The Irish Government has consistently failed in its international duty to curtail the practice of human trafficking in Ireland, according to a report from the US Department of State.
Ireland has been placed on the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report’s “watch-list” for the second year in a row, for failing to demonstrate effective actions to eliminate human trafficking.
It is one of just two European Union countries on the list, alongside Romania.
The report outlined that 38 people were identified as victims of trafficking in Ireland in 2021, the majority of which were migrant women and trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
Chief executive of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Brian Killoran, said: “Ireland’s protection of victims of human trafficking is an issue we have been raising with successive Government for many years, and it will continue to be a key priority topic for us, until the State starts to effectively tackle this country’s human trafficking problem.
“While we recognise that increased impetus has been placed on this issue by the Department of Justice, to date minimal progress has been made by the Government in carrying out previous recommendations from the TIP report, and that is evident from the repeated criticisms.
“Areas such as victim identification, referral and assistance and the lack specialised accommodation and adequate services for victims continue to be major problems.”
Government response
In response to the report, the Department of Justice said it was “disappointed” that the US State Department “did not acknowledge as sufficient the significant progress that has been made to upgrade Ireland’s ranking.”
Minister of State for Criminal and Civil Justice, Hildegarde Naughton, said: “I appreciate the lead the US takes in producing this report but am disappointed that recent and significant progress we have made, along with work to create a more victim-centred approach to identifying and supporting victims, and our work to raise awareness and provide training, has not merited an upgrade in our ranking.
“The assessment made in relation to the fishing industry in the 2019 TiPs report and reflected again in the 2020 report is particularly concerning: all accusations of human trafficking are fully investigated by An Garda Síochána and decisions on prosecution are made by the DPP who is independent of Government.”
Ms Naughton said "no evidence" had been found to support allegations of widespread human trafficking in the fishing industry.
'Fully committed'
The Department of Justice said Ireland was “fully committed to combatting this horrific crime” and noted a number of areas identified in the report where “ongoing work” is progressing.
It said these included the recent approval by Government to revise the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to make it easier for victims of human trafficking to come forward, the drafting of a new National Action Plan on Human Trafficking, and work being undertaken to provide dedicated accommodation for female victims of sexual exploitation.
The Department also said that the report was drafted at a time when there were no convictions for human trafficking in Ireland, and highlighted the first convictions for human trafficking under Irish law which were handed down in Mullingar last month.
