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 Lithuania on 12-15 December 2022 as part of the third evaluation round of the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. The focus of this evaluation round of the Convention is on trafficking victims’ access to justice and effective remedies. Prior to the visit, the Lithuanian authorities provided a reply to GRETA’s questionnaire for the third evaluation round. In addition to the new thematic focus, GRETA verified how the main recommendations made in its second evaluation report have been implemented.
During the visit, the GRETA delegation held consultations with Mr Vitalij Dmitrijev, Vice-Minister of the Interior, and officials from the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports. Furthermore, GRETA’s delegation held meetings with representatives of the Police, the Border Guard Service, the Labour Inspectorate, the Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service, as well as prosecutors and judges.
The GRETA delegation also met with the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, the Office of the Child Rights Ombudsperson, and the Office of the Ombudsperson of the Parliament (Seimas).
In addition, the delegation met with representatives of the Anti-Trafficking Co-ordination Commission in the city of Kaunas and the Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania.
Meetings were also held with non-governmental organisations, lawyers and international organisations.
During the visit, GRETA’s delegation visited the refugee reception centre in Rukla (which accommodates unaccompanied children) and the Naujininkai refugee camp in Vilnius (which accommodates vulnerable asylum seekers, including possible victims of human trafficking).
The visit was carried out by Mr Sergey Ghazinyan and Ms Conny Rijken, members of GRETA, who were accompanied by Mr Roemer Lemaitre of the Secretariat of the Convention.
Following the visit, GRETA will prepare a draft report, which will be sent to the Lithuanian authorities for comments. GRETA will subsequently adopt a final report which will be published at the end of 2023.
