Report puts Spain high on forced labor list

Brussels has for the first time compiled figures for the number of people in Europe trafficked into forced labor. In the 27 member states between 2008 and 2010 there were 23,632 recorded victims of human trafficking in the EU, with 61 percent being residents of Union nations. Most victims were women who had been sexually exploited.

According to the report by the EU statistics office Eurostat, the second-highest number of cases in the EU in 2010, the year with the most reliable figures, was recorded in Spain. Brussels noted that the figures were likely just "the tip of the iceberg."

A UN International Labour Organization report stated that the real number of people forced into unpaid work in Europe could be as high as 880,000.