Irish Catholic Bishops have called on parishes to play their part in becoming more informed about human trafficking and increase awareness about how to support victims.
A number of bishops are attending a conference in Cork on human trafficking, which is being hosted by An Garda Síochána and the Santa Marta Group.
The Santa Marta Group, under the patronage of Pope Francis, was established in 2014 to, ‘act as a catalyst to bring systemic change to end human trafficking, together with law enforcement, civil society and the church.’
The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, and international police services including the Metropolitan Police and the Lithuanian Police, are also in attendance at the closed event, as well as NGOs, charitable partners and those working in the justice sector.
The focus of the conference is to highlight a “unified commitment” in identifying and supporting victims of Human Trafficking along with identifying methods to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute organised crime groups involved in trafficking.
The most recent Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) from the US State Department, which ranks governments worldwide on their perceived efforts to acknowledge and combat human trafficking was published on Monday.
While it noted Ireland’s ‘overall increasing efforts’ in addressing the seriousness of human trafficking, it remains a Tier 2 country.
This means Ireland “does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so”.
The TIP report said victims of trafficking in Ireland need to be identified and assisted through a revised National Referral Mechanism (NRM).
Legislation establishing a new NRM is contained in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking Bill) 2023.
The legislation is due before the Seanad today and before the Dáil for the report and final stages next week.
The Minister for Justice has said that the prevention, detection and prosecution of human trafficking is something the Government takes very seriously.
Minister Helen McEntee said the revised NRM is “a cornerstone” of the new National Action Plan to prevent and combat human trafficking which was published last November.
It is Ireland’s third National Human Trafficking Action Plan, which includes widespread training for all who may come into contact with victims of human trafficking across Departments and State agencies.
This includes the Border Management Unit, health and social care professionals, professionals in contact with children, and working on child-related matters.
In a joint statement this afternoon, the Irish Catholic Bishops welcomed the move to put the National Referral Mechanism on a statutory footing.
However, they said legislation “is only as good as the resources in place to implement it and to root out this awful crime”.
“Human trafficking is wrong; it is illegal, and it is sinful.The State has a duty to empower people working in this area and in the area of prevention and the prosecution of traffickers”, they said.
The bishops have called for greater cooperation between the governments north and south on the island, which they said was “even more urgent due to the increased numbers of immigrants forced to come here from the UK”.
The TIP report called for vigorous investigations and prosecutions in relation to human trafficking crimes in Ireland.
It also said adequate penalties for convicted traffickers were required “which should involve significant prison terms and ensure labour trafficking is pursued as such rather than labour code violations”.
The report said increased efforts were required to “proactively identify” and protect all victims, especially Irish citizens, victims of labour trafficking and forced criminality, and vulnerable populations like children, sea fishers, and asylum-seekers.
