Ms Isabel Toolan:

The Migrants Rights Centre Ireland has also made a detailed submission. I work as an anti-trafficking lead for MRCI. I am joined by director Edel McGinley. MRCI is a national organisation working to promote the rights of migrant workers and their families who are in low-paid employment and at risk of poverty, exploitation and social exclusion. MRCI is a national assessment centre for trafficking for labour exploitation. To date, it has assisted almost 300 people where indicators of trafficking presented across different sectors, including agriculture, the private home, car washes and restaurants, to name a few.

Global estimates show that the number of people trafficked internationally has increased by 10 million to just under 50 million since 2017. Trafficking for labour exploitation has grown to 28 million, an increase of 10% in that timeframe. However, the number of people identified as victims of human trafficking in Ireland, including victims of trafficking for labour exploitation, remains small. Nineteen trafficking for labour exploitation cases were identified in 2021 from a total of 44 trafficking cases referred. These low numbers are reflected in the State’s poor prosecution rate for trafficking and the lack of convictions for trafficking for labour exploitation. Early victim identification is a crucial step in combating human trafficking. Currently, the identification of victims falls to An Garda Síochána alone. The involvement of law enforcement in both the identification and investigation of human trafficking has been widely criticised. Along with leading experts, MRCI has long called for a multi-agency approach to victim identification, which includes civil society. MRCI welcomes this approach in the heads of Bill.

Despite this positive step, MRCI is concerned with three key issues at this pre-legislative stage. The first is the rights and entitlements of victims of trafficking, including immigration status. The most important assurance that we can give to victims is that it is safe to seek help and that they will be provided for when they do. MRCI works with many victims who are reluctant to come forward for identification. Some are still in situations of trafficking when they contact MRCI, such as a man who I will call Mustafa, which is not his real name, who endured appalling conditions for over two years before finally fleeing his trafficker.

He stayed because he needed to make money for his young family, the little he was paid, and because he feared there was no alternative to his trafficking situation than being left destitute on the streets, undocumented, penniless and homeless. The Bill does nothing to address this fear. This lack of emphasis on the rights and entitlements of victims is very concerning. To encourage victims to present for identification it is essential that specific services and supports are set out in legislation. The Bill must explicitly include the right to housing, social assistance, health services and immigration status, at a minimum.

On immigration status, many victims of trafficking are undocumented or lack a stable immigration status. This is a vulnerability on which traffickers often prey. Threats of denunciation to the Garda or of deportation are a commonly used form of coercion, for example, against Mustafa, whom I mentioned earlier. In almost every case where the person is undocumented, the MRCI hears the same thing: "I am afraid to come forward because I will be deported or arrested; my employer told me so." As the Bill stands, there is no reference to immigration status for victims of trafficking who are undocumented or have precarious immigration status. Providing a stable immigration status will enable vulnerable victims to come forward for identification and ensure they can access the services that require that status.

The second point concerns an identification process based on reasonable grounds. We strongly recommend a lower standard of identification than that outlined in the Bill to bring as many victims as possible into the NRM. This reasonable standard is in the current administrative arrangements for victim identification, and it does not need to change. Only with robust victim identification will the crime of human trafficking be tackled effectively. The criteria for identification, at both referral and determination stage, must be based on any and all recognised indicators of trafficking, including the Delphi indicators, which comprehensively list the signs of trafficking.

The right of appeal is fundamental in any process or system. This legislation contains no reference to an appeal, review, or reconsideration. In the interests of transparency and fairness, potential victims must be able to challenge a refusal to recognise them as victims of trafficking. Appeals and reconsiderations must go before an independent body with the power to overturn the original negative decision in the interests of efficiency and compassion.

In summary, the MRCI recommends that rights and entitlements, the use of reasonable grounds and an appeals process be contained in the Bill, and asks that the committee support these provisions. I thank the members for taking the time to listen and we look forward to questions and discussion.