Malta, along with several other countries intends to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. The conclusion to ratify the convention was reached at the end of a two-day seminar in Rome organized by the Council of Europe and sponsored by the Italian Department of Rights and Equal Opportunities.
The seminar was attended by over 150 delegates from various countries and included government representatives, parliamentarians and NGO representatives.
The seminar will help to speed up ratification of the Convention by various countries, as it provided an opportunity for an exchange of views on the main provisions of the Convention and national legislation and measures to fight human traffic.
The Convention is the first European treaty to protect and promote the human rights of victims of trafficking. In this respect, the Council of Europe experts pointed out the need to clearly differentiate between the victims of trafficking, illegal immigration and prostitution. For example, a foreign woman sexually exploited by a gang of criminals is in many countries still considered as an illegal immigrant. Rather than receiving assistance and protection so that she can escape from the traffickers and the people responsible can be caught with her help, she is considered as an offender and sent back to her own country, despite being a victim of trafficking.
There was consensus at the Rome seminar on the need for all the countries in Europe to ratify the Convention as soon as possible, in order to make the fight against trafficking in human beings and co-operation among the various states much more effective. The Council of Europe, with its 46 European member states, is an organisation which includes countries of origin of victims, transit countries and destination countries.
The Rome seminar will be followed by one in Oslo between the 1st and 2nd of November and another in Athens between the 5th and 6th December.
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