A delegation of the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) carried out an evaluation visit to Sweden from 8 to 12 May 2017. The visit provided an opportunity to assess progress in the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings since the first evaluation visit by GRETA in 2012.
During the visit, the GRETA delegation met representatives of the County Administrative Board of Stockholm, which acts as Sweden’s co-ordinating body of action against human trafficking. It also met Mr Per-Anders Sunesson, ambassador-at-large for combating trafficking in human beings, and officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Employment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Police Authority, the Prosecution Authority, the Migration Agency, the National Board of Health and Welfare, the National Board of Institutional Care, the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority, the National Agency for Education, the Work Environment Agency, and the Swedish International Development Agency.
Discussions were also held with members of the Swedish Parliament’s Committee on Justice and the Committee on the Labour Market, as well as with representatives of the office of the Children’s Ombudsman.
Separate meetings were held with representatives of non-governmental organisations, lawyers and researchers. The GRETA delegation also met an official from the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS).
In addition to holding meetings in Stockholm, the delegation travelled to Malmö where it met the newly established specialised anti-trafficking police unit and the Migration Agency’s local asylum applications unit.
In the course of the visit, the delegation visited a shelter for female victims of prostitution and trafficking in Stockholm, as well as a residential care home for unaccompanied children in Malmö.
The visit was carried out by Ms Siobhán Mullally, President of GRETA, and Mr Rudolf Christoffersen, member of GRETA, who were accompanied by Mr Mats Lindberg of the Secretariat of the Convention.
Following the visit, GRETA will prepare a draft report, which will be sent to the Swedish authorities for comments. GRETA will subsequently adopt a final report to be published in 2018.
