A 700,000 euro (845,000 dollar) project to fight people trafficking was launched Wednesday in the Czech Republic in collaboration with the European Commission.

Under the scheme, experts from Britain and Holland will work with their Czech counterparts to better identify and tackle new forms of trafficking, such as the increasing trade in forced labour and human organs and tissue.

"Organised crime gangs quickly adapt; we have to constantly be one step ahead of them," said British Minister for Citizenship and Immigration Des Browne at the project's launch in Prague.

Welcoming the project, Petra Kutalkova, prevention manager at La Strada, a non-governmental organisation which works with the victims of trafficking, said more work was needed on raising awareness and understanding of the issue among police officers and the public.

"Victims of trafficking will never approach a police officer themselves as they are too scared and most don't know where they can turn for help. We need even more officers who are sensitive to this issue who can then identify victims and help them, " Kutalkova told AFP.

Trafficking through central and eastern Europe flourished following the end of the communist regime in 1989.

According to the Czech interior ministry, most prostitution in the Czech Republic is now controlled by Russian-speaking gangs.

While the numbers of victims of trafficking have not risen sharply recently, over the past year, said Kutalkova, there had been a growing trend of people being trafficked for other types of forced labour as well as the sex trade.

Over the past few years the Czech Republic had largely gone from being a country from which women were trafficked to the West to a destination for trafficked victims or a transit destination, said Kutalkova.

"We are seeing more and more women being trafficked here from Asia as well as the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe. Some of them are then sent further west," she said.

The extent of the problem is not known as no official figures exist since most victims do not contact the authorities.

The 15-month project involves the British Home Office and the Dutch National Centre for International Police Co-operation as well as the Czech Ministry of Interior.