On 27 October 2021, Lumos organised the online panel discussion “Time to strengthen the Anti-Trafficking Directive: How can a revised Directive better protect ALL children at risk of trafficking, including those vulnerable to the phenomenon of institution-related trafficking?”.
Lumos’ Senior Advocacy and Campaigns Officer Abigail Munroe presented the findings of Lumos’ Cracks in the System report and Lumos’ Global Thematic Review on the links between institutions and child trafficking globally, which identify four ways in which trafficking is linked with institutions for children (for which we use the umbrella term “institution-related trafficking”):
1.Children are recruited and trafficked into institutions, solely for the purpose of financial profit and other forms of exploitation (this is also referred to as ‘orphanage trafficking’).
2.Children are trafficked from institutions into other forms of exploitation.
3.Child trafficking victims and unaccompanied children are placed in institutions for “protection”, putting them at risk of re-trafficking.
4.Care-leavers are more vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking.
This was followed by a panel debate, exploring how institution-related trafficking can be addressed at the EU level, and how the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive be strengthened. Please find below the recording of the debate, with interventions from:
Parosha Chandran (Professor of Modern Slavery Law, King’s College London)
Juan Fernando López Aguilar (Member of the European Parliament)
María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos (Member of the European Parliament)
Ivanka Kotorova (Vice-Chair of the Eurojust Anti-trafficking Team and National Member for Bulgaria, Eurojust)
Gabriëlle op ‘t Hoog (Consultant, Ecorys)