The Council of Europe's expert body on trafficking in human beings, GRETA, has called on the Belgian authorities to step up their efforts to fight human trafficking, particularly of children.
In its first report on Belgium, GRETA underlined that several important steps have been taken by the authorities in recent years – including the creation of two national action plans and various anti-trafficking structures, as well as the formal criminalisation of human trafficking.
However, there is a need to focus efforts to a greater extent on the trafficking of children, especially those who are exploited for forced begging or for committing offences.
The Belgian authorities should also strengthen their efforts to the improve identification of child victims, as well as the assistance which is provided to victims coming from inside the European Union.
The report, which includes comments from the Belgian authorities, is available here
Contact: Council of Europe Media Officer Andrew Cutting, tel +32 485 217 202
