Commission warns new legislation will only be effective if appropriate funding, actions and guidelines are in place
The Third National Anti-Human Trafficking Report of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’), as Ireland’s National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking, was published today. It was published at an event which saw Europe’s leading anti-trafficking figures speak about Ireland’s response to this global criminal industry. Over the last three years from 2021 to 2023, there were 139 victims of trafficking identified in Ireland. In 2023, there were 53 victims accepted into the current National Referral Mechanism (officially identified) in 2023. This represents a 20% increase from 2021, a significant rise that has occurred within a relatively short period of time. However, this also shows that the capacity to identify victims of trafficking in Ireland has increased and the State is making advancements in how we tackle the problem of human trafficking. There is new legislation, enacted in July, which will better protect the rights of victims/survivors. It will make it easier to identify victims/survivors, and should make it simpler for people to come forward, by adopting a multi-agency approach. We especially welcome the fact that the legislation recognises specialist NGOs as ‘trusted partners’, but stress that it is important that they be adequately resourced to carry out this important function. However, there are gaps in the legislation, such as details relating to child trafficking, the equal application for all victims regardless of nationality, immigration status, or pending international protection application, and statutory protection from prosecution for victims. In order for the new legislation to work effectively, we need these gaps to be addressed in the Operational Guidelines under the new National Referral Mechanism (‘NRM’). The NRM is not solely about identification, but in order to work effectively, it must provide assistance and supports. The NRM is the first of its kind in Europe, and has the potential to be a game changer in identifying supporting and assisting both child and adult victims of trafficking. The Operational Guidelines, promised by Minister McEntee, will be key to its success. Children represent 8% of all victims of trafficking in Ireland over the last 11 years. 44 children have been officially recognised as victims of trafficking in Ireland since 2013 (among a total of 566 victims). This is significantly less than the most recent EU average (15%). This does not mean, we suspect, that we have less child victims. Rather, we believe this is due to the fact that we do not have robust enough systems to identify child trafficking victims. Prof Siobhán Mullally (UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children), Dr Petya Nestorova (Executive Secretary of the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking, GRETA), Dr Kari Johnstone (OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings) and Deaglán Ó Briain (Principal, Department of Justice - the National Coordination body on Human Trafficking) contributed to the conference. Noeline Blackwell, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commissioner said,
“The trafficking of human beings is a horrific crime with trafficking for sexual exploitation being the most frequent form of trafficking in Ireland. It is a crime that most impacts women and girls, and people from ethnic minorities. “We have a political and moral responsibility to ensure that the new legislation delivers on its potential to defend, protect and support all victims and survivors of human trafficking which is happening in many towns and villages across Ireland.”
Other recommendations in the Report include: On Children:
- A separate child specific NRM is important to recognise the lower threshold for the identification of child victims of trafficking. The child-specific assistance and protection measures would also be grounded in their best interests
- Age assessments are essential for identifying potential child victims. Assessments guarantee them access to the tailored child-specific assistance they are entitled to. They also protect them against further exploitation and harm (for example, avoiding their placement in adult accommodation without a guardian).
On Criminal Exploitation
- A national taskforce to help define the issue, and to support actions at European level;
- An awareness campaign; and
- The development of a systematic data collection across all State Agencies who may encounter victims;
On Labour Exploitation
- We need a standalone offence of forced labour. This is a gap in the current approach towards tackling forced labour in Ireland.
- There are potential benefits to the State opting into relevant EU legislation with a view to tracking the minimum standards in the protection of migrant workers.
On Technology-Facilitated-Sex-Trafficking
- We must take action to tackle the upward trend in technology-facilitated trafficking. We need to raise public awareness of these crimes, with the development of national campaigns targeted at demand, in particular, addressing young men as potential buyers.
On Exploitative Surrogacy
- Recently, the recast EU Anti-Trafficking Directive included exploitative surrogacy as a form of human trafficking exploitation. Relevant legislation was recently passed in Ireland in the form of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act. The Bill as initiated, was supplemented with very significant proposed amendments regulating international surrogacy;
- The Commission is concerned that there has not been sufficient time and regard given to the State’s obligation to prevent and combat exploitative surrogacy as a form of human trafficking; and
- As the legislation has now been passed, we recommend a Review Process be established before the commencement of the provision relating to international surrogacy.
Note for editors:
Read the Third National Anti-Trafficking Report of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission as Ireland’s National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking In reviewing the national efforts over 2023, the Commission worked with many practitioners, State Bodies and organisations across Ireland. This report is survivor-informed and the methodology is grounded in the human rights principle of participation. While this Report is focused on 2023, key developments up to and including May 2024 have been included. Further important pieces of legislation have been enacted in Summer 2024, and we have ensured that the findings of our analysis and recommendations remain valid.