Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I am delighted to be here this morning, at this Joint North/South forum on human trafficking. I would like to thank Minister Ford for his hospitality and his staff and indeed, the staff of my Department for their work on the organisation of this event. Today gives us all a great opportunity to strengthen communication and cooperation across the border to tackle this heinous crime.
Trafficking in human beings is an appalling crime, a serious abuse of human rights and an affront to the dignity of the human person. It should never be tolerated. We must use all the tools and resources at our disposal to prevent and combat human trafficking, prosecute the perpetrators and protect its victims.
I am particularly pleased at the breadth of representation here today. That we have such a broad range of actors from civil society and state organisations involved in this work is crucial. None of us working alone can solve this problem. Working together in partnership is key to making progress; no one group has all the answers, so working together gives us the best chance of developing a comprehensive response. I am also delighted that we have attendance here from organisations from the United States and Norway. I want also to welcome Professor Siobhán Mullaly to the event today and thank her for agreeing to speak and facilitate this morning’s session. You will be aware that she was elected earlier this year to the Council of Europe Group of Expert on Human Trafficking and I want to take the opportunity to congratulate her in person on her election.
Much has been done in Ireland – both North and South - in the past few years in the area of preventing and combating human trafficking. But of course, we cannot rest on our laurels; there is always more that can be done. Events such as today allow us to take stock of what we have achieved to date and to consider new methods of tackling this issue. Particularly in the area of locating and identifying victims and in demand reduction – the themes of today’s forum.
As most of you will be aware, we have had the benefit of two recent country visits from international organisations with competence in the field of human trafficking. The OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking visited Ireland in early 2012 and the Report of her visit was published in March 2013. We also had the benefit during 2012 of a country visit from the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA). GRETA carried out a week long country visit in November 2012 and the final report from GRETA was released last month. Both of these reports acknowledged Ireland's dynamic anti-trafficking policy and the development of good practices based on a human rights approach and good governance. They also complimented Ireland's comprehensive institutional system, coordination mechanism and consultation and cooperation with Non-Governmental Organisations and International Organisations.
While the reports of these international bodies are a welcome acknowledgement of the work we have done in this area, they also represent important learning opportunities for developing and refining our policies and processes. I have already given undertakings that the contents and recommendations of these Reports, including any observations in relation to the identification process, will be taken into account in the process of drafting our new National Action Plan. I am sure that the outcomes from today’s discussions will also have significant input into the future direction of our policy in this area.
Legislation is a very important element of our strategy to address the evils of human trafficking. Indeed my Government has recently enacted an amendment to our human trafficking legislation to expand the definition of trafficking to include trafficking for forced begging and for criminal activities. How we address these new forms of trafficking is something to which we will have to give significant thought.
Legislation is, of course, but one element of any Government’s ongoing efforts to prevent and combat this phenomenon. As you will be aware the prevention and detection of human trafficking and the protection of its victims has been a policing priority for An Garda Síochána for a number of years. The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of my Department and An Garda Síochána are continually vigilant for any emerging trends relating to human trafficking and maintain a dialogue on this matter with the relevant State agencies and non-governmental organisations working in this area. A key aim of this forum is to foster these relationships and support this dialogue process so that we can improve our efforts to identify and locate victims and reduce the demand which is a significant factor in human trafficking.
It is widely acknowledged that identification is a significant challenge for police forces in all jurisdictions, we must constantly endeavour to improve our policy and procedures to ensure that they are informed by the latest developments and in particular any new methods of identification of victims of human trafficking. The discussions here today, involving such a wide range of organisations, from both State and civil society on both sides of the border, will assist us in ensuring that our identification procedures remain relevant.
To date we have sought to address the demand side of human trafficking through two primary means. The first involves the introduction and enforcement of anti-human trafficking legislation. The second involves increasing people’s awareness of the existence and nature of human trafficking. This two pronged approach ensures that Ireland is, and is seen, as a hostile environment for human traffickers to operate in. However, we cannot become complacent, with rapid developments in technology, particularly the use of social media, and the willingness of traffickers to exploit any means of recruiting vulnerable individuals, it is important that we explore new methods of creating awareness of the harm caused by the demand for cheap goods and services which fuels this highly profitable trade. I hope that the discussions in this afternoon’s work shop on demand reduction will be fruitful and look forward to reading the conclusions.
Before I finish, I would just like to acknowledge the ongoing co-operation between my Department and the Department of Justice, Northern Ireland. This forum is the latest in a number of joint initiatives which have ranged from public awareness campaigns, to a photography and video competition. An Garda Síochána also has a close working relationship with the PSNI where they are represented on the Department of Justice Organised Crime Task Force which meets on a quarterly basis. The development and support of these working relationships is, in my view, a very important element in our anti-trafficking strategy.
I want to leave you with one thought and a simple one at that. We are all here together to listen to each other, to learn from each other. While we are all here due to our shared commitment to the fight against trafficking; we also come here with our own experiences and viewpoints. We may see the same issues through differing lenses. That can sometimes make it difficult for us to always agree on what should be done. For that reason the one thought I will leave you with, is that we should be tolerant of all positive ideas. No matter how big or small, whether we think them immediately practical or not. Positive ideas are often fewer in number than the many problems we have to solve.
I wish you well in your work today and I look forward to seeing the conclusions from this Forum.
ENDS