WUNRN
To
mark the 8th EU Anti-Trafficking Day on 18 October 2014, the
Commission is taking stock of all coordinated efforts which have been made
during the 2010-2014 European Commission mandate towards the goal of
eradicating human trafficking.
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European Commission TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS
2010-2014: ERADICATING THE SLAVE TRADE To mark the 8th EU Anti-trafficking day on 18 October
2014, the Commission is today taking stock of all coordinated efforts which
have been made during the 2010-2014 European Commission mandate towards the goal
of eradicating human trafficking. With the adoption of the EU Anti-trafficking Directive in 2011, courts all over The European Commission
today presents a mid-term report
of the 2012-2016 EU strategy, accompanied by the statistical report
on victims and traffickers for the years 2010-2012.
The Commission is also reporting on the use of the Directive on residence permits to non EU victims of human trafficking. Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia
Malmström, said: "When I took office as Commissioner
in charge of Home Affairs almost five years ago, one of my main priorities was
to work towards the eradication of trafficking in human beings. Back then,
eradicating trafficking was not high on the political agenda and there was a
lax attitude towards the crime in many countries. Today, we can be proud over
what has been achieved to prevent this slave trade of our time. We have moved
from words to real action. We must continue our work tirelessly, in The EU 2012-2016 Strategy:
Working towards the eradication of trafficking in human beings Carrying out the concrete actions of the 2012-2016 EU Strategy on trafficking in human beings is well underway. A large amount of work has been done at EU level to get to the root of the problem, with initiatives aiming to: · Better identify victims: Guidelines issued to authorities and other stakeholders on the identification of victims of trafficking in human beings, in particular for border guards and consular services · Engage and closely cooperate with civil society: the creation of the EU Civil Society Platform against trafficking in human beings and the e-Platform for hundreds of civil society organisations working on trafficking in human beings · Increase knowledge on the phenomenon: the launch of studies on case law on labour exploitation, evaluation of prevention initiatives and on children as high risk group · Better inform victims of their rights: guidelines issued to all Member States on EU rights of victims of trafficking in human beings · Better assist and protect children as particularly vulnerable: Handbook for authorities and other stakeholders - "Guardianship for children deprived of parental care" · Make full use of the EU Agencies working on the topic of trafficking in human beings · Strengthen cooperation with non-EU countries: the implementation of the 2009 Action Oriented Paper on strengthening the EU external dimension of trafficking in human beings. Data
collection: some key findings Today, the European Commission publishes the second working paper at the EU level on statistics on trafficking in human beings, covering the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. This is the only statistical data collection existing at EU level on trafficking in human beings. Encouraging progress has been achieved in terms of availability of data, but the working paper also points to a need for further improvement. The working paper does not measure the full extent of trafficking in human beings, it provides data only on the victims and traffickers that have come into contact with authorities and actors at national level. Victims · 30 146 victims were registered in the 28 EU Member States over the three years 2010-2012. Member States’ authorities are becoming better at identifying and getting in contact with trafficking victims. · 80% of registered victims were female. · 16% of registered victims were children. · Over 1 000 child victims were registered as trafficked for sexual exploitation. · 69% of registered victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation. · 95% of registered victims of sexual exploitation were female. · 71% of registered victims of labour exploitation were male. · 65% of registered victims were EU citizens. Traffickers · 8 551 prosecutions for trafficking in human beings were reported by Member States over the three years 2010-2012. · Over 70% of traffickers were male. This is the case for suspects, prosecutions and convicted traffickers. · 3 786 convictions for trafficking in human beings were reported by Member States over the three years. Protecting victims: Issuing
residence permits to protect non-EU victims while enabling their cooperation
with the authorities In a separate Communication also published today, the Commission reports on the application of Directive 2004/81/EC that regulates the granting of a residence permit to non-EU victims of trafficking who cooperate with the authorities for the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. Available figures show that the possibility of issuing temporary residence permits to non-EU victims is currently under-used. For example, in 2012 only 1 124 first residence permits were granted in the EU to victims who cooperated with the authorities, whereas for that very same year 23 Member States registered 2 171 non-EU citizens as victims of trafficking. The Commission will continue to engage with Member States to ensure full and correct implementation of the legislation and to facilitate exchange of good practices, such as individual risk assessments for all victims prior to and during their cooperation. Useful Links Full statistical report on trafficking in human beings 2010-2012 Mid-term report on the 2012-2016 EU Strategy on trafficking in human beings Communication on the application of Directive 2004/81/EC on residence permits to non EU victims of human trafficking. |
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