THE US DEPARTMENT of State has found that Ireland is failing to meet the minimum standards required to combat human trafficking in a report.
The Department, which leads US foreign policy, released its annual Trafficking in Persons Report yesterday, ranked Ireland in the second tier of countries with respect to the State’s efforts to acknowledge and combat trafficking for the second year running.
That Ireland has not convicted any traffickers in the last year was one of the key issues highlighted in the report.
In its findings on the Irish State the Department wrote: “The government did not convict any traffickers – a decrease compared with the prior year – and has never convicted a trafficker for labor trafficking under its anti-trafficking law.”
“Chronic and systemic deficiencies in victim identification, referral, and assistance persisted; and services for victims remained inadequate,” it added.
Today, the Irish non-profit organisation that works with victims, Ruhama, stated that despite a decrease in trafficking convictions, it is seeing an increase in victims coming forward to get help.
While the UK, Spain, and Australia are amongst the countries that the Department found to be upholding standards, Ireland is joined by a host of countries on the tier 2 list including the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, India, and Norway.
Noteworthy, The Journal’s investigative branch, has looked extensively into trafficking in Ireland’s fishing industry through its Hands on Deck investigation, which was cited in the US Department’s report.
The report cited Noteworthy’s coverage last December of “instances of sea fishers paying significant fees to recruitment companies in the Philippines prior to arrival in Ireland, which increases their vulnerability to debt bondage and exploitation”.
It also mentioned key findings by our investigative unit, including that 4% of fishers in a controversial working permission scheme were “exploited in trafficking”.
Brian Killoran, the Chief Executive of the Immigrant Council of Ireland said that this result is disappointing, but not surprising.
He explained that the difficulties and barriers facing victims of trafficking in Ireland remain the same as they were last year.
Killoran added that despite the publication of a draft action plan, and the Government advancing towards draft legislation for a revised referral scheme for trafficking victims aimed at making supports more accessible, “this progress is just too slow”.
“Promises that have been made in relation to supports and adequate services for victims continue to be broken, and the continued use of the broken direct provision system to house victims of trafficking is causing untold harm,” he added.
Ruhama, a non-profit organisation that works with victims has today said that the housing of trafficking victims in Direct Provision centres is putting them at risk of being re-trafficked.
Some progress has been made, however, including increased funding, and the successful identification of multiple children trafficking victims in Ireland.
The US department identified the lack of convictions against traffickers as a key issue.
In 2022, Ireland identified 39 victims of trafficking, less than the 44 identified in 2021. 24 were survivors of sex trafficking, and 15 were trafficked for the purpose of labour exploitation. Four were children.
“We cannot continue to neglect these vulnerable people by failing to implement the policies and systems that could protect them. It’s the duty of the government to take timely action on the report recommendations, so that survivors of human trafficking have the supports and services they need to rebuild their lives,” Killoran said.
Mary Henderson, a solicitor with the Immigrant Council, said that trafficking victims in Ireland are facing barriers that could be removed, including not being able to access SUSI supports for higher education.
Henderson said that this issue has been raised with the Justice Minister Helen McEntee, but nothing has changed.
She added that this is particularly disappointing because the issue was supposed to be addressed when updates were made to Student Support Regulations earlier this year when Simon Harris was acting as Minister for Justice, and also had responsibility for the regulations under his remit as Education Minister.
As a result, victims of human trafficking won’t be able to access these supports come September of this academic year.
The US Department of State has made recommendations to the Irish State on how to improve its efforts to combat trafficking and support victims, these include:
- Appointing a family liaison officer to support trafficking victims who come forward to law enforcement.
- Vigorously investigating and prosecuting suspects and convicting traffickers of both sex and labour trafficking, and seek adequate penalties for traffickers “which should include significant prison terms”.
- Ensure victims are not penalised solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.
- Establish a national hotline to report all forms of trafficking crimes.
- Expand government authorities to ensure the effective regulation and monitoring of agencies that recruit domestic workers and au pairs.
The full Trafficking in Persons Report can be read here.
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