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 3 to 7 November 2025 as part of the fourth evaluation round of the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.
This new evaluation round of monitoring the implementation of the Convention focuses on vulnerabilities to human trafficking and measures taken by States Parties to prevent them, detect and support vulnerable victims, and punish the offenders. This includes a focus on the use of information and communication technology (ICT), which brings structural changes to the way offenders operate and exacerbates existing vulnerabilities.
Prior to the visit, the Belgian authorities provided a reply to GRETA's questionnaire for the fourth evaluation round. In addition to the new thematic focus, GRETA examined how the main recommendations made in its third evaluation report on Belgium have been implemented.
During the visit, the GRETA delegation met with representatives of the federal authorities, in particular the Federal Public Service (FPS) Justice, the FPS Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue, and the FPS Foreign Affairs, as well as the National Social Security Office (ONSS), the Federal Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (FEDASIL), the Immigration Office, the Guardianship Service, the Federal Police, the College of Public Prosecutors and the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Commission for Financial Assistance to Victims of Intentional Acts of Violence. The GRETA delegation also met with members of the Justice Committee of the Belgian Federal Parliament. In addition, the delegation held talks with representatives of all the federated entities: the French Community (Wallonia-Brussels Federation), the German-speaking Community, the Flemish Community and Region (Flanders), the Walloon Region and the Brussels Region.
The GRETA delegation held separate meetings with representatives of the Federal Migration Centre (Myria), which acts as the independent national rapporteur on human trafficking, and the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRA). It also met with Mr. Soulayman Laqdim, General Delegate for Children's Rights in the French Community, and Ms. Caroline Vrijens, Children's Rights Commissioner in Flanders (Kinderrechtencommissaris).
Separate meetings were also held with representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), lawyers and representatives of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
During the visit, the delegation travelled to Ghent, where it met with investigators, labour inspectors and magistrates specialising in human trafficking cases, and visited a reception centre for asylum seekers. It also visited a secure centre for the reception of child victims of trafficking in Flanders, run by an NGO.
The visit was carried out by Mr Thomas Ahlstrand and Ms Ulrike Haberl-Schwarz, members of GRETA, who were accompanied by Ms Parvine Ghadami from 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 its final report, which is expected to be published in autumn 2026.
