Ireland failing to combat human trafficking, report claims

Katie Mellett

Ireland is failing to meet the minimum standards to combat human trafficking, according to a new report from the US Department of State.

The annual Trafficking in Persons Report, published on Thursday, ranks governments across the world on their perceived efforts to acknowledge and combat human trafficking.

Ireland was ranked in tier two, which consists of countries that do not fully comply with the minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance.

Ireland's recent efforts to combat human trafficking includes increasing funding for victim care and awareness raising efforts. The Government also terminated the Atypical Working Scheme for non-European Economic Area (EEA) sea fishers, which inadvertently increased worker vulnerabilities to trafficking.

However, the report states the Government did not meet the minimum standards in several areas, including a failure to convict any traffickers. There were also deficiencies in victim identification, referral, and assistance, and services for victims remained inadequate, the report states.

Disappointing

Brian Killoran, chief executive of the Immigrant Council, said: “While not surprising, it is disappointing to see that Ireland has not made any great strides over the past year in combating human trafficking.

“Despite the publication of a draft National Action Plan on human trafficking, and the government advancing towards draft legislation for a revised National Referral Mechanism for victims of human trafficking, we are very concerned that this progress is just too slow," he said.

In 2022, Ireland identified 39 victims of trafficking, less than the 44 identified in 2021. Of this group, 24 were survivors of sex trafficking, and 15 were trafficked for the purpose of labour exploitation. Four of those identified were children. In 2020, 38 victims were identified, 42 in 2019 and less than 64 in 2018 and 103 in 2017.

"This shows a long-term decreasing trend. Out of the identified victims, all but two were foreign nationals. Foreign trafficking victims identified in Ireland are from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America. In recent years, authorities and media have reported an increase in suspected victims from Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Romania. Since 2022, refugees from Ukraine, predominantly women and children are vulnerable to trafficking," said Mr Killoran.

"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."