Commission plays down trafficking as a non-important issue

by Agnieszka Sobień

European Union is considered as a major player and supporter of the human rights, perhaps second only to the United Nations and the Council of Europe. Thus, human rights were also heavily emphasized in the Commission’s vague proposal presented during yesterday’s Town Hall meeting. 

Nevertheless, the issue of human trafficking was not mentioned in that proposal and it seemed as if the Commission forgot about it or weren't willing to seriously talk about this particular problem. Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, tried not to lose face, but her statement on the issue was far from convincing to those, such as La Strada, concerned of the treatment of trafficking victims: "At this point, the issue of trafficking is addressed to a lesser extent only due to the fact that the overwhelming majority of irregular migration is comprised by people crossing the borders voluntarily, seeking asylum or immigration due to economic reasons." This rejection is all the more noteworthy due to the fact that even the Commission’s own expert on the area remarked upon the lack of focus on this problem. This, however, did not seem to bother the Commission that much or at least "not at this point". One must ask oneself if the EU expert was expressing her own opinions or opinions of some of the member states. Should we expect some disclaimer from the Commission today or was it just a way of sounding out the negotiations and a trial to catch some countries attention to the issue?

f one looks into the details of today's press conference, it may turn out that EU is not as focused on humanitarian issues as a quick scan of their proposal would indicate. When questioned about primary education for children in refugee camps, Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström’s  answer actually did not shed any light on the issue. It does not sit well with EU’s support for the UN Millennium Development Goals when the Commission does not include such an important issue in their proposal. However, vague responses and lack of specific plans characterized most of the answers as well as the proposal itself. 

An organization deeply worried about the current proposal draft is La Strada International. They are trying to influence the Commission in order to include the trafficking problem into the debate and agenda which is leading up to the finalization of a common EU migration policy. As International Coordinator Suzanne Hoff puts it, "The Commission seems to be a bit reluctant to state an opinion on it [trafficking]. If you don’t specifically include trafficking, they [trafficking victims] would just be treated as undocumented migrants and maybe criminalized if the Dublin II Agreement’s detention for 18 month, which remains in effect."