In March 2023 we, and eleven other child rights and disability rights NGOs and networks, suggested amendments to the revised EU Anti-Trafficking Directive. The directive focuses on strengthening measures to protect children without parental care from trafficking. Relevant European Parliament Committees voted on the directive on 5 October, and as a direct result of our active engagement, most of our amendments appear in the European Parliament’s position.

The link between trafficking and child institutionalisation  

Children in institutions are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. The Parliament’s report identifies the exploitation of children in, and from, institutions as a specific type of trafficking. It imposes an increased penalty on perpetrators if the crime of trafficking is committed against children from institutions. Member States must also ensure that child protection systems, including residential institutions, develop specific plans to prevent child trafficking.

Protecting children without parental care from trafficking 

The directive places a strong emphasis on protecting children throughout identification, reporting, referral, investigation and recovery processes. Law enforcement authorities and other professionals should adopt an intersectional approach when supporting victims. To ensure this, Member States must provide training on interacting with victims in a gender, disability and child-sensitive way. They must involve civil society organisations in the early detection and identification of victims. And they must ensure when recovering child victims they do not deprive them of their liberty. The Parliament also recognises the importance of providing support to

• the children of victims,
• children who have witnessed trafficking, and
• children who have been deprived of parental care as a result of trafficking.   

Comprehensive measures to prevent trafficking  

The European Parliament’s position introduces strong measures to prevent trafficking. Member States must now conduct awareness campaigns to address stereotypes that contribute to trafficking, and undertake in-depth qualitative research to examine the root causes, prevalence, and impact of child trafficking. To ensure a coordinated effort, states must also integrate anti-trafficking measures into emergency response plans. Moreover, they must represent children deprived of parental care in data collection mechanisms. Programmes to support children’s transition to adulthood are also included in the preventive measures.  

Next steps 

Parliament will now enter tri-lateral negotiations with the European Commission and the Council of the European Union to agree on the final text of the Directive. EU directives are legal instruments that provide common rules for all EU Member states, with each country required to incorporate them into their national laws. Therefore, the incorporation of our amendments in the final text significantly strengthens the measures to tackle child trafficking throughout the EU. We are committed to ensuring that all parties preserve our amendments during this crucial negotiation phase.

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The post There is always hope: Preventing a human trafficking catastrophe appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.

Like so many children from Humla, Tika had been taken from his family by traffickers. For a high fee, they promised his parents that he would be well cared for and educated in an institution in the city. Instead, he was taken to an orphanage where he survived alone for two years. He was neglected, abused and exploited to elicit donations from tourists. 

When the Covid-19 emergency began, the owners of the orphanage shut up shop. The children whose families lived nearby were sent straight home, with no planning or preparation. But Tika and two other little boys whose families lived hundreds of miles away over the mountains, were virtually abandoned and left to fend for themselves for weeks. 

Tika survived alone for two years, neglected, abused and exploited to elicit donations from tourists. 

When the Nepali child protection authorities discovered what had happened, they asked our local partners, the NGOs, Forget me Not and The Himalayan Innovative Society (THIS), to care for the children at their transit home and help reintegrate them with their families. Over the summer, their skilled family tracers, managed to find and contact the children’s parents and prepare everyone to be reunited. 

On the morning of October 2020, Tika and three other children –  Prani, Deepa and Sonika – began their journey home.

They were introduced to a dedicated social worker called Tenzin Lama. With long experience of reuniting children from orphanages with their families, he had come to accompany the children to the airport.  “They were all smiling with nervousness and excitement”, Tenzin told us. “On the way, I answered their questions and talked to them about what to expect when they arrived, how living in a family is different to living in an orphanage”. 

At the airport, once the necessary Covid checks had been made, Tenzin entrusted the children to his fellow Reintegration Officer, Mangal Lama, who guided and reassured them through their hour-long flight through the mountains, to Simikot, 3,000 feet above sea level and the main town in Humla district.   

“On the way, I answered their questions and talked to them about what to expect when they arrived, how living in a family is different to living in an orphanage”. 

Tenzin Lama, social worker

At 7.40am, they landed safely back home. The children were met by Prabhujan Shahi, another member of the reintegration team. A few days before, he had contacted the children’s parents and confirmed their journey plan, giving them time to travel from their villages, to be there when their children landed. Local officials were also on hand, to ensure that all proper procedures were followed and guardianship of the children was legally restored to their families.

Finally, once all the paperwork and checks had been completed, the social workers and the officials stepped back and allowed Tika, Prani, Deepa and Sonika to be alone with their families for a short time, before making the final arrangements for them to return home to their villages.  

“We could see the happiness and love in the faces of the parents and their children. They had been so worried about their children before, but now they were so happy to be reunited with them again.”  

Prabhujan Shahi, FMN Reintegration team member

Today, Tika, Prani, Deepa and Sonika are all safely back at home with their families. Prabhujan and his colleagues keep in contact by phone. They also make regular visits to see the children in person, walking for days to reach their villages and ensure they remain safe and happy where they belong, with their parents and their siblings to love them. 

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