OSCE Secretary General and Europol Director discuss need to address threat of trafficking children migrants

Vienna, 4 February 2016 – OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier today discussed trafficking of human beings with Director of Europol Rob Wainwright.  The conversation focused in particular on the plight of minors who are the most vulnerable group within the migrant and refugee population.

A recent Europol report estimated at least 10,000 unaccompanied child refugees had disappeared since their arrival on the continent, with many believed to have fallen into the hands of trafficking syndicates.

Zannier stressed that in the current migration and refugee crisis, it is essential to reconcile approaches that safeguard both state and human security along migration routes.

“Protection and security are not mutually exclusive”, said the Secretary General. “On the contrary, criminal law enforcement against traffickers must go hand in hand with the protection of trafficked persons. Protection of the human rights and dignity of all migrants is an essential component of good migration governance.”

The OSCE Secretary General and the Director of Europol agreed on the need to intensify international cooperation in order to prevent more children falling prey to human trafficking networks.  For its part, the OSCE, which has a long-standing experience in combatting trafficking in human beings, is ready to play an active role to help address this challenge.  
 

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Note to editors

The OSCE established a Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (OSR) in 2003.  OSR has carried out significant work at both the policy and programmatic levels to assist participating States in implementing their political commitments in this field.

In 2015, it convened the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons conference, with a specific focus on human trafficking along migration routes (included panel on reducing unaccompanied minors’ vulnerability to human trafficking). The event served as a privileged forum for exchanging best practices and improving co-ordination of efforts among national and international stakeholders.

The OSR has also been involved in projects having an impact at the grass-roots level, including supporting the social and professional integration of children without parental care in Moldova, and on searching and protecting unaccompanied minors on the move in the Schengen area.

The Special Representative has taken the lead in anti-trafficking work in crisis situations in the OSCE region, working closely with the Ukrainian government and the OSCE missions to create joint initiatives to strengthen the capacity of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine to report on alleged incidents and spot human trafficking trends.

The OSCE Special Representative recommends in particular that OSCE participating States take the following measures:

• Implement targeted awareness raising campaigns to prevent child trafficking in countries of origin, transit and destination
• Promote timely and pro-active identification of potential child victims along migratory trails and prosecution of traffickers
• Ensure the protection of children’s rights -- taking into consideration the best interests of the child.
• Provide unconditional access to education and health care for vulnerable children
• Provide Special rehabilitation programmes and psychological assistance for child victims.

In 2016-2017, OSR will conduct, in cooperation with Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units in Vicenza, Italy, an innovative simulation-based learning exercise for approximately 200 practitioners, who will engage in real-time scenarios to identify and investigate human trafficking along migratory trails.  The OSR will also develop policy guidance on how to prevent the exploitation of adults and children in global supply chains.

OSR will continue to foster political dialogue through events such as the 2016 Alliance conference, which will focus on trafficking for forced criminality, as well as to raise awareness through strategic visits to refugee/displaced persons’ “hotspots” in Lampedusa[1] and Eastern Ukraine.

[1] Lampedusa is one the major identification and first reception centres for migrants and refuges in the Mediterranean region.