EU member states slow to respond to assist victims of trafficking

Malta was among three EU member states who reported less than one victim of human trafficking over the 2008-2010 period, a report by the European Commission published today said.

Malta, Hungary and Portugal reported less than 0.2 victims per 100,000 inhabitants over the three reference years. The figure comes against a backdrop of frequent irregular entry by asylum seekers from sub-Saharan Africa and the Horn of Africa, crossing the Mediterranean by boat.

More importantly, the data seems to confirm observations by the United States' Trafficking in Persons report in 2012 that the island did not comply fully with the minimum standards to fight human trafficking, despite the publication of its first national anti-trafficking action plan.

The US government claims Malta "is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking", with victims usually originating in Romania and Russia. And that even African women may have been subjected to sex trafficking in continental Europe.

23,632 people were identified or presumed victims of trafficking in the EU over the 2008-2010 period, the first report on trafficking in human beings in Europe, published by the European Commission, found.

The report also highlights that the number of people being trafficked in and to the EU increased by 18% from 2008 to 2010, but less traffickers end up behind bars, since convictions decreased by 13% over the same period.

Despite this worrying background, to date, only six out of the 27 EU Member States have fully transposed the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive into their national legislation and three countries have only reported partial transposition of the directive, with the deadline having expired on 6 April 2013.

"It is difficult to imagine that in our free and democratic EU countries tens of thousands of human beings can be deprived of their liberty and exploited, traded as commodities for profit. But this is the sad truth and trafficking in human beings is all around us, closer than we think. I am very disappointed to see that, despite these alarming trends, only a few countries have implemented the anti-trafficking legislation and I urge those who have not yet done so to respect their obligations," Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, said.

In Malta, one new trafficking case was registered 2011 after two Maltese and two Romanian nationals were accused. There were three identified victims from Romania who were recruited while they were on holiday in Greece. This case follows previous registered trends experienced in Malta, which is trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation.

Since February 2012 2 cases of human trafficking were encountered. One case involved trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation. It concerned Chinese nationals working in a massage parlour and in a restaurant and resulted in the identification of three victims, 2 males and 1 female. All victims were being employed irregularly and under poor working conditions. The woman was also being asked to provide sexual services to clients. This case was discovered during ad hoc inspection by the Police unit responsible for prostitution and trafficking. The alleged perpetrator is a Chinese national.

The other case was of a Pilipino young woman who was being employed by a foreign family in Malta. The victim communicated with an NGO through her laptop, the social welfare agency was alerted and the victim was helped to flee the house. The victim has a valid passport and visa therefore she can stay in the country. So far, the victim has not yet taken a decision to take the case further to the police and thus report her employers.