The phenomenon of Romanians illegally entering Ireland is not new, but anecdotal evidence from Irish refugee organisations suggests that a growing number of Romanians arriving in Ireland have been smuggled with an element of coercion.

"I know of cases where Romanians have paid traffickers $1,000 or DM3,000 and have been trafficked to Ireland," says a Romanian-born settlement officer who works with asylum-seekers in Dublin.

In January of this year, 88 of the 840 people who applied for asylum in the Republic came from Romania.

According to Garda sources, at least one Romanian criminal gang based in Cherbourg is involved in organising illegal immigration through Rosslare port in Co Wexford, while other Romanians are arriving at Larne in the North. Non-governmental organisations in Bucharest say that they have not yet dealt with cases of smuggled or trafficked Romanians returning from Ireland, but say that it is probably only a matter of time.

Human trafficking is a daily reality in Romania, spurred on by high unemployment and widespread ignorance of the phenomenon. The largest "market" is in Romanian women and young girls, often attracted by newspaper advertisements offering jobs as dancers and baby-sitters in Japan, Germany or the Netherlands.

On arrival in a city, their passport is taken by the traffickers and they are forced into prostitution.

More than 200 cases of trafficking in women and children were reported to Romanian police in 1999, with the Balkans and Italy the most common destinations of those detained.

The Romanian government only recently acknowledged that human trafficking exists and it has yet to be defined as a crime in the criminal code. It has so far paid lip-service to the problem, but remains unwilling to work with non-governmental organisations.

Roxana Texiu, of the Open Society Foundation in Romania, says: "Human trafficking is so hidden in Romania, the interests involved are so huge and touch so many important people that politicians have no interest in solving it."