National initiatives to fight human trafficking

The collaboration between government entities, the private sector, and civil organizations is crucial in order to reach and help the victims of human trafficking.

This was the main message of the Blue Heart Campaign that the United Nations organises every year to raise awareness of this crime. Human trafficking is a serious crime because it deprives victims of their dignity and their fundamental rights and turns their victims into modern slaves.

The symbol of the Blue Heart campaign shows a blue heart, which symbolizes the sadness and pain of the victims of trafficking and the cold heart of those who commit this crime.

The United Nations has encouraged governments, enforcement agencies, public services and civil society to strive and improve their efforts to prevent human trafficking, as well as to identify and give the necessary support to its victims while criminal proceedings are taken against those involved in carrying out human trafficking.

During the past month, national entities from the private sector and from civil society, including trade unions, joined together to strengthen the collaboration in the fight against trafficking. This phenomenon needs cooperation both at the national and international levels because it has become a crime without borders at a time when travel has become easier and facilitated by technology.

Human trafficking is done for various purposes which in the end always include the exploitation of the victims. The most common purposes for human trafficking, among others, are for the purposes of forced labor and of prostitution.

The Human Rights Initiatives Unit has taken part in various activities, including with the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) and with the Foundation for Social Welfare Services. With these initiatives, the cooperation between public institutions continued to be strengthened in order to be able to deal with cases of human trafficking and the risks of modern slavery.

The financial sector plays an important role in the fight against human trafficking because certain financial transactions can lead to the discovery and capture of criminals and people involved in human trafficking. Through the FAST project, the FIAU will have a tool that indicates the possibility of suspicious financial transactions linked to the crime of human trafficking.

The Human Rights Initiatives Unit is fully committed to working hand in hand with other agencies and entities in its mission to strengthen the fight against human trafficking. It does this, among others, with campaigns that raise awareness, with thematic meetings and with training for the officers who are responsible for identifying potential cases of human trafficking.

This work reaches its climax within the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Human Trafficking, which includes representatives of the ministries. This Committee identifies and implements actions in the field of human trafficking.

Experts from the European Council were invited to the third meeting of the Anti-Human Trafficking Inter-Ministerial Committee to discuss the revision of the European Union Directive on the prevention and fight against human trafficking. The Directive inter alia prohibits forced marriages, illegal adoptions, trafficking facilitated by technology and other forms of exploitation.

Malta is in the process of implementing the recommendations of the Group of Experts on the Action against Human Trafficking of the Council of Europe (GRETA). For this purpose, a technical group is being convened on legislative amendments in which legal officers from the Ministry for Home Affairs, Security, Reforms and Equality, from the Ministry of Justice and from the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade.

These initiatives are focused on ensuring that Malta fulfils its obligations in the fight against human trafficking with emphasis on prevention, prosecution of traffickers and assistance to victims.

For more information visit: antitraffickingmalta.gov.mt and https://www.facebook.com/antitraffickingmalta/