site.bta Bulgaria Must Make Additional Efforts To Prevent Human Trafficking, GRETA Report States

On Thursday, the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) published a new report. In its conclusion, the report noted that Bulgaria must make additional efforts to prevent human trafficking and protect victims.

The document reviews Bulgaria's progress since the previous report in 2021 and acknowledges that the authorities have taken action, but notes that the recommendations have not been fully implemented. Positive steps include an increase in the budget of the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, as well as guidelines issued by the prosecution service for organizing pre-trial proceedings for human trafficking cases.

The expert group urges Bulgarian authorities to ensure that the assistance measures provided for in the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings and by Bulgarian law are guaranteed in practice. GRETA calls for the authorities to provide adequate funding to ensure the availability, sustainability and quality of the specialised services for victims and to support their long-term social inclusion; to ensure that child victims benefit from specialised accommodation and services across the country, taking into account the best interests of the child; to guarantee access to health care to all victims; and to strengthen the capacity to assist male victims, including the provision of residential services for them.

The Bulgarian authorities should ensure that victims have access to free legal aid, regardless of their ability to hire a lawyer, and provide access to compensation, including through a fund created using illegally seized assets from traffickers.

The report acknowledges that the Bulgarian authorities recognize the particular vulnerability of disadvantaged minorities, such as the Roma community, people with disabilities, children from disadvantaged areas, unaccompanied children, victims of domestic violence, people suffering from addiction and those in significant debt, to human trafficking.

The report expresses the expectation that the authorities will work to reduce the risk of child and forced marriages, prevent the disappearance of unaccompanied and separated children, certify employment agencies assisting labour migrants to Bulgaria, improve access to education and the labour market for Roma, and develop programmes for the integration of asylum seekers and refugees.