19.05.2021

1. Preamble
In 2020, which was remembered for the historic victory of our people in the Patriotic War, the fight against human trafficking, one of the modern forms of slavery, did not stop for a minute; on the contrary, one of the main tasks was to improve the achievements of previous years.
However, as is known, the problems caused by the pandemic in the world last year and its socio-economic consequences increased the risk of human trafficking in most countries and at the same time created new opportunities for criminal gangs, which led to a significant increase in the number of sexual exploitation and human trafficking crimes related to forced labor and domestic violence within the country. According to the UN Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, 50 percent of identified victims globally were involved in sexual exploitation, 38 percent in forced labor, 6 percent in criminal activities, and the rest were engaged in begging, forced marriage, the sale and purchase of human organs, and were exploited for other purposes. Experts emphasize that there are about 550 human trafficking routes in the world, and the annual income from this type of crime is about 150 billion US dollars.
The restrictions imposed in our country due to COVID-19 clearly made it impossible to conduct a planned awareness campaign on the fight against human trafficking, as well as full-scale training for law enforcement officers and employees of other state bodies.
Nevertheless, attention was focused on activities in the field of detecting and preventing human trafficking crimes, identifying and eliminating the circumstances that led to such crimes, as well as protecting vulnerable groups from these illegal actions. One of the most significant events of the past year was the approval of the Fourth National Action Plan on Combating Human Trafficking in the Republic of Azerbaijan by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated July 2. This concept paper envisages the implementation of the tasks set for 2020, including the improvement of the regulatory framework, institutional mechanisms, criminal prosecution activities, strengthening the protection of victims, developing cooperation with civil society institutions and international partners, coordinating resources to combat human trafficking, and other measures.

2. Methodology
This report was prepared on the basis of reports from 25 central and 68 local executive bodies, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Prosecutor General's Office, as well as relevant statistical analysis in accordance with Article 7.5 of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Combating Human Trafficking". The purpose of this report is to bring to the attention of the members of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan the work done in the field of combating human trafficking and the strategies implemented in the country, as well as to determine the tasks for the next reporting period based on mutual discussions.

3. Legislative measures
Efforts to improve the regulatory framework to cope with global challenges in the fight against human trafficking
continued in the reporting year.
Thus, according to the amendments to the Law on State Fee,
victims of human trafficking identified abroad
are exempted from paying the state fee for issuing a Certificate of Return to Azerbaijan.
The Regulation on the Implementation of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Registration at the Place of Residence and Stay also provides for the procedure for registering foreign citizens and stateless persons who are victims of human trafficking or who assist criminal prosecution authorities at the location of the criminal prosecution authority. Measures aimed at protecting women and children from the threat of human trafficking are provided for in the National Action Plan for Combating Domestic Violence in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2020-2023 and the Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for Children for 2020-2030. The rules on the rights of victims of human trafficking to receive free psychological assistance and the characteristics of this assistance have been added to the existing decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers regulating the fight against human trafficking; psychological rehabilitation and correction have been included in the services to be provided to victims of human trafficking. Human trafficking issues have been included in programs related to the powers of drivers and the coordination of persons engaged in international passenger and cargo transportation by road transport. Provisions on supporting state social programs regulating labor migration, organizing joint monitoring, ensuring the elimination of child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking.