Child Trafficking in Europe

Box 10
Child TraffiCking rEsponsE in
ThE BalTiC sEa rEgion 86
The Council of the Baltic Sea States is an intergovernmental
organization whose members
include 11 northern European countries and the
European Commission. In 2002, the Council set
up the Working Group for Cooperation on Children
at Risk to address issues facing unaccompanied
minors and child victims of trafficking, and to
facilitate regional cross-border cooperation on
child protection. Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine
were invited to participate in the cooperation and
agreed to do so.
The goal of this regional cooperation on ‘children
at risk’ is to offer protection and assistance not
only to trafficked children but also to all separated
or unaccompanied children in the region. National
contact points for unaccompanied and trafficked
children have been established in the participating
countries. Anti-trafficking activities are conducted
by a police task force and through ministries that
deal with migration.
The Council of the Baltic Sea States is focusing on
the following issues:
• Promoting a child rights approach to child
trafficking;
• Training and capacity-building for service
providers in countries of origin and destination;
• Calling on migration authorities to take respon-
sibility for the identification of trafficked children
and the protection of their rights, and enhancing
bilateral cooperation between national migration
authorities on this issue;
• Establishing and improving cross-border
collaboration and cooperation among nongovernmental
organizations.
36 Child Trafficking in Europe
demand; and protecting and supporting victims
of trafficking, including, where appropriate, arranging
for their return and reintegration. 82
• The OSCE Action Plan on Combating Trafficking
in Human Beings and the mechanism to support
its implementation adopted in December 2003 by
ministerial representatives of the 55 participating
States of the OSCE. 83 The Action Plan provides
participating States with a comprehensive toolkit,
which helps them implement their commitments
to address trafficking in human beings. In July
2005, the OSCE Action Plan was supplemented
by the Addendum Addressing the Special Needs
of Child Victims of Trafficking for Protection and
Assistance, 84 which supports activities for prevention,
victim protection and prosecution of perpetrators.
The OSCE Action Plan and Addendum
contain recommendations on how participating
States and relevant OSCE institutions can deal
with the political, economic, legal and humanitarian
aspects of trafficking.
• The OSCE Office of the Special Representative
and Co-ordinator on Trafficking in Human Beings
supports the development and implementation
of anti-trafficking policies in OSCE participating
States. In July 2004, the OSCE Special Representative
launched the Alliance Against Trafficking
in Persons to promote joint strategies, and to
provide OSCE participating States and partners
for cooperation with a mechanism for solving
problems and making decisions. The Alliance
is a forum for partners to discuss and develop
suitable measures to address each aspect of the
human trafficking chain as well as the overall
phenomenon. 85
• The Council of Europe Convention on Action
against Trafficking in Human Beings dedicates a
full chapter to the cooperation of States parties
in the prevention and combating of trafficking in
human beings, victim assistance and protection,
and criminal investigations. Special attention is
paid to cross-border cooperation relating to
endangered or missing persons, in particular
missing children.