Council of Europe

GRETA report published for the UK: concern for children

13.09.12 - The Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) has published its first evaluation report on the United Kingdom. An excerpt of the report reads:

“… significant numbers of children – including potential and confirmed victims of trafficking – currently go missing from local authority care in the UK. Steps should to be taken to address this, including by assigning a legal guardian to all unaccompanied children who are potentially victims of trafficking. Otherwise there is a risk that some child victims will simply end up back in the hands of the traffickers."

The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings is a comprehensive treaty focussing mainly on the protection of victims of trafficking and the safeguard of their rights. It also aims to prevent trafficking and to prosecute traffickers. In addition, the Convention provides for the setting up of an effective and independent monitoring mechanism (GRETA) capable of controlling the implementation of the obligations contained in the Convention.

Full information on the first UK report by GRETA can be found here: http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/trafficking/Docs/Evaluation_Reports/default_en.asp