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 Czech Republic on 30 October - 3 November 2023 as part of the second evaluation round of the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. The visit provided an opportunity to assess progress in the implementation of the Convention since the first evaluation report by GRETA published in 2020. Prior to the visit, the Czech authorities provided a reply to GRETA’s questionnaire for the second evaluation round.
During the visit, the GRETA delegation held consultations with officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, the Police Presidium, the Ministry for Social and Labour Affairs (including the State Labour Inspection Office), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Transportation, the Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs, and the Government Council for Human Rights. Furthermore, it held meetings with judges and prosecutors of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Prosecutor´s Office, the Supreme Administrative Court, as well as several high and regional courts and prosecutor’s offices.
The GRETA delegation held separate meetings with representatives of the Public Defender of Rights (Ombudsperson) and the Czech Bar Association. It also met members of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), lawyers and researchers. Further, meetings were held with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
In addition to holding meetings in Prague, the GRETA delegation travelled to the Pilsen region where it met regional officials, law enforcement officers, labour inspectors and members of local NGOs.
The visit provided an opportunity to visit a shelter for victims of trafficking and persons vulnerable to trafficking, run by an NGO in Prague, and to interview victims. The GRETA delegation also visited the centre for unaccompanied or separated foreign children in Prague, as well as the detention centre for irregular migrants in Balková.
The visit was carried out by Ms Antoaneta Vassileva, First Vice-President of GRETA, and Mr Luka Maderić, member of GRETA, who were accompanied by Ms Parvine Ghadami of the Secretariat of the Convention.
Following the visit, GRETA will prepare a draft report, which will be sent to the Czech authorities for comments. GRETA will subsequently adopt a final report which will be published in the autumn of 2024.
See also: Country monitoring | Czech Republic
