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Meeting with Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs

A delegation of the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) carried out an evaluation visit to Armenia from 14 to 18 April 2025, as part of the fourth evaluation round of the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

This new evaluation round of monitoring the implementation of the Convention focuses on vulnerabilities to human trafficking and measures taken by States Parties to prevent them, detect and support vulnerable victims, and punish the offenders. This includes a focus on the use of information and communication technology (ICT), which brings structural changes to the way offenders operate and exacerbates existing vulnerabilities.

Prior to the visit, the Armenian authorities provided a reply to GRETA’s questionnaire for the fourth evaluation round. In addition to the new thematic focus, GRETA examined how the main recommendations made in its third evaluation report on Armenia have been implemented.

During the visit, the GRETA delegation met Ms Tatevik Stepanyan and Mr Ruben Sargsyan, Deputy Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs, Mr Armen Ghazaryan, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Robert Abisoghomonyan, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Ms Anna Karapetyan, Deputy Minister of Justice, as well as officials of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (including the Health and Labour Inspectorate), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (including the Police), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of High-tech Industry, the Ministry of Defence, and the Statistical Committee. Discussions were also held with members of the Working Group on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, representatives of the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Investigative Committee and the Public Defender’s Office, as well as judges of the Criminal Court of Appeal and Yerevan City Court.

Furthermore, the GRETA delegation met Ms Anahit Manasyan, Human Rights Defender of Armenia, and members of her office. A meeting was also held with members of Parliament.

In addition to having meetings in Yerevan, the delegation travelled to the Kotayk region where it met representatives of the regional social services, Investigation Department and Police.

The GRETA delegation held separate meetings with non-governmental organisations, independent experts, and representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In the course of the visit, GRETA’s delegation visited a shelter for victims of trafficking in Yerevan, the Children’s House (Barnahus) in Yerevan, as well as a residential institution for children without parental care and a reception centre for asylum seekers in Abovyan (Kotayk region).

The visit was carried out by Ms Tatiana Catana and Ms Rita Penedo, members of GRETA, who were accompanied by Ms Parvine Ghadami of the Secretariat of the Anti-Trafficking Convention.

Following the visit, GRETA will prepare a draft report, which will be sent to the national authorities for comments. GRETA will subsequently adopt a final report which will be made public in 2026.