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 Belgium from 12 to 16 December 2016. The visit provided an opportunity to assess developments in the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings since the first evaluation by GRETA in 2013 (link to GRETA’s first report on Belgium).
During the visit, the GRETA delegation met members of the Inter-departmental Co-ordination Unit for Action against Trafficking in and Smuggling of Human Beings and representatives of the Belgian Federal Migration Centre (MYRIA), an independent National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking. Discussions were also held with officials from the Office of the State Secretary for the Prevention of Social Security Fraud (attached to the Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health), the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Federal Ministry of the Interior, including federal police specialised on combating human trafficking, the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, the Federal Agency for the reception of asylum seekers (Fedasil), the Board of Prosecutors General and the federal prosecution, including prosecutors specialised in trafficking cases, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Financial Intelligence Processing Unit (CTIF) and the Guardianship Service. The GRETA delegation also met Mr Philippe Goffin, Chair of the Justice Committee of the Chamber of Representatives (Parliament).
Meetings with relevant stakeholders were also held at regional and community levels. In the Flemish Region the GRETA delegation met representatives of local police, social inspection, and the Antwerp municipality. In the Walloon Region meetings were held with representatives of the local police of Liege, social inspection, and public centre for social action, as well as representatives of the German-speaking Community. The GRETA delegation also met Mr Bruno Vanobbergen, Children’s Rights Commissioner for the Flemish Region, and Mr Bernard De Vos, General Delegate for Children’s Rights of the French Community.
Separate meetings were held with representatives of non-governmental organisations, the local office of the International Organization for Migration, and a lawyer specialised on assisting victims of trafficking.
In the course of the visit, the GRETA delegation visited a specialised accommodation centre for child victims of trafficking run by the NGO Esperanto, and two specialised shelters for adult victims of trafficking, run by NGO Surya (in Liege) and NGO Pag-Asa (in Brussels). In addition, the delegation visited a reception centre for asylum seekers in Brussels, operated by Fedasil.
The visit was carried out by Mr Nicolas le Coz, President of GRETA and Ms Vessela Banova, member of GRETA, who were accompanied by Mr David Dolidze of the Secretariat of the Convention.
Following the visit, GRETA will prepare a draft report which will be sent to the Belgian authorities for comments. GRETA will subsequently adopt a final report which will be made public in 2017.
