30th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities – 22 to 24 March 2016
Fighting human trafficking: The role of local authorities
“Local and regional elected representatives must become fully involved in combating human trafficking”.
Human trafficking, which in the words of Anders Knape (Sweden, EPP/CCE), President of the Chamber of Local Authorities, has become a “global and rapidly expanding epidemic”, takes many forms, ranging from forced labour and prostitution to the sale of children and organs. While states are taking action to try and put an end to these crimes, local and regional authorities also have a prime role to play, particularly as they have numerous means at their disposal to detect and prevent trafficking in their territories. A debate held on 23 March 2016, in the framewrod of the 30th Congress Session took stock of the methods and resources to be implemented to combat trafficking more effectively.
As pointed out by Nicolas Le Coz, President of the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), several European regions and cities have developed co-ordination structures to combat trafficking, which combine both prevention and victim protection. For example, in Albania there are 12 regional anti-trafficking committees, and nine Bulgarian municipalities have created similar committees at local level. Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany also have local and regional structures combining aid and prevention. These examples should be replicated, particularly as “states cannot act alone”, as Mr Le Coz said. He called on local and regional elected representatives to become “fully involved in combating human trafficking”.
In 2008, the Council of Europe’s Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings entered into force. Mr Le Coz believes this to be the most effective and complete legal instrument currently available. The European Union drew inspiration from this Convention to draft a Directive on the subject and its Committee of Regions also published an opinion on this question in 2013. Jelena Drenjanin, rapporteur on this issue in the Committee of the Regions, said she was shocked at the current increase in human trafficking and in the profits made by traffickers at the expense of migrants. She believed that “local and regional authorities had an important awareness-raising and prevention role to play throughout the Mediterranean region.”
The burden of forced prostitution and the sale of children
Rositsa Yaneva, the Secretary of the local anti-trafficking committee in Burgas (Bulgaria), described the efforts deployed by her city to stem the problem, which particularly concerned sexual exploitation in prostitution networks and the sale of new-born babies. In 2015 alone, 60 cases of forced prostitution and 12 sales of new-born babies had been discovered in Burgas and the surrounding areas. Poverty and ignorance fostered this type of trafficking, to such an extent, as Ms Yaneva explained, that “we have to teach children in our schools that they are not for sale, and that they must not sell their brothers or sisters, even though their parents may at times sell their own children.” Prevention action was carried out in particular in the Roma community, which was very much more affected by such practices because of its extreme poverty.
Administrative instruments for an early identification of human trafficking
Speaking as an advisor in the Public Order and Safety Department, City of Amsterdam, Brian Varma described the administrative instruments that allow his city to identify cases of human trafficking. “We monitor, say, permit applications for construction sites, which are fertile ground for undeclared and forced labour, but also licences to operate bars and restaurants, as well as hotels and dating agencies,” he explained. Local health services are a major source of information because they are often called upon to treat people who have suffered abuse or injuries as a result of being coerced into illegal activities. The city educates its officials about preventing trafficking and is not afraid to shut businesses down if they are found to be involved in questionable practices. Mr Varma believes that combating human trafficking “is not simply a matter for the police and the justice system but is also about working closely with municipalities, which have a key role to play in early detection and providing information.” As pointed out shortly afterwards by Lucia Kroon (Netherlands, EPP/CCE), moreover, “victims are often more inclined to talk to a member of the local police than to an immigration officer.”
Trafficking in human beings or modern-day slavery?
Anthony Steen is head of the UK-based charity the Human Trafficking Foundation which, unusually, works with both parliamentarians and NGOs. Unafraid to use the term “modern-day slavery”, Mr Steen is concerned about the continuing lack of awareness surrounding what he sees as a growing problem, as the poor aspire to a better life and demand for cheap labour and sex increases. According to Mr Steen, trafficking is now the second largest criminal activity in the world, with an annual turnover of $180 billion. Slavery reportedly affects between 10,000 and 13,000 people in the UK alone, and 150,000 in the European Union, he said. While Mr Steen would like to see the creation of a network of local authorities against human trafficking, he points out that the problem is not unique to cities but also frequently occurs in isolated, rural areas. Sometimes it takes lesser known forms, such as forced labour in cannabis farms which, in the UK, employ large numbers of young “slaves” from South East Asia. In the opinion of Mr Steen, and also several Congress members who spoke in the debate, we can no longer turn a blind eye to all these forms of trafficking and slavery.
Lastly, Mary Hegarty (Ireland, EPP//CCE) expressed concern about the fate of the 10,000 unaccompanied minor migrants who have disappeared in Europe since 2014 and who could well become the next victims of trafficking and organised crime. Host countries are building schools and centres for child migrants and refugees but it is a monumental task: “There are 750,000 Syrian refugee children in Turkey,” explained Gaye Doganoglu (Turkey, EPP/CCE), “half of them are attending school and we are continuing our efforts to improve on that figure.”
Speeches
Jelena DRENJANIN, Committee of the Regions Rapporteur on the eradication of trafficking in
Rositsa YANEVA, Secretary of the Local Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human
Beings in Burgas (LCCTHB Burgas)
Anthony STEEN, Chairman of the Human Trafficking Foundation
Interview Media Box
Video of the Debate : English / Original