“Proactive preliminary identification of human trafficking victims for the purpose of labour exploitation by labour inspectors permits their timely formal identification and provision of assistance and support that victims are entitled to”, concluded the on-line round table on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings for the purpose of labour exploitation, organised in partnership with the State Labour Inspectorate on 20 May 2021.

Seventy-four participants from the State Labour Inspectorate, the National Anti-trafficking Commission, the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other stakeholder from different regions in North Macedonia discussed the assessment of the training needs and challenges that labour inspectors are facing regarding identification and referral of potential victims of human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, including its gender perspective.

The assessment of the training needs and challenges regarding proactive detection, identification and referral of human trafficking victims for labour exploitation, including the gender perspective, was based on answers to a questionnaire conducted this April with the labour inspectors in the North Macedonia. According to this assessment, 70% of the respondents considered human trafficking for labour exploitation as a serious problem in the country, however 63% considered that there was no need to change the legislation to give a clear mandate to labour inspectors regarding human trafficking for labour exploitation, while only 14% of the respondents have identified and referred potential victim of human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation. The gender analysis of the responses to the questionnaire reveled that most of the respondents neither possessed knowledge nor were trained on gender perspective of human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation.

To increase the understanding about the European view on proactive identification and assistance process, Mr Stefan Ralchev, international expert from the Centre for Study of Democracy presented relevant European standards and best practices in this regard, including a comparative example of the Bulgarian labour inspectorate.

Some of the key expert recommendations include:

• public debates about the need to amend the legislation to provide a clear legal basis for the labour inspectors to identify and refer potential victims of trafficking for labour exploitation,
• prioritisation of sectors prone to human trafficking for labour exploitation,
• awareness raising campaigns,
• continuous education for labour inspectors on this topic,
• increased interinstitutional cooperation and collaboration with EU counterparts, as well as
• trainings on gender perspective for labour inspectors.

Attending labour inspectors shared their views about the need for setting-up a specialised unit dedicated to human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, usefulness of a check list for labour inspectors and possible amendments to the relevant legislation as to the identification and referral of potential trafficking victims for the purpose of labour exploitation.

This event was supported by the action ““Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in North Macedonia” implemented under the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme „Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019 – 2022”.