Referring to the new report, the Director of FRA, Morten Kjaerum said: “Human trafficking is part of the modern slave trade. Every year, a significant number of children in the EU fall victim to trafficking for sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, adoption and organ extraction. These are alarming signals. We must make every possible effort to protect and support these children.”
The Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) contributed to the Danish section of the report, which is entitled ‘The role of the European Union in the fight against child trafficking' and its findings are also relevant to the Danish experience.
Nanna Margrethe Kruså from DIHR, who is a lawyer specializing in human rights and trafficking, welcomed its release: “Overall, the report stated that the child's best interests should be better respected, protected and promoted throughout the EU. The report also points out that it is a serious problem that so few cases of child trafficking make it to court. It shows that we are not catching the people behind the trafficking,” she said.
The Agency makes a number of recommendations in the report as to how child trafficking can be eliminated at European level. For instance, it recommends that greater discretion should be used when judging the ages of victims of trafficking as the identification of victims is crucial to prosecuting traffickers.
The Agency also points to the need to create immunity for minors who are victims of the trade. In some member states of the EU, victims of child trafficking face detention for border offences and other illegal acts such as prostitution. The FRA recommends that EU legislation should ensure minimum standards for a policy of non-punishment of victims of child trafficking. This would also help increase their trust in state bodies, while no longer leaving victims dependent on their traffickers.
Nanna Margrethe Kruså agrees with the recommendations. She is particularly keen on the recommendation to ensure immunity from prosecution for victims of trafficking and believes this should include adult victims as well as children.
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