Ahead of the UN World Day Against Trafficking in Persons on 30 July, Belgium’s Federal Justice Service kicked off the national leg of the United Nations ‘Blue Heart’ campaign at a press event in Namur on 27 July. This year’s focus is on victims who are coerced into running online romance scams, investment fraud or phishing operations – a trend that has grown alongside the surge in remote work and cross-border digital nomadism. While not a traditional mobility concern, trafficking intersects with corporate relocation in subtle ways. Belgian authorities flagged 101 worrying disappearances of unaccompanied foreign minors in 2024 and warned that criminal rings increasingly lure victims with bogus job offers that mimic genuine intra-EU postings. Once inside the country, victims are moved between temporary ‘cyber-fraud farms’, their passports confiscated. Companies operating in Belgium’s thriving fintech and customer-service sectors should therefore tighten vendor due-diligence procedures and verify that outsourced call-centre partners comply with local labour and immigration rules. The Justice Ministry urged HR departments to share the campaign’s visual material internally so international assignees can recognise and report suspicious activity via the national helpline (078 055 800 or stoptraite.be). Policy context: Belgium is drafting a new federal Migration Code that will merge four existing agencies into a single SPF Migration by December 2026. Anti-trafficking data collection will sit within the future agency, enabling faster intelligence flows to border police and labour inspectors. For global mobility practitioners the message is clear: safeguarding is not just an NGO issue. Embedding trafficking-awareness modules into onboarding for expatriates and business travellers can help identify red flags early and protect both people and corporate reputation.
Source: Belgian Federal Justice Service
