The Reinforcing Assistance to Child Victims of Trafficking (ReACT) project has published a report ‘Better Support, Better Protection’ – Steps Lawyers and Guardians can take to better protect trafficked children’. This report examines the extent to which children who may have been involved in trafficking, were identified and protected in five EU states. The report highlights the fact that lawyers and others working with children do not always have the requisite training to identify those who may be subject to trafficking.
Details
The report’s findings, gathered from research carried out in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK highlight among other observations:
- Lawyers and others working with children do not always have the requisite training to identify those who may be subject to trafficking [Page 9, paragraph 1];
- While multi-agency national referral systems assist in the gathering of data on child trafficking, only the Netherlands and the UK actually collect the data with a view to analysing it, and improving their understanding of child trafficking [Page 9, paragraphs 3 and 4];
- Most states are not implementing the presumption of childhood which arises from the Anti-Trafficking Directive and Convention [Page 10, paragraph 10]. The presumption of childhood dictates that where the age of a child is uncertain and there are sufficient reasons to believe that the person may be a child, then that person should be presumed to be a child and so be entitled to immediate support, help and protection.
- Concerns surrounding the immigration-status of trafficked children [Chapter X];
In view of these findings, the report makes a number of practical recommendations to ensure that the best interests of children who have been trafficked or are the risk of trafficking, are met.
- Guardians and lawyers have to be trained about child trafficking in general so they can understand the risks that arise [Page 17, paragraph 3] and also to ensure that the police and prosecution services implement the Anti-Trafficking Directive and Convention sufficiently [Page 30, paragraph 2];
- All lawyers should be aware of the need to ensure there are special measures in court to protect trafficked children against duress and re-traumatisation [Page 26, paragraph 2];
- States should establish multi-agency national identification mechanisms [Page 12, paragraph 1];
- States should devise procedures to collect, record and share data on the age, gender and nationality of trafficked children, together with the type of exploitation they were subjected to. This data should extend beyond unaccompanied migrant children who agree to cooperate with a criminal investigation or prosecution [Page 12, paragraphs 2 and 3];
- All states should apply the presumption of childhood which is contained in the Anti-Trafficking Directive and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings [Page 20, paragraph 1]
- The immediate welfare of children who may have been trafficked is to be given priority as soon as they are identified. Such children must not be placed in an emergency or general reception centre [Page 17, paragraph 1]
Commentary
The Report recognises the surge in the number of children who have sought safety and support in Europe, particularly following events such as the conflict in the Middle East and how children who become segregated from their families in such circumstances are at greater risk of child trafficking. While the report acknowledges the exemplary practices adopted by the UK in seeking to comply with the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive and the Anti-Trafficking Convention, it offers a substantive overview of the areas all states need to focus to better protect the interests of such children.