At the end of November delegates at a high-level meeting of the General Assembly appraised the progress achieved in the implementation of the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, which was adopted in 2010. This appraisal takes place every four years and provides an opportunity to acknowledge achievements and reflect on existing gaps and challenges.

The 2021 event reiterated that trafficking in persons can occur in every region of the world and can take many forms. Women and children, particularly girls, are amongst the most vulnerable persons to be trafficked, especially for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Social media and online platforms are increasingly used by traffickers to identify and recruit victims and advertise services provided by victims. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened economic and social inequalities that are among the root causes of human trafficking.

Speaking at the High-Level Meeting on the Appraisal of the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, called for international cooperation and data collection on human trafficking in order to evaluate the progress made and the remaining gaps on the objectives that underpin it.

He noted that despite the increasing number of states that have developed national data collection systems on trafficking in persons in the past decades, world data is still limited and that weakens more effective international action. Archbishop Caccia then noted that partnerships among States and stakeholders have been strengthened, giving a basis for concerted work that must always be enhanced. In this regard, he stressed the need for cooperation between local authorities, national governments and faith-based organizations, holding up the example of Talitha Kum present in 92 countries and on 6 continents, which has helped address root causes of trafficking and collaborates with law enforcement authorities in the fight against the scourge.

Concluding, the Archbishop restated the Holy See’s commitment to playing its role in preventing, denouncing and combatting trafficking, and in “promoting a model of cooperation based on fraternity, solidarity, and commitment capable of remedying the globalization of indifference in which human trafficking thrives.”

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2021-11/holy-see-vatican-human-trafficking-un-statement.html

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2021/November/general-assembly-appraises-the-un-global-plan-of-action-to-combat trafficking-in-persons.html

In North Macedonia, the statistics show that between 2017 and 2020, 75% of all identified victims were children, mostly trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation, but also for forced marriages and for the purpose of labour exploitation. To support the identification and referral of such cases, the training on interviewing child potential victims of trafficking organised by the EU and Council of Europe action on “Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in North Macedonia” in co-operation with the Bureau for Development of Education, provided to 30 school psychologists and pedagogues from Skopje and Bitola key knowledge and information on this topic.

As a result of the successful and continuous cooperation between the joint EU and Council of Europe action on Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in North Macedonia and the Bureau for Development of Education all the primary and secondary schools in North Macedonia have received training and education materials on preventing and combating child trafficking in multiple languages, as well as on-line trainings on the same topic.

This activity was organised within the framework of the action on Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in North Macedonia, which is part of the European Union / Council of Europe programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II aiming at assisting beneficiaries in the Western Balkans and Turkey to comply with the Council of Europe standards and European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process.

The action on “Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in North Macedonia” is implemented within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.

What is the goal?

The Action Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in North Macedonia supports the authorities in North Macedonia in improving the identification, protection of, and assistance to victims of human trafficking, in line with the European standards, as stipulated in the recommendations resulting from the monitoring of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

Who benefits from the Action?

key beneficiary institutions, including: National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Illegal Migration, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and State Labour Inspectorate, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health
civil society organisations and selected public/private sector actors (Chamber of Commerce, Agrotrade Union)
communities at risk from human trafficking (including victims of human trafficking and their families)
public at large

How will the Action work?

The Action will support the authorities in preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, by providing expert advice, raising capacities and supporting key stakeholders in their efforts. In this framework the Action will concretely focus on:

• legislative interventions, policy and research support;
• multi-disciplinary trainings for key actors;
• seminars and workshops with partner institutions;

awareness raising and informative events for the public;

Expected results:

Expected results from the project are:

• detection and identification of, and assistance to victims of human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation will be improved;
• detection and identification of, and protection of child victims of human trafficking will be strengthened;
• access to compensation for victims of human trafficking will be improved;
• all the actors in the field of combatting human trafficking, and the general public at large, will be more informed and aware about specific vulnerabilities to trafficking situations and the rights of trafficked persons.

Source

https://www.coe.int/en/web/skopje/preventing-and-combating-human-trafficking-in-north-macedonia

This bill is making its way through Parliament in England, key debate is happening this week – write to your MP!

The Nationality and Borders Bill is currently making its way through the House of Commons and is in the committee stage where the bill is debated and amendments proposed. The government are hoping it will be approved ‘at a pace’.
The bill as a whole is generally very bad news for asylum seekers and victims of modern slavery.

Modern slavery legislation in England and Wales is primarily through the Modern Slavery Act (MSA) 2015. It is therefore not appropriate, in Renate’s opinion, that modern slavery forms any part of this new immigration bill that seeks, among other things to penalise Victims of Trafficking (VoT) due to their immigration status (clauses 46,47,51,54,55) creating a two tier system where Victims of Trafficking with immigration issues will have a more onerous time proving they are VoT.

Victims of trafficking are first and foremost victims of crime, at least 34% referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) in England and Wales in 2020 being British nationals where immigration issues do not feature at all, additionally over 60% of all referrals to the UK NRM last year, state their exploitation happened in the UK only, why should the majority of victims be negatively impacted due to their immigration status when the crime happened in the UK?

There are 9 key clauses in Part 4 of this bill which impact survivors of Trafficking.  The majority (7) have a serious negative impact and 2 provide some hope of positive impact.

Survivors of Trafficking will be negatively impacted by Clause 49 – a reduction in the Period of Reflection and Recovery. It is well documented that victims of trafficking struggle to ‘tell their story’ once rescued and can take many months if not years for the full horror of their exploitation to be known. In 2015 the MSA was enacted giving victims 45 days of reflection and recovery. This was never long enough and Lord McColl launched the Victims Support Bill from the House of Lords in January 2019, with a key element extending this period of recovery to one year. Many prominent conservatives like Iain Duncan Smith were key supporters of this Bill, but it has stalled and not made any notable passage since the start of COVID. In practice though this 1 year period has been adopted.

The Nationality and Borders bill REDUCES the period of recovery to 30 days.
Many victims will be unable to give details about their ordeal in this short period of time meaning decisions on whether they will receive a positive conclusive grounds decision will become less likely – 89% were given a positive conclusive grounds decision in 2020 , this proposed reduction in recovery period very likely will reduce this number significantly.
Clause 48 in the new bill changes the basis on how conclusive grounds decisions are made. At the moment decisions are made based on a ‘reasonable degree of likelihood’ that trafficking has happened – this is a relatively low threshold to achieve. The Bill proposes that decisions should now be made on the ‘balance of probabilities’ meaning at least a 51% evidential threshold would need to be met – again this will significantly impact the number in the NRM getting positive conclusive grounds decisions
Added to this, the Bill proposes to introduce only 1 period of refection and recovery meaning re-trafficked victims will now not be eligible for any time to reflect and recover.

A 2021 report published by the Modern Slavery Policy & Evidence Centre showed strong evidence that good and early access to legal advice for VoT reduces the likelihood of re-trafficking.
Accessing good legal advice for VoT is a lottery in England and Wales.
Legal aid is available to VoT but to access it is often very difficult and it is only available through organisations with an immigration legal aid contract (currently only 248 in England & Wales which is heavily London centric).
One of the few positive clauses in the Bill is regarding the provision of legal aid for VoT (clause 54 and 55) where up to 7 hours add on provision of legal advice is available to help possible VoT decide whether or not to enter the NRM, however this is contingent on the claimant already in receipt of (immigration) leave to remain/enter advice. Over half of NRM referrals have no obvious immigration claim so would not have access to this pre-NRM advice
The impact of this positive clause is therefore likely to be very small despite access to legal aid being one of the bigger more important issues for VoT, this is an opportunity lost to address this issue.

There are many other areas of Part 4 that will seriously affect survivors and RENATE are watching with interest what amendments might be tabled in the hope that significant change can be made to this and other parts of the Bill before it is enacted.

Annie Bannister
Member of RENATE Network

From November 8-12, a large-scale international action against trafficking in human beings took place throughout out 29 countries in Europe, led by Austria and Romania, and coordinated by Europol and Frontex. 

The activities saw more than 14,000 law enforcement officers target trafficking routes on roads and at airports. 

This resulted in 212 arrests and the identification of a further 89 trafficking suspects.

The action days aimed to combat human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation, forced criminality and forced begging. Europol coordinated the five action days from its 24-hour operational center, which provided the participant countries with information crosschecking, secure communication channels, and a range of analytical capabilities throughout the operation. 

The operation took place under the umbrella of the EMPACT security mechanism/framework.

The action days sought to identify and arrest human trafficking suspects as they transited across Europe, as well as to identify and protect trafficking victims and prevent associated document fraud. Europol coordinated national police, passenger information units, border guards and national agencies that counter human trafficking. Together they created a tight net around trafficking routes, with national police and border agents performing roadside checks, while the passenger information units checked airline passengers.

Law enforcement also targeted a wide range of possible locations for human traffickers, such as bars, brothels, nightclubs, nail bars, massage studios, and strip clubs. This diverse range of target areas was the result of intelligence showing that traffickers were deploying multiple methods for recruiting their victims, such as the ‘lover boy’ method and threats of violence against victims’ relatives.

The October edition of the Newsletter focuses upon the importance of raising awareness amongst youths, who are forced or at risk of committing crimes. 

Comprising a narrative about the realities as experienced by youths firsthand, the Newsletter informs about a card game resource, entitled   C’est toi le boss. The card game was designed by Hors la Rue for use as an educational card game for minors who are forced to commit or are at risk of committing crimes.  The card game aims to inform and educate young people as well as to initiate dialogue on the specific issues they frequently encounter. 

The card game revolves around:

• “Situation” maps evoking the personal, legal, exploitation or health issues that minors may encounter.
• “Solution” cards illustrating the actors who can help young people according to the difficulties they face.

In addition to news about the Card game, the Newsletter is a rich resource bank of information on numerous initiatives associated with anti-human trafficking. Just click on any of the tiles online for further information. 

Full Newsletter:  http://www.contrelatraite.org/jeu-pedagogique

The Council of Europe’s expert group on human trafficking (GRETA) has urged Malta to make efforts to guarantee effective access to compensation for victims of trafficking and to take measures to ensure that human trafficking cases are investigated proactively and lead to effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions. These are among the main proposals for action included in the latest evaluation of Malta’s implementation of Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

Since the previous GRETA report, the legislation has been amended to increase the penalty for human trafficking, exclude from public procurement procedures of companies involved in trafficking, and strengthen victims’ access to assistance. A new National Action Plan on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings, covering the period 2020-2023, was adopted.

All victims of trafficking have so far been represented by NGO lawyers who are funded through projects. GRETA considers that the Maltese authorities should heighten their efforts to ensure that victims of trafficking receive legal assistance and free legal aid at an early stage, including by putting in place a system through the Legal Aid Agency to identify lawyers who are qualified to provide legal aid to victims of trafficking.

Malta remains primarily a country of destination for trafficked persons. During the period 2017-2020, 44 persons were formally identified as victims of trafficking: labour exploitation was predominant (77% of the identified victims), followed by sexual exploitation.

For more information on this article, please see the following links

https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/greta-calls-on-malta-to-strengthen-and-guarantee-protection-for-trafficking-victims

https://search.coe.int/directorate_of_communications/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectId=0900001680a475da

As the world watches the unfolding developments of the migrant crisis on the Belarusian border with Poland, it is important to be mindful of the facts and the pending humanitarian crisis that is upon Europe.

The men, women and children who have found themselves on this perilous journey have done so at great expense and sacrifice and in most cases through desperation in fleeing from conflict and unrest.  

What a risk to take a ‘one way flight’ to a far-off country to them find oneself homeless and helpless, cold and hungry.  

“Thousands of people, mainly from the Middle East, are camped out on the border in what the west says is a crisis engineered by Belarus to divide the EU and hit back against sanctions, charges Minsk has denied…We have to prepare for the fact that the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border will not be resolved quickly. We have to prepare for months. I hope not for years,” Mariusz Błaszczak, the Polish defence minister, told Poland’s Radio Jedynka on Wednesday.” (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/17/belarusian-border-crisis-could-last-for-months-says-polish-minister).

The vulnerability that comes to each of these people due to the crisis situation that they are now enduring will have brought great risks for future exploitation and trafficking, as criminals will certain do all that they can to prey on these people and look at ways to make money out of this terrible insecurity.

“Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, the president of the Polish bishops’ conference, appealed to Catholics to aid the thousands of migrants caught up in a “humanitarian catastrophe” at the roughly 250-mile border between the two countries.  I turn to the faithful and all people of goodwill with a request for a nationwide fundraising — on Sunday, Nov. 21 in all churches and chapels, through Caritas Poland — for migrants from the Belarusian-Polish border,” Gądecki said in a homily at Mass at the Holy Cross Church in the Polish capital, Warsaw, on Nov. 5.

The funds collected during the nationwide collection will be used to finance Caritas Poland’s aid activities in the border areas during the migration crisis and the process of long-term integration of refugees who decide to stay in Poland.” (https://angelusnews.com/news/world/polands-catholic-church-to-hold-collection-for-migrants-at-belarus-border/)

Let us all take some time to think about and pray for those caught in this desperately concerning situation and for decision makers to communicate and find solutions before the depths of winter.