Skip to main content
Immigrant Council of Ireland
Get help Donate SearchSearch icon
Search
  • About
  • Get Help
  • Campaigns
  • News
  • Resources
  • Support Us
  • Contact

Who We Are

  • Vision & Mission
  • Meet the Team
  • Board of Directors
  • Work With Us
  • Sign up for our newsletter

What We’ve Done

  • Impact Statement
  • Stories

How We Work 

  • Our Process
  • Partnerships
  • Independent Law Centre
  • Education & Training

Governance

  • Good Practice & Transparency
  • Annual Reports
  • Child Protection Policy

Information Line

  • Call Us
  • Report Racism

Your Rights

  • Know Your Rights
  • Citizenship & Permanency
  • Family Reunification
  • Working in Ireland
  • Domestic Abuse
  • International Students
  • Anti-trafficking
  • Anti-racism

FAQs

  • Top 10 FAQs
  • COVID-19 and immigration FAQs
  • Brexit immigration FAQs

Case Studies

  • Stories
  • Campaigns
  • Be an ally against racism!
  • Anti Racism
  • Gender-Based Violence
  • Refugee Crisis
  • Integration
  • Immigration Reform
  • Ending Human Trafficking
  • Child Migration Matters
  • Publications
  • Newsletter
  • Media Resources
  • Useful Links
  • Privacy Statement
  • Donate
  • Fundraise for us
  • Take Action
  • About

    Who We Are

    • Vision & Mission
    • Meet the Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Work With Us
    • Sign up for our newsletter

    What We’ve Done

    • Impact Statement
    • Stories

    How We Work 

    • Our Process
    • Partnerships
    • Independent Law Centre
    • Education & Training

    Governance

    • Good Practice & Transparency
    • Annual Reports
    • Child Protection Policy
  • Get Help

    Information Line

    • Call Us
    • Report Racism

    Your Rights

    • Know Your Rights
    • Citizenship & Permanency
    • Family Reunification
    • Working in Ireland
    • Domestic Abuse
    • International Students
    • Anti-trafficking
    • Anti-racism

    FAQs

    • Top 10 FAQs
    • COVID-19 and immigration FAQs
    • Brexit immigration FAQs

    Case Studies

    • Stories
  • Campaigns
    • Campaigns
    • Be an ally against racism!
    • Anti Racism
    • Gender-Based Violence
    • Refugee Crisis
    • Integration
    • Immigration Reform
    • Ending Human Trafficking
    • Child Migration Matters
  • News
  • Resources
    • Publications
    • Newsletter
    • Media Resources
    • Useful Links
    • Privacy Statement
  • Support Us
    • Donate
    • Fundraise for us
    • Take Action
  • Contact
Get help Donate
Press release

Major problems with how Ireland treats victims of trafficking identified in annual global report

25 June 2020
Silhouette of woman

The annual 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report, published today by the US Department of State, downgraded Ireland again to the tier 2 watch list. This means while making efforts, the Irish Government is deemed not to meet the minimum standards required in the fight against human trafficking and will continue to be examined closely. This came as no surprise to many front line services assisting victims in Ireland.

Dr Nusha Yonkova, Anti-Trafficking and Gender Expert, Immigrant Council of Ireland, said, “Trafficking for sexual exploitation in Ireland remains pervasive, hidden and widely spread. This trend mirrors the situation in the other European countries and sadly, migrant women and girls are the largest cohort of victims.

“42 victims of trafficking were identified by the Irish Government during 2020, and even the report authors suggest this is a misleadingly low figure. The vast majority were women (38) and the majority of all victims were trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation, which mirrors the common trends over the years. Ireland’s trafficking victims are from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America, and in 2020 authorities and the media reported an increase in suspected victims from Nigeria, Romania, Indonesia, Brazil and Pakistan.

“This year Ireland received its lowest score from the US State Department’s 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report, being downgraded to the Tier 2 watch list. This puts us among the worst three performing countries in Europe when it comes to our approach to the crime of trafficking in human beings.”

Brian Killoran, CEO, Immigrant Council of Ireland, said, “The report identified ‘systematic deficiencies in victim identification, referral and assistance’ and noted the ‘lack specialised accommodation and adequate services for victims’.

“As the Immigrant Council has long identified, the Irish Government’s continued policy of housing of trafficking victims in direct provision is massively problematic for many reasons - not least the utter inappropriateness of accommodating victims of crime within a such a broken housing system. Recognising the trauma trafficked women have endured, they must be housed in gender-sensitive accommodation with access to the full range of support services to which they are entitled. The report points out that despite various high-level recommendations to end the use of direct provision for trafficked persons, such as form the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, ‘officials took no concrete step during the reporting period’.

“The identification is still delegated to An Garda Síochána, which the US TIP Report identifies as problematic. It creates a potential conflict of interest between enforcing migration law on the one hand, and providing protection to often undocumented migrant victims on the other. The report raises the problem with the formal identification as it applies only to undocumented third country nationals, essentially denying formal identification to asylum seekers and EEA nationals.

“In addition we know from the services we provide to victims of trafficking, delays in dealing with applications under the Administrative Immigration Arrangement (the singular policy document for undocumented suspected victims of trafficking) continue and have resulted in victims of trafficking becoming undocumented. This has knock-on impacts for their access to accommodation, social welfare and other state supports.”

Dr Yonkova concluded, “The TIP Report has yet again called on the Irish Government to instate an independent special rapporteur on human trafficking who could take the lead in delivering the much-needed improvements identified in both reports. The Finnish example shows just how effective this position can be to analyse the effectiveness of the investments in protecting the victims and informing future efforts.”

 

ENDS

 

Note to editors

Read more: 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report

 

Contact:

Pippa Woolnough, Communications and Advocacy Manager, Tel: 085 8640682

 

 

Back to News
Share
Immigrant Council of Ireland logo
Donate Take Action
Follow Us Twitter logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Facebook logo
Contact Immigrant Council of Ireland Contact Immigrant Council of Ireland Contact
Newsletter

About

Who We Are

  • Vision & Mission
  • Meet the Team
  • Board of Directors
  • Work With Us

What We've Done

  • Impact Statement
  • Stories

How We Work

  • Our Process
  • Working in Partnership
  • Independent Law Centre
  • Education & Training

Governance

  • Good Practice & Transparency
  • Annual Reports

Get Help

  • Immigration Helpline
  • Call Us
  • Report Racism

Your rights

  • Know Your Rights
  • Citizenship and Permanency
  • Family Reunification
  • Working in Ireland
  • Domestic Abuse
  • International Students
  • Anti-trafficking
  • Re-entry visas abolished
  • Anti-racism
  • Introduction of Preclearance

FAQs

  • Top 10 FAQs

 

Case Studies 

  • Stories

Campaigns

  • Campaigns

News

  • Latest news

Resources

  • Publications
  • Media Resources
  • Useful Links

Support Us

  • Donate
  • Fundraise
  • Working in Partnership
Made by Piquant
Copyright © 2021 - Immigrant Council of Ireland - Registered Charity Number 20061982 - Privacy statement