Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Obviously, any measure which tackles human trafficking is welcome. We must, however, look behind the lofty rhetoric of the EU to see the reality of the more complicated situation and the responsibility of the EU for its fortress Europe policies, supported by governments right across the Continent. We must look not only at that broader EU migration policy but also to wider geopolitical conflicts, to climate chaos, to war and to the ongoing dehumanisation of refugees and others seeking shelter and asylum. I refer to the ongoing collusion of this State and other EU states with brutal, totalitarian regimes, like that in Libya, which have established human camps and clearance centres at the fringes of EU borders as part of a conscious policy of the so-called externalisation of EU borders. These are the kinds of policies that lead to desperate people seeking to come here and facilitate the operation of horrific criminal gangs, human traffickers and so on.

Turning to a few points on the specifics of the directive itself, one of the key things to do, if we are tackling the roots of human trafficking, is to afford real protection and immunity to those who are victims of this human trafficking. According to a report from the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, this year, between 2015 and 2020 some 356 people were identified by the Garda as victims of trafficking and almost 60% of them were non-EU citizens. Of course, the true figures are likely to be significantly higher. According to the report from the ESRI:

... victims who are also applicants for international protection have reduced access to social welfare and the labour market. The temporary nature of the residence permission was identified as a source of uncertainty and insecurity. IPAS centres were also seen as inappropriate places for victims of human trafficking.

We need, therefore, supports that are not conditional for non-EU nationals but are unconditional and not dependent on their co-operation with prosecutions. We need to change this situation and ensure we have unconditional assistance and residence permits for all victims. The non-punishment provision in Article 8 is mostly not implemented. The directive needs to be stronger and Irish law needs to be explicit in stating that victims will not be prosecuted or punished for crimes they have been compelled to commit as a consequence of their being trafficked. The reality now across the EU is that existing non-punishment provisions are weak and rarely fully implemented. The supports available to victims need to be extended beyond the period during which legal proceedings may be taking place. The trauma and difficulty victims face do not end, obviously, when courts or legal processes finish.

To look at the broader picture, we must examine the policy of fortress Europe, of pulling up the drawbridge and punishing those fleeing war, persecution and climate chaos, which has had the consequence that tens of thousands of people have drowned in the Mediterranean in the last decade. We can look aghast at our neighbour in the UK and the policies pursued in that country, but the reality is that the entire EU policy on migration and refugees feeds the human trafficking business. The UN produced a report at the end of March 2023 which represented a condemnation of the EU and every government in it. It showed that governments are guilty of knowingly casting aside thousands of human beings fleeing war. In Libya, for example, it was found that "there are grounds to believe a wide array of war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed by State security forces and armed militia groups". The report went on to state that numerous cases of arbitrary detention, murder, rape, enslavement, extrajudicial killing and enforced disappearances have been documented.

These are the state forces and militias that the EU and this State support and collude with. We pay for them. The EU funds these camps and they have been found in this UN report to be conducting wholesale torture, rape, slavery, executions and overseeing a system of internment and torture of more than 600,000 migrants seeking our help. It was estimated that last year more than 82,000 refugees and migrants were returned to Libya by the EU under these co-operation deals. There are co-operation deals between the EU and Libya, but also between the Libyan authorities and militias. This is an historic crime and a crime against humanity on a grand scale. It reveals the truth behind the fantasy of the EU as some liberal, democratic place of human rights. One migrant who was interviewed stated their concern is not drowning in the water but going back to the camp where they will be tortured by the guards. This is what feeds human trafficking and until we deal with the reasons causing people to flee, we will continue to be feeding human traffickers.

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