Finland must provide compensation to victims of trafficking, demands Council of Europe

In a new report released today, the Council of Europe Expert Group on Combating Human Trafficking (GRETA) called Finland strengthen the criminal justice response to human trafficking and provide victims with compensation and specialist assistance.

The report reveals a significant increase in the number of identified trafficking victims, from 229 in 2019 to 367 in 2022. Nearly half of the victims were trafficked for economic exploitation, followed by sexual exploitation ( 25%) and forced marriage (21%). %). Half of the identified victims were exploited in other countries before seeking asylum in Finland.

Since the publication of the previous GRETA evaluation report in 2019, Finland has made progress in a number of areas, including legislative changes to the procedure for identifying victims of trafficking and the permanent creation of a coordinator government to combat trafficking. Human trafficking has also been added to the list of offenses for which the Occupational Safety and Health Authority has a duty to notify the police.

However, the new GRETA report highlights several areas where improvements are needed.

GRETA is concerned that proceeds of crime are rarely frozen or seized in human trafficking cases and that victims' access to compensation is not guaranteed in practice. The group of experts therefore urges the Finnish authorities to systematically carry out financial investigations with a view to freezing criminal assets and to review the eligibility criteria for state compensation.

GRETA also notes with concern the low number of prosecutions and convictions in human trafficking cases as well as the excessive length of criminal proceedings. Anti-trafficking experts urge authorities to ensure that human trafficking offenses are proactively and promptly investigated and lead to effective sanctions against those found guilty . The authorities should also allocate sufficient human and financial resources as well as training to the police and prosecutors.

The expert group welcomes measures taken to prevent and combat trafficking for labor exploitation, including strengthening the mandate and resources of labor inspectors, developing a multi-agency cooperation model and the adoption of several legislative amendments. , like the “Berry Law”. Nevertheless, GRETA considers that the authorities should adopt additional measures to protect domestic workers and wildlife harvesters against human trafficking.

GRETA also calls on the Finnish authorities to introduce without further delay a national referral mechanism that promotes a multi-agency approach to victim identification and allows for the sharing of information between different actors.

According to the report, there is a need to take a more proactive approach to identifying child victims of trafficking, paying particular attention to children who run away from institutions, children trafficked for forced crime, to unaccompanied children and children recruited or exploited online.

Finally, GRETA urges the Finnish authorities to ensure that all victims of trafficking, including men, benefit from safe accommodation adapted to their needs.

GRETA and Finland