National action plan against human trafficking submitted to Foreign Minister Tuomioja
Press release 103/2005
31 March, 2005
The working group preparing the national action plan against human trafficking has completed its proposal. The draft was submitted on Thursday, 31 March to Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, and it will be presented to the Government for approval in the near future. The draft action plan is Finland’s first ever proposal for comprehensive measures to combat human trafficking.
Led by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the working group, which included representatives of various ministries and organisations, had been assigned the task, on the basis of legislation that came into force in August 2004, of examining measures that could be applied to intensify prevention of human trafficking, to protect and assist victims, to ensure that those guilty of human trafficking would be prosecuted and to combat organised crime. The working group looked into the entire chain of human trafficking, from recruiting victims to their safe return or their adaptation to society in the target country.
In the assessment of the working group, each year Finland is a country of transit and a target country for hundreds of victims of human trafficking. Most of the human trafficking victims coming to or passing through Finland are adults, but the possibility that some victims are underage cannot be ruled out. Victims are often subjected to sexual exploitation but also to other exploitation, such as exploitation on the labour market.
The action plan is built on three central principles: 1) all efforts against human trafficking are grounded in human rights and focus on the victim; 2) emphasis on the gender perspective; and 3) the importance of cooperation. The action plan proposes measures aiming to identify victims, prevent human trafficking, assist victims of human trafficking, prosecute those guilty of human trafficking and to increase knowledge and awareness of human trafficking as well as measures for implementation and monitoring of the action plan. An additional objective is to control demand.
Identification of victims is a central precondition for the activation of measures. The aim is to identify victims of human trafficking quickly so that work to help them can be launched. Educating the authorities and actors in the third sector will promote the identification of victims. By increasing public awareness about human trafficking, people will be better able to recognise the possible existence of human trafficking in their own environment.
In the working group’s view, victims of human trafficking should be offered services in accordance with individual needs. Activities call for cooperation between the authorities and third-sector actors. Prosecution of those guilty of human trafficking is a significant goal. Another objective is to lower victims’ threshold to participate in criminal procedure.
For monitoring of the action plan, the intention is to set up a chairmanship that would alternate between two ministries. The idea is for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health to act initially as the chair, with the Ministry of the Interior as the vice-chair. The chair is responsible for coordination of the action plan. Each ministry bearing responsibility, however, sees to implementation of measures falling within its own sphere of jurisdiction.
Additional information: Johanna Suurpää, Head of Unit, tel. +358 9 1605 6551, or Janina Hasenson, Senior Officer, Legislative Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5320, Unit for Human Rights Policy, Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and other members of the working group.
Composition of the working group
In its human rights policy report to the Finnish Parliament on 31 March 2004, the Government undertook to draw up a national action plan against human trafficking. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs on 26 August 2004 appointed a working group charged with compiling a proposal for an action plan against human trafficking, to be submitted to the Government.
The working group had the following composition:
Chair:
Johanna Suurpää, Head of Unit, Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Members:
Mia Spolander, Senior Officer, Legislative Affairs, Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Camilla Busck-Nielsen, Senior Officer, Legislative Affairs, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, until 31 December 2004
Liisa Männistö, Special Adviser, Ministry of Education, from 1 January 2005
Mielikki Tenhunen, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Labour
Olavi Parvikko, Senior Officer, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
Anne Hujala, Senior Officer, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
Tuomo Kurri, Ministerial Advisor, Ministry of the Interior
Ilkka Herranen, Major, Frontier Guard Headquarters
Mikko Lampikoski, Chief Superintendent of Provincial Police, Ministry of the Interior
Jukka Lindstedt, Counsellor of Legislation, Ministry of Justice, until 30 October 2004
Janne Kanerva, Counsellor of Legislation, Ministry of Justice, from 1 November 2004
Jaakko Sonck, Detective Superintendent, National Bureau of Investigation
Jaana Kauppinen, Executive Director, Pro-tukipiste ry
Reet Nurmi, Executive Director, Monika-Naiset liitto ry
Kevät Nousiainen, Academy Professor, University of Helsinki
Researcher Venla Pärssinen from the University of Turku and Janina Hasenson, Senior Officer, Legislative Affairs from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs were the working group secretaries.