National rapporteurs on Trafficking in Human Beings (THB)
Recommendation: every EU country should appoint a national rapporteur. Such a rapporteur should have the task to collect (quantitative as well as more qualitative) information on the (broad) issue of the combat against human trafficking (data on existing rules and regulations, prevention activities, police investigation and public prosecution, and victim protection and assistance), and to report on a regular basis to the respective government, thus uncovering and exposing trends. Reports should include recommendations for improvement of the policy pursued.
In order to be able to do so, and to prevent any semblance of partiality or prejudice, a rapporteur should preferably hold an independent position. Furthermore, he or she should have access to all existing information, including police and prosecutor’s files and registrations. The task of the rapporteur focuses on the gathering and dissimination of information, and should preferably be kept separated from operational tasks which, on a national level, could be fulfilled by a national public prosecutor. A rapporteur is, and should not be a political activist, however, he or she can point out problems, and try to help finding solutions (in between reports).
If national rapporteurs co-operate on a regular basis, information gathered in the respective countries, in ways fitted to the national situation, (for example using existing databases, and consultative structures), can then be uplifted to a higher level of aggregation. Additionally, criteria could be discussed for future reporting.
Bureau of the Dutch Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings (BNRM) Pb 20301, 2500 EH, The Hague, the Netherlands (31) 70 370 4514 m.smit@minjus.nl