La Strada International (LSI) has published a statement on the occasion of the European Day of Victims of Crime on 22 February 2022. The statement calls for all trafficked persons to have access to a residence permit on the basis of personal grounds. LSI wants to achieve this demand by revising the EU Residence Directive 2004/81. The revision of this directive would create a human rights-based approach to combating human trafficking
Access to residence is critical for the safety, stability, and future perspective of trafficked persons. The statement notes that laws or policies determining which trafficked persons are granted residence permits, vary substantially between different European countries and that identified trafficked persons do not have much access to regular stay. This prevents many from claiming their rights, leaving them without protection.
Within the legal framework of EU Directive 2004/81/EC, victims of trafficking receive support only in so far and as long as it is required by the needs of criminal prosecution, i.e. the residence permit therefore fully depends on victims’ cooperation with the authorities.
LSI's call for a revision of this residence directive is based on the requirement not to make access to protection and counselling dependent on the testimony of trafficked persons, as provided for in the 2011 Anti-Trafficking in Human Beings Directive and the Council of Europe Convention, which are intended to enable trafficked persons to exercise their rights as victims of crime and to protect them from further exploitation and harm. Limiting the residence permit to cooperation criteria also contradicts the obligation of EU states to ensure access to justice under the 2012 Directive on the Rights of Victims of Crime, which applies to all victims of crime regardless of their residence status.
