Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

Implementing a human-rights approach

The fight against trafficking in human beings is high on the agenda of policy makers throughout the OSCE region. In practice, however, the protection and promotion of the rights of trafficked persons is often placed below concerns about immigration control and law enforcement. Trafficking differs from illegal immigration or from smuggling of persons in that it need not involve the crossing of an international border, may affect those migrating legally for work and, crucially, is perpetrated for the purposes of exploitation. Trafficked persons are victims of serious human rights violations.

More efforts are needed to ensure that states recognize that protection of the rights of trafficking persons should be the first priority of all anti-trafficking measures. The development of  multi-agency anti-trafficking structures ("National Referral Mechanisms") can provide an effective way of ensuring that the rights of trafficked persons remain central to anti-trafficking policy and practice.

National Referral Mechanisms

National Referral Mechanisms can also counter the development of overly 'repressive' strategies, focused on combating crime to the exclusion of respecting the rights of trafficked persons. These approaches risk alienating trafficked persons and may undermine prosecution of the perpetrators of trafficking. The promotion of close working relationships with civil society is also good practice in democratic institution building and the development of national referral mechanisms on anti-trafficking may pave the way for closer collaboration between civil society and authorities on other issues.

Identifying trafficked persons

Trafficked persons still elude identification; instead, they are often deported as "illegal migrants without access to protection, assistance, justice, or compensation in the countries in which they are exploited. Persons trafficked for labour exploitation, alongside other groups such as Roma, are often not integrated into anti-trafficking initiatives. Current identification and assistance strategies need to be examined and improved.

Prosecuting traffickers and protecting trafficked persons

Criminal investigations and the prosecution of perpetrators are rarely successful without statements from trafficked persons. Although most OSCE participating States have adopted anti-trafficking legislation in keeping with their commitments under the Palermo Protocol, many trafficked persons do not seek justice for violations of their human rights.

In many states, they do not benefit from legal representation or witness protection and can be detained and returned to countries where their safety is jeopardized. Many trafficked persons are themselves prosecuted for irregular entry into other countries, possession of fraudulent documents, conducting illegal activities, or working without authority. All these factors contribute to undermining action to encourage the claiming and implementation of trafficked persons' rights, and they need to be tackled.