioning under the auspices of the executive authorities were sullied with 504 files so they would provide those children with care and aid as legally prescribed and solve their social problems. The operative detection and search operations that the Special Police Unit conducted in continuation of identification of human trafficking and forced labour victims and the appropriate prosecution and indictment of the persons responsible for such cases as gave rise to those abuse cases discovered 159 (+2) human trafficking and 3 (no changes) forced labour facts as well as 44 (no changes) instances of document forgery with the purpose of trafficking in humans. As many as 16 (+2) criminal cases were initiated accordingly and 18 persons (+2, 15 women, 3 men) were brought in as defendants. As many as 11 (-2) criminal cases (of the 3 years past) have been investigated already with 14 persons (-1, 11 women and 3 men) handed over to courts of law and 10 (-2) traffickers found guilty and indicted. 14 There were 21 (-2) suspects wanted locally: 17 (no changes) human trafficking cases, 3 (+2) solicitation of prostitution cases and 1 (-2) for brothel running cases, and 9 (no changes) of them including 5 (+2) human trafficking suspects were detained and transferred to the criminal prosecution authorities in the reporting year. Besides, 12 (+1) persons suspected of trafficking in humans are currently sought internationally via the channels of the Interpol. Information about the countries in which those persons are hiding and other necessary details are collected continually; appropriate extradition requests have been served in accordance with the pertaining bilateral and multilateral mutual legal aid treaties in effect. At the same time, 58 (+54) f a c t s w e r e f o un d t o h a v e b e e n c o m mi t t e d b y m e a n s o f in f o r m a t i o n t e c h n o l o gi e s (the social media WhatsApp, Tik-tok, İnstagram and Telegram), followed by 3 (+1) criminal cases opened under Article 144-1 (human trafficking) of the Criminal Code, and a further 2 (-1) criminal cases were initiated with regards to 20 (+15) more facts under Article 243.1 (involvement in prostitution) of the Criminal Code. The 91 (-3) identified victims (90 women and 1 man) of the revealed human trafficking and forced labour crimes were all citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan. 28 of them had been subject to sexploitation in Turkiye, 28 in Russian Federation, 15 in the United Arab Emirates, 10 in the Kingdom of Bahrain, 4 in the State of Qatar, 3 in the Islamic Republic of Iran and in Iraq, and the remaining 2 had been subjected to forced labour within the country. 6 of the victims were aged 18-25, 50 were aged 25-35 and 35 were older than 35; 24 were residents of the capital city and 67 had lived in the other towns and provinces of the 15 republic; 74 had been subjected to exploitation during 2016-2022 and 17 during 2023. The purposeful action to protect the human trafficking victims and to undertake the relevant legal and socio-economic activities were in the focus as well. Each of 90 (-4) victims were given the lump-sum allowance in the amount of AZN 700 w h i l s t 68 (-6) others were put up at the appropriate shelter of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and provided with medical (HIV, AIDS, gynaecological and therapeutic) as well as social, psychological, l e gal a nd o th er kin ds of aid . Specifically, 14 human trafficking victims were put on vocational training courses, employment was found for 10 others, 2 victims who were overseas nationals were issued with temporary abode permits, 8 others were assisted in obtaining IDs, 1 victim was helped with the required surgical operation, 3 victims were provided with medical treatment and 11 were helped obtain addressed social aid. A further 34 v i c t i m s w e r e r e t u r n e d t o t h e i r f a m i l i e s ; o n e p e r s o n t h o u g h t a p o t e n t i a l h u m a n t r a f f i c k i n g v i c t i m w a s m o v e d t o t h e S h e l t e r a n d S o c i a l R e h a b i l i t a t i o n I n s t i t u t i o n f o r p e r s o n s f r o m t h e v u l n e r a b l e p o p u l a t i o n s e c t i o n s o f t h e S o c i a l S e r v i c e s A g e n c y o f t h e M i n i s t r y o f Labour and Social Protection of the Population. Of the 67 human trafficking victims referred to nongovernmental organisations, 14 received the necessary aid at the shelters of The Clean World Women’s Aid Public Association, 10 of The Children of Azerbaijan Public Association and 7 of The Contact Regional Development Public Association whereas 16 received what aid they needed from The Family World Legal Aid for Families and 20 from The 21st Century Women and The Women’s Initiative and Assistance in Solving Women’s Social Problems. 16 Of the 67 human trafficking victims referred to the Social Services Agency of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population, 49 were aided psychologically and 2 medically; 3 were placed on vocational training courses and 1 was forwarded to the State Employment Agency for eventual employment. As regards the 37 potential victims identified by individual alerts and singled out by NGOs, 16, 7 and 1 of those were provided with legal, psychological and medical aid, respectively, whilst 15 were forwarded to the State Employment Agency in order to be put on vocational training courses. Also during the reporting period, 98 (-2) actual and potential victims were each given the allowance in the amount of AZN 5,300 (-50) at the expense of the Human Trafficking Victims Aid Fund of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The contracted members of the Bar Collegium heled 47 victims with judicial reviews and 58 ones during criminal investigation and, in total, provided 105 people with legal and psychological aid. The victims’ children were in the focus as well; 19 of them were supplied with schooling necessities, 2 were put in reschool education programmes, 17 were issued with birth certificates and a further 11 had alimony payments organised for them. It being in keeping with Article 14-1.1 (recovery and consideration period) of the Law ‘On Combatting Trafficking in Humans’ of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 10 (+2) victims w e r e g i v e n 3 0 d a y s i n w h i c h t o r e c o v e r , b e c o m e d i s t a n c e d f r o m t h e c r i m i n a l s ’ i n f l u e n c e a n d c o n s i d e r c o l l a b o r a t i n g w i t h t h e p e r t a i n i n g c r i m i n a l p r o s e c u t i o n a u t h o r i t y . 17 The ‘152’ Hot Line received 9,626 (-197) calls with each call investigated and the callers referred to appropriate bodies where their rights were explained to them. The ratification by the Republic of Azerbaijan of various international documents, the signoff by the Head of State of four National Action Plans to combat trafficking in humans in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2020, the formation of a special police task force within the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the emergence of the ‘Shelter’, ‘Aid Centre’, ‘Help Fund’ and ‘Hot Line’ telephone services for victims, the launch of the official website, the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding about co-operation with the Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations against Trafficking in Humans internet u n i t i n g 45 N G O s , t h e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n , a n d s o c i a l r e h a b i l i t a t i o n o f v i c t i m s a s w e l l a s t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f s p e c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s b y t h e S t a t e , v i c t i m s ’ r e p a t r i a t i o n t o t h e i r h o m e c o u n t r i e s , a p p r o v a l o f t h e N a t i o n a l C o o r d i n a t i o n M e c h a n i s m a s w e l l a s t h e o t h e r n e c e s s a r y s t e p s t a k e n g a v e r i s e t o m a t e r i a l a d v a n c e s i n t h e c o u n t e r i n g o f t r a f f i c k i n g i n h u m a n s . It follows from the above that it is one of the objectives to ensure the continuity of the positive results achieved in the period since 2004 to the present time, during which the action against trafficking in human beings began to be conducted in the legal dimension. On the other hand, a new conceptual draft document should be drawn u for the years 2025-2030 given that the fourth National Action Plan, which has played an exceptional role in the countering of trafficking in humans, is due to expire this year. The new conceptual document is to ensure an integrated and systematic counteraction. The extensive use of the modern information communication technologies by the 18 transnational organised crime groups necessitates improvement of the relevant professionalism of the concerned personnel, implementation of the relevant progressive international experience, streamlining of the operations and broadening of international collaboration, especially so the interstate mutual legal and technical assistance to make it possible to investigate comprehensively and efficiently the crimes committed online. All the above have been identified as the goals to pursue. The relevant activities continue in a planned manner currently. 29 The Human Trafficking Crimes’ Dynamics The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan 30 The Human Trafficking Crimes’ Dynamics The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Document forgery for trafficking in humans -21.5% (44) Trafficking in Humans - 77% (159) Trafficking in Humans - 77% (159) 31 Persons tried in court for human trafficking crimes in 2005-2023 The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan 32 The genders of the persons tried in court for human trafficking crimes in 2005-2023 The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Men Women Total: 33 The victims of the human trafficking crimes revealed during 2005-2023 The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan 34 The yearly breakdown of the human trafficking victims identified in 2023 The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan 35 The breakdown of human trafficking victims by the towns and provinces The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan 36 The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan The gender-wise breakdown of the human trafficking victims identified in 2023 The age-wise breakdown of the human trafficking victims identified in 2023 Men – 86 Women - 1264 Older than 35 – 35 (38%) 18-25 years 6 (7%) 25-35 years 55 (55%) 37 The Republic of Azerbaijan The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan The countries where human trafficking victims were exploited The countries of citizenship of the human trafficking victims The Republic of Turkiye 28 The United Arab Emirates 15 The State of Qatar 4 The Republic of Azerbaijan 2 The Russian Federation 28 The Kingdom of Bahrain 10 The Islamic Republic of Iran 3 The Republic of Iraq 1 38 The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Suspects wanted for human trafficking crimes Countries where suspects wanted internationally via the Interpol for human trafficking crimes are believed to be hiding For trafficking in humans For other crimes related to trafficking in humans The Islamic Republic of Pakistan The Republic of Turkiye The United Arab Emirates The Russian Federation 39 Crimes against the public morality The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Illegal distribution of pornographic materials or items Operation of brothels Involvement in prostitution 40 The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Indictments of the Grave Offences Court on human traffickers Imprisonment 41 The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan The participation of international and local events by the personnel of the Chief Office against Trafficking in Humans in 2023 International and local events Online participation Abroad 38% In the country 62% Physical participation-36 Online participati on 21