In a new report published today, the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) assesses developments since the publication of GRETA’s first evaluation report on Ukraine in 2014, as regards the implementation of the Council of Europe’s Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.
The positive steps taken by Ukraine since the first evaluation report include further developing the legal and institutional framework for combating human trafficking, setting up of specialised police units, and designating specialised prosecutors to investigate human trafficking cases, which has led to a to a threefold increase in investigations initiated into criminal offences relating to THB between 2016 and 2017. Efforts to raise awareness and provide training to relevant professionals, including on identifying victims of human trafficking, have resulted in an increased number of persons granted the status of victims. Another positive development is the increase of the number of victims of trafficking who have received a one-time financial grant.
However, GRETA notes that some issues continue to give rise to concern. GRETA urges the Ukrainian authorities to step up efforts to prevent trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, in particular by recruiting and training a sufficient number of labour inspectors, strengthening the supervision of recruitment agencies and reviewing the legislative framework for any loopholes that may limit protection.
More should be done to prevent trafficking in children, in particular children in institutional care, in street situations, “social orphans”, and children in Roma communities, as well as unaccompanied and separated migrant children. GRETA also remains concerned by the increased vulnerability to trafficking among the internally displaced persons from Crimea and from the Eastern Ukrainian regions affected by the on-going armed conflict.
In addition, GRETA urges the Ukrainian authorities to define in law the recovery and reflection period provided for in Article 13 of the Convention, to adopt measures to ensure that a legal person can be held liable for trafficking offences, and to ensure compliance with the non-punishment provision, according to which victims of trafficking should not be punished for their involvement in unlawful activities, to the extent that they were compelled to do so.
Ukraine remains primarily a country of origin of victims of trafficking of human beings, exploited both abroad and within the country. In the period 2014-2017, a total of 418 victims of trafficking were identified by the Ministry of Social Policy, including 209 men, 169 women and 40 children. Most of the victims were trafficked for the purpose of labour exploitation (256), followed by sexual exploitation (87) and exploitation of begging (42). Further, 17 victims trafficked for the purpose of forced criminality were identified in 2017, as well as six victims of trafficking for the purpose of the removal of organs. All of the identified victims were Ukrainian nationals. The main countries of destination of Ukrainian trafficking victims were the Russian Federation, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine, Germany, Israel, Greece and the United Arab Emirates.
