Sep 26, 2022 12:30:00

Europol identifies dozens of traffickers targeting Ukrainian refugees in 20-country hackathon

As a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a large number of Ukrainian refugees have emerged, and the danger of human trafficking aimed at exploiting refugees is increasing. In response, the European Police Organization (Europol) organized a

hackathon in which police authorities from 20 countries cooperated to identify traffickers and platforms that are targeting Ukrainian refugees.

20 countries spin a web to catch human traffickers during a hackathon | Europol
https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/20-countries-spin-web-to-catch-human-traffickers-during-hackathon

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Hackathon finds dozens of Ukrainian refugees trafficked online | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/09/hackathon-finds-dozens-of-ukrainian-refugees-trafficked-online/

Twenty countries participated in the hackathon: Austria, Albania, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine. House 85 people.

Police authorities around the world investigated websites, social media, 'dating', forums, messaging applications, etc. for human trafficking.

As a result, 53 platforms suspected of being related to human trafficking were identified, of which 10 online platforms were found to be related to human trafficking of Ukrainian refugees. Eleven suspected human traffickers were also identified, five of whom were linked to Ukrainian refugees. 45 victims of human trafficking were also identified, 25 of whom were Ukrainian refugees.

``Social media has allowed traffickers to reach out to more vulnerable people,'' Stetson University's Luz Nagle, an expert in human trafficking and international law, told news site Ars Technica. .

By implementing both online and offline solutions that recognize where refugees are going and where criminal gangs are based, and monitor illegal activity, Nagle said, pinpoint where large-scale human trafficking vulnerabilities lie. He says he can.

However, as the EU reports, ``Human trafficking is not an immediately visible crime. Detecting crimes and identifying victims can take weeks or months.'' It is a difficult crime to commit. Nagle acknowledged that it would be great to have multiple countries come together and organize to prevent human trafficking, like this hackathon, but said, 'There is still a lot of work to be done.'