3071-The political economy of new slavery

70 Trafficking and International Law
issue is still regarded primarily from the perspective of what would be
useful to the authorities rather than the rights or best interests of the
victim.
It is also worth noting that in the case of minors, the directive uses
the ‘best interests of the child’ as a test, but this section is not binding
on member states. A report prepared by one of Anti-Slavery International’s
partners, ECPAT UK, in 2001 (Somerset, 2001) shows that the
coercive influence of the trafficker is often particularly strong in the
case of minors and so prevents them from fully breaking away from
their trafficker. This could make them ineligible for assistance under the
directive. The EU Council framework decision on combating trafficking
in human beings was finally adopted on 19 July 2002 and published
in the official journal on 1 August 2002. All EU member states will
have until 1 August 2004 to bring domestic legislation in line with the
framework decision, which includes establishing minimum penalties
for trafficking for both labour and sexual exploitation.
The European Parliament has called on the EU Council to include a
considerable number of protection provisions, notably suggesting that
member states must provide, free of charge: accommodation; medical
and psychological assistance; financial assistance and assistance in
getting vocational training or jobs; and safe and voluntary return to the
trafficking victim’s country of origin. 6 An additional opinion of one of
its committees recommended that member states should grant ‘a special
permanent residence permit on humanitarian grounds’ if called to do so
on account of the vulnerability of someone who has been trafficked, or
the dangers they are considered to be in when deported. 7 Yet others
have pointed out that the current practice of several EU member states,
to provide a temporary residence permit only to trafficking victims
who agree to testify against their traffickers can itself be an abusive and
discriminatory incentive to place themselves in danger. Anti-Slavery
International and other non-governmental organizations were particularly
vocal in calling for protection measures to be included in
the framework decision. This is because we have direct experience of
assisting victims of trafficking and other extreme forms of exploitation
and are in a position to review experience over 160 years, which
shows that efforts to outlaw and punish various forms of slavery,
without at the same time providing protection and measures to rehabilitate
or reintegrate victims, almost automatically fail. For the past five
years, we have been disappointed by the failure of the measures adopted
by the European Union to combat trafficking to actually help the
women, children and men whom the measures are apparently designed