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 the Slovak Republic from 26 February to 1 of March 2024, 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 Slovak 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 the Slovak Republic have been implemented.
During the visit, the GRETA delegation met Ms Lucia Kurilovská, National Anti-trafficking Co-ordinator, Mr Jozef Halcin, Vice-Chair of the Expert Group for the Field of Combating Human Trafficking, as well as officials from the Information Centre for Combating THB and Crime Prevention, which has been assigned the role of National Rapporteur on human trafficking in the Slovak Republic. Amongst the officials met by GRETA were representatives of the Ministry of the Interior (including the Presidium of the Police Force), the Ministry of Justice (including the General Directorate of the Prison and Judicial Guard Force), the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (including the National Labour Inspectorate, the National Coordination Centre for the protection of children from violence, and the Children and social guardianship authority), the Centre for Legal Aid, and the Information Offices for Victims of Crime. Discussions were also held with representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office and judges from the Specialised Criminal Court and regional and municipal courts.
Furthermore, the GRETA delegation met officials from the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities and the Office of the Commissioner for Children. A meeting was also held with representatives of the Parliament of the Slovak Republic, including members of the Human Rights and Ethnic Minorities Committee.
The visit provided an opportunity to visit two centres for children and families which can accommodate victims of trafficking (in Malacky and Pezinok), the Police Detention Centre for Foreigners in Medveďov, and the Assistance Centre in Bottova Street, Bratislava, which provides assistance to Ukrainian refugees.
The GRETA delegation held separate meetings with non-governmental organisations. It also met representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The visit was carried out by Ms Antoaneta Vassileva, First Vice-President of GRETA, Mr Aurelius Gutauskas, member of GRETA, who were accompanied by Ms Teresa Armengol de la Hoz and Mr Mesut Bedirhanoglu of the Secretariat of the 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.
