By Dora Fichter, JD
Program Committee Member, Gateway Alliance Against Human Trafficking
The Roma is an ethnic group that originated in India and migrated to Europe around the 14th century. Often derogatorily referred to as “Gypsies,” a term that stems from the mistaken assumption that Roma came from Egypt, Roma people live in both nomadic and non-nomadic communities and have diverse language, religion, history, and culture. Roma culture places a high value on the extended family.
The Roma are Bulgaria’s third largest ethnic group. Poverty, unemployment, and limited education, compounded by social stigma, leave many Roma isolated. Roma people often live in overcrowded neighborhoods lacking basic amenities such as running water, paved roads, public lighting, and street cleaning. Bulgaria has one of the highest rates of sex trafficking in Europe, and many victims originate from Roma communities. Trafficking occurs in larger cities and coastal resorts in Bulgaria, and many victims are transported to other European countries. A study conducted in 2023-2024 in two of the largest Roma communities found that early dropout from school, early marriage and childbirth, and the widespread use of controlled substances among adolescents, made girls particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Perpetrators frequently use familial ties and the sense of trust within the community to recruit victims. Family involvement and distrust of law enforcement deter reporting of these crimes and impede prosecutions.
A form of human trafficking that primarily affects Roma women is the trafficking of pregnant women for the sale of their newborns. Traffickers transport victims to neighboring Greece, where they give birth and relinquish their newborns to the traffickers. Some babies have been sold for the equivalent of between $3,000 and $4,300, and mothers received only a fraction of the proceeds. Until 2023, between 60 and 100 cases were investigated annually. With raised public awareness of the crime and its consequences, the number of these cases has declined in the past two years.
Poverty and lack of education prompt many Roma men to accept riskier and potentially exploitative employment opportunities for unskilled labor in the agriculture, construction, or service sectors. Traffickers usually target young Roma men with promises of high-paying jobs abroad, then take their documents and subject them to work for little or no pay. Organized criminal groups, sometimes led by other Roma, force Roma into criminal activities such as begging and pickpocketing. Sometimes Roma children are coerced into begging or pickpocketing by family members or third parties to repay debts. The involvement of parents often creates confusion as to whether these cases should be prosecuted as human trafficking. A joint law enforcement operation between Bulgaria and Switzerland uncovered an organized criminal group that trafficked dozens of people from the Roma neighborhoods in Northern Bulgaria to beg in Switzerland. The victims were held in inhumane conditions, and the funds were transferred to Bulgaria. Six Bulgarian citizens were convicted of human trafficking and money laundering in Switzerland.
While Bulgaria does not collect data based on victims’ ethnicity, human-trafficking reports issued by the U.S. State Department and the Group of Experts on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) consistently identify Roma as a particularly vulnerable group of victims and urge the Bulgarian government to provide sufficient protection for Roma communities. Bulgaria has implemented a National Roma Integration Strategy (2012-2020), and a National Strategy for Roma Equality, Inclusion, and Participation (2021-2030) to address the social and economic exclusion of Roma. The Bulgarian National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (NCCTHB) and ten local commissions have launched campaigns to prevent trafficking in the Roma communities. Roma mediators work closely with the NCCTHB and serve as a vital link between marginalized Roma communities and public institutions. The Council of Europe’s training program ROMED, the NCCTHB, and local NGOs provide training and support to the Roma mediators. NGOs have also launched specific campaigns to raise awareness among vulnerable Roma communities and train frontline professionals to identify and combat human trafficking.
FN. Dora Fichter gratefully acknowledges financial support for her professional project on human trafficking in Bulgaria by the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and Fulbright Bulgaria. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Fulbright Program, the Government of the United States, or Fulbright Bulgaria.
Resources:
US Department of State: 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report: Bulgaria. https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/bulgaria/
Child trafficking among vulnerable Roma communities – evidence from Bulgaria Atanas Rusev – Center for the study of democracy – Bulgaria. https://traite.hypotheses.org/files/2019/10/A.-Rusev-Child-trafficking-among-vulnerable-Roma-communities.pdf
Suspected Bulgarian Baby Traffickers Detained In Germany, Radio Free Europe, May 2021. https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-baby-trafffickers-detained/31240477.html
BG Roma strategy NAP 2024-2027. https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/416a3d0e-7210-4bd0-81cd-6e2b0086bfb8_bg?filename=BG_Roma%20strategy%20NAP%202024-2027%20BG_0.pdf&prefLang=en
Combating child marriage among the Roma population in Eastern Europe, Zeljka Mazinjanin October 3, 2023. https://www.humanium.org/en/combating-child-marriage-among-the-roma-population-in-eastern-europe/
[Bulgaria] “Trafficking Pregnant Women to Sell their Newborns is a Crime!” Video Campaign, Zhivko Stankov. https://www.childhub.org/en/child-protection-multimedia-resources/bulgaria-trafficking-pregnant-women-sell-their-newborns-crime
Council of Europe/European Union. ROMED1 – Mediation for Roma. https://coe-romed.org/romed1
Marginalized and vulnerable: Trafficking of Roma, Olivia Dudley, April 1, 2021. https://oliviawdudley.com/2021/04/01/marginalized-and-vulnerable-trafficking-of-roma/
Vulnerability Factors to Gender-Based Violence in the “Carmen” Neighborhood, Kazanlak. https://www.dignita.bg/resources/
Vulnerability Factors to Gender-Based Violence in the “Druzhba” Neighborhood, Novi Pazar. https://www.dignita.bg/resources/