On 26 January, Parliamentarians Against Human Trafficking (PAHT) held the second event of the two-year project - a Good Practice Exchange - in The Hague, Netherlands. The event was hosted by the Eerste Kamer der Staten Generaal (the Senate), Parliament of the Netherlands and was attended by 32 participants from across the European Union.

PAHT is a group that aims to develop a European network of parliamentarians working to combat human trafficking in order to promote and develop cross-border cooperation and mutual understanding. The project, which is principally funded by the European Commission, with further funding support from the Tudor Trust, is led by ECPAT UK, with key partners the Human Trafficking Foundation and the Asociatia High Level Group for Children (Romania).

The Good Practice Exchange provided participants with the opportunity to learn about the role of the Dutch Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings, her work with the Dutch Parliament and how the system could work in other EU parliaments.

The day started with a welcome address by Senator Willem Brocker, host of the event, and Anthony Steen, Chairman of the Human Trafficking Foundation. Both explained the importance of having independent National Rapporteurs across the EU to assist in the fight against trafficking. Senator Brocker also reflected on the Dutch Parliament’s good relationship with the Dutch Rapporteur and how the work of the Rapporteur had significantly informed and improved counter-trafficking debate in the Dutch Parliament.

Next followed keynote speeches by Corinne Dettmeijer-Vermeulen, National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings in the Netherlands, and Ard Van Der Steur MP, member of the Dutch Parliament.

Ms. Dettmeijer-Vermeulen described the work of the National Rapporteur in checking the effectiveness of the fight against human trafficking. She explained how the role continues to evolve with the addition of fighting child pornography to her mandate.

Mr. Van Der Steur reiterated Senator Brocker’s endorsement of the work performed by the National Rapporteur’s office, highlighting the particular usefulness of the National Rapporteur’s reports in enabling parliamentary debate on human trafficking.

The morning’s discussions continued with an in-depth session for parliamentarians focused on how parliamentarians can build up parliamentary groups as part of an EU network.

Parliamentarians were also invited to provide overviews of the situations in their countries. Presided by Anthony Steen, the session featured contributions from Maria Cardoso MP (Portugal), Florin Paslaru MP (Romania), Peter Bone MP (UK), Anna Lo MLA (UK), Michael Connarty MP (UK), Elisabeth Naucler MP (Finland), Nassos Alevras MP (Greece), Robert Biedron MP (Poland), Ard Van Der Steur MP (Netherlands) and Senator Willem Brocker (Netherlands).

The afternoon kicked off with a lively interactive discussion on co-operation between NGOs and parliamentarians, chaired by Marieke Van Doorninck, La Strada International Netherlands and featuring contributions from Sandra Classen (BLINN), Bas De Visser (Comensha), Theo Noten (ECPAT Netherlands) and Jaana Kauppinen (Pro-Centre Finland). Debate centred on how MPs and NGOs could work together to convince colleagues of the importance of establishing an independent rapporteur in all EU member states.

Following a contribution from Steve Harvey on Europol’s work in fighting human trafficking, the day finished with brief concluding statements from ECPAT UK's Stana Buchowska, Project Co-ordinator, and Christine Beddoe, Project Director.

Resources from the seminar, including briefing papers and a list of attendees, is available from the PAHT website.

Rome Seminar
The next event of the Parliamentarians Against Human Trafficking project will be a seminar to be held in the Senate, Italian Parliament, on Thursday 22 March 2012. The seminar will focus on Italian legislation regarding victims of trafficking. Preparations for the seminar are now underway, including the recruitment of participants and the preparation of the draft programme.  More information about the Seminar is available by emailing the project team (details below) and will appear on the project website in the next two weeks.

Warsaw Seminar
Shortly after the Rome seminar we will be travelling to Warsaw for the fourth event of the project, hosted by the Polish Parliament in co-operation with the British Embassy in Poland. Scheduled to take place on Wednesday 18 April, the seminar will examine the National Referral Mechanism, asking parliamentarians to question how they can ensure the NRM functions as effectively as possible in their countries.

Please contact the project team for more information:
 
Stana Buchowska: s.buchowska@ecpat.org.uk
Emma Makey: e.makey@ecpat.org.uk