You're reading: IOM: No spike in human trafficking at Euro 2012

GENEVA — International migration officials say the European football (soccer) championship earlier this summer did not result in a spike in human trafficking and other forms of smuggling as some experts and law enforcement agencies had feared. 

The International Organization for Migration says preliminary findings from its research shows there was no increase in the number of victims of sexual or labor exploitation or in child begging that could be linked to the Euro 2012 tournament despite an additional 1 million people entering Poland and Ukraine during June.

IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy told reporters Tuesday in Geneva that its anti-trafficking hotlines also did not register an increase in calls.

The European Union had deployed dozens of officers to Poland’s eastern border and various travel hubs across Europe to fight human trafficking.