Ombudsman for law change to ease human trafficking victims permit

The residence permit for a victim of human trafficking, added to the Aliens Act in 2006, was rarely applied, according to an investigation by the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman on the residence permit practice relating to victims of human trafficking.

The Ombudsman in the report also recommended that the legislation and application practice be amended so that increasing numbers of victims of human trafficking would fulfil the prerequisites for granting an extended residence permit, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and Ministry of the Interior in a joint press release on Tuesday.

The study commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment was how the vulnerability of victims of human trafficking has been assessed.

According to the study, the assessment was diverse, but varying. Human trafficking was not necessarily the main reason for granting international protection or a residence permit in positive decisions.

Moreover, diverse authorities, judges and reporting members of courts, legal counsels and representatives of NGOs should be trained in the special position of victims of human trafficking, recommended the Ombudsman.

The study concerned residence permit and asylum decisions made by the Finnish Immigration Service in 2018–2020 with indications of possible victims of human trafficking.

The number of decisions was 461. Usually, the victim of human trafficking had been subjected to forced labour, sexual abuse or forced marriage. The same person could have also been subjected to several different forms of abuse.

In assessing the vulnerability of the victim, the abuse experienced by the victim, their age and gender, education, professional experience and health were considered.

Furthermore, the Finnish Immigration Service assessed in its decisions how the victim could see to their livelihood, health and children in their home country and prevent the re-occurrence of human trafficking. The protection and support given by society and family were also assessed.

About 67% of the decisions in the study data were positive and 33% negative. In most cases, the positive decisions concerned international protection, but human trafficking was not necessarily the primary grounds for protection.

The study proved that many victims of human trafficking primarily sought international protection and also presented other grounds for it. The second-most common reason for granting residence permits was on the basis of individual humanitarian reasons.

The residence permit for a victim of human trafficking, added to the Aliens Act in 2006, was rarely applied. The number of positive decisions was 29. Thus, victims of human trafficking were more frequently granted residence permit on the basis of an individual humanitarian reason due to their vulnerable position than on the basis of the special provision concerning victims of human trafficking.

According to the study, the threshold of considering a victim of human trafficking to be in a particularly vulnerable position was high.

In 2020, the Finnish Immigration Service issued a guideline aiming to promote the consistent application of the Aliens Act in cases involving victims of human trafficking. The human trafficking action plan also includes measures in this regard.

The Government is committed to the prevention of human trafficking and the possible follow-up measures will be assessed on the basis of the results of the review. The Government Programme contains many items whose purpose is to enhance the prevention of human trafficking. The objectives include improved help for trafficking victims, faster identification and detection of human trafficking, and fulfilment of criminal liability.

The Parliament has demanded that the Government find out whether there are legislative amendment needs related to the grounds for the residence permits of trafficking victims.

For example, the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman has previously paid attention to the residence permit practices concerning victims of human trafficking. The preparations of the Government’s anti-trafficking action plan have also brought forward questions related to residence permits.