Malta does not meet minimum US standards for the elimination of human trafficking, but significant efforts have been made, according to a State Department report.
“Women from Southeast Asia working as domestic workers, Chinese nationals working in massage parlours and women from Central and Eastern Europe working in nightclubs represent populations vulnerable to exploitation,” the report notes. It also says that Maltese women and children are subject to sex trafficking in Malta.
Titled ‘Trafficking in persons report June 2016’, the study, conducted between April 2015 and last March, categorises Malta as a tier 2 country, with 1 being the highest and 3 the lowest. The findings are based on intelligence from US embassies , government officials, non-governmental and international organisations, news articles and academic studies.
With the exception of Malta, Luxembourg and some Eastern European states, all EU countries are ranked in the top tier, meaning their governments are meeting the minimum standards set by US laws as outlined in the Trafficking and Violence Protection Act.
The report says that Malta “is a source and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking and a destination for women and men subjected to labour trafficking”. It adds that female sex trafficking victims primarily originate from China, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia and Ukraine.
In the case of forced labour, the victims come from China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, the US State Department notes.
The report refers to irregular migrants from African countries, which, it says, number about 5,000, describing them as vulnerable workers in the construction, hospitality and domestic sectors.
In the period under review, the government investigated and prosecuted fewer trafficking cases, identified fewer victims and did not provide enough financial support to anti-trafficking efforts, according to the US report. Moreover, no national awareness campaigns were carried out, it points out.
In this regard, it criticises the “modest” prevention measures in place, saying that, for the second year running, the government only allocated €20,000 for such purpose, a decrease over the previous years.
The study analyses the manner in which human trafficking cases were handled by the courts, noting the slowness of proceedings hampered prosecutions relying on foreign victims to provide evidence. It adds that the turnover of vice squad investigators was posing an additional challenge to ensure that all stakeholders received specialised training. While noting that in the period under review 19 inspections were carried out by the authorities, the study laments the lack of efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex and forced labour.
On a positive note, it says the government provided victims with shelter and services, funded training for police officers, community centre employees and diplomats. Also, an inter-ministerial committee continued to implement the national action plan.
In its recommendations, the US State Department calls for vigorous investigations and “adequate” sentencing for persons convicted of such crimes. It also proposes further training even to prosecutors and judges, increase funding to the inter-ministerial committee and strengthening the efforts to identify victims among vulnerable groups.