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Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Greece (RATIFICATION: 1952)

Other comments on C029

Observation

Direct Request

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The Committee notes the observations of the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) received on 1 September 2021 and 30 August 2022 as well as the Government’s reply received on 29 August 2022.

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. 1. National Action Plan. Implementation and assessment. In response to its previous comments, the Committee takes due note of the detailed information on the initiatives undertaken by the Office of the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings (ONR) within the framework of the National Action Plan 2019–23 on the Prevention and Fight against Human Trafficking and the Protection and Rehabilitation of Victims. It notes in particular (i) the establishment of a permanent working group of experts for monitoring the implementation of the current legislation on trafficking in persons; (ii) the translation and dissemination of the Compendium of Good practices in addressing human trafficking for labour exploitation by the Group of Experts on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) to all the public prosecutors; (iii) the support to and partnership with the private sector to pursue anti-trafficking in human beings objectives and due diligence on private sector supply chains and public procurements; and (iv) the conduct of several training activities for labour inspectors, police, public prosecutors, social care units, the asylum unit and NGOs on the fight against human trafficking. The Government indicates that special attention was placed on combating trafficking in persons for forced labour which included a series of projects aimed at improving data collection on forced labour, organizing vocational training programmes for labour inspectors, and creating an institutional framework for cooperation at the operational level between the Labour Inspectorate, Hellenic Police and the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). Moreover, the Government indicates that a public strategy to prevent and suppress human trafficking for exploitation has been developed which inter alia focusses on better coordination and enhancement of the Polices’ operational response, the timely identification and protection of victims, and the enforcement of interdepartmental as well as cross-border cooperation.

The Committee notes that in their observations, the GSEE refers to the lack of tripartite dialogue in relation to the issue of trafficking in persons since the implementation and monitoring of the national action plan is the competence of the ONR in which social partners are not represented. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to combat trafficking in persons, both for labour and sexual exploitation and requests it to provide information on the implementation of the public strategy to prevent and suppress human trafficking. Please provide information on any assessment of the implementation of the strategy undertaken by the ONR, including on the results achieved, the difficulties faced, and the action envisaged as a consequence, indicating also how social partners are involved in these processes.

2. Protection of victims. In reply to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that Law No. 4478/2017 was amended to include provisions for (i) minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of human trafficking; (ii) protection of victims from secondary and repeated victimization and intimidation; (iii) protection of victims from the risk of mental, emotional or psychological damage; and (iv) protection of victims’ dignity in the course of their examination or testimony. The Government also indicates that: (i) a special Working Group for the protection of victims of trafficking was established which reviews and assesses the assistance provided to victims and undertakes the necessary initiatives in this regard; (ii) an information leaflet on the protection framework for victims of trafficking and the NRM handbook was disseminated among relevant actors; (iii) a specialized Standard Operating Procedure for health actors as well as for the Reception and Identification Centres on the islands and mainland to be used upon the identification of a presumed victim of trafficking was created; and (iv) the NRM conducted a series of training activities for labour inspectors on identification, referral and protection of victims of trafficking and their effective reporting to the NRM. The Committee requests the Government to continue to take measures to ensure the early identification of victims of trafficking and to provide them with appropriate protection and assistance for their recovery and rehabilitation. It requests the Government to provide information in this regard, and in particular on measures taken to inform foreign victims on their rights (recovery periods, temporary resident permits, legal aid, rights to compensation, etc). The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on the number of victims of trafficking who have been identified and have been provided assistance indicating the type of assistance and services granted.

3. Prosecution and application of penal sanctions. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the various training activities, both national and international, undertaken by the Hellenic Police for improving the process of identification and investigation of cases of trafficking as well as the actions carried out within the framework of the Anti-Crime Policy Programme 2020–24 to tackle trafficking in persons. The Committee also notes the detailed information on the various national and regional meetings and training seminars attended by the labour inspectors and the Judges and Public Prosecutors pertaining to various aspects of combating trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.

Concerning the number of cases of trafficking investigated by the Hellenic Police, the Committee notes that in 2018, 28 cases of trafficking (2 for labour exploitation and 26 for sexual exploitation) involving 31 victims and 136 perpetrators were investigated, and in 2019, 26 cases (21 for sexual exploitation and the rest for begging, forced marriage, etc.) involving 47 victims and 148 perpetrators were investigated. It observes that the Government has not provided information on convictions. With regard to the data from the Labour Inspectorate, in 2020, 46,127 enterprises were inspected, 1,995 undeclared workers were identified for which a fine of €22,762,043 was imposed. In 2021, 49,798 enterprises were inspected, 2,385 undeclared workers were identified leading to a fine of €27,396,247.

The Committee notes that the GSEE, in its observations, refers to the lack of effective labour inspection to monitor forced labour issues and states that the detachment of the Labour Inspectorate from the Ministry of Labour has prevented the trade unions from participating in the labour inspection monitoring, particularly in the agricultural sector. It adds that forced labour cases remain substantively unreported. The Committee also notes from the GRETA report of 2022 that the statistics indicate a low number of identified victims of trafficking for labour exploitation, compared to the large number of undocumented workers, many of whom are land workers, domestic workers or those employed in construction industry and tourism.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to take the necessary measures to strengthen the capacity of the law enforcement bodies so as to ensure that perpetrators of trafficking in persons are punished with sufficiently dissuasive sanctions. The Committee encourages the Government to strengthen the capacity and resources of the labour inspection services throughout the country in order to properly identify situations involving labour exploitation, including trafficking in persons, in particular in sectors where migrant workers are most present, to gather evidence, and to collaborate with other bodies responsible for enforcing the law. It also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of investigations and prosecutions carried out in cases of trafficking in persons, or any other form of labour exploitation amounting to forced labour, and on the number of convictions handed down and penalties imposed.