European Parliament Seminar on Combating and Preventing Trafficking in Human Beings – the way forward. NGO Statement and Recommendations

This statement was made by the NGOs Strada International, Save the Children, ECPAT, Terre des Hommes, Amnesty International and Churches Commission for Migrants, on the occasion of the European Parliament Seminar on Combating and Preventing Trafficking in June 2010. In this statement the NGOs welcome the ongoing discussion on the Commission’s proposal for a Directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, and protecting victims. In particular they welcome the objective of the proposed Directive of improving the protection and assistance to trafficked persons, in recognition that this is “an obligation under human rights standards”. A number of recommendations for improvements of the Directive are given, which in their opinion are critical to the development of an effective and rights based response to trafficking at EU level.