From 2021 – 2023 the ‘Cross-Continent Collaborations to Protect Asian Trafficking Victims in Europe’ was coordinated by La Strada International, and implemented with La Strada in the Czech Republic and Poland and Adpare in Romania. For this project close cooperation took also place with the Remedy Project, especially for the review of relevant legal frameworks and jurisprudence.
The project aimed to strengthen access to legal aid, strategic litigation and protection services for Asian victims trafficked in Europe, and to raise awareness about risks of severe forms of labour exploitation of this particular group.
Project results
Insight in the legal framework
- In October 2022, the research and a related policy paper on Protecting Asian trafficking victims in Europe were launched during a public webinar. See more. For this assessment, interviews and focus groups meetings with the most relevant stakeholders were held in the 3 countries.
Capacity building for stakeholders
- Through 49 trainings, ADPARE, LSCZ and LSPL reached over 1950 relevant stakeholders in Romania, the Czech Republic & Poland. Police officers, border guards, prosecutors, judges, labour inspectors and legal professionals were trained to detect indicators of human trafficking and labour exploitation among Asian migrants.
Legal support for Asian victims of trafficking and forced labour
- ADPARE, LSCZ and LSPL provided legal support to over 179 (potential) victims of human trafficking from Asia, including from the Philippines, Pakistan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka Nepal, Turkey and Taiwan. In certain cases, this legal support led to criminal cases against the trafficker, or civil or administrative procedures to claim back wages.
Further Achievements:
- Up until now, only in 7 instances a residence permit has been granted to a Asian victim of human trafficking in Romania, in all these cases this was achieved through legal assistance provided by ADPARE. Among these were victims from Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
- La Strada Czech Republic set up targeted monitoring of the Filipino community on social media, this includes conducting online outreach and providing relevant legal information.
- La Strada Poland established cooperation with Asian embassies to spread awareness of human trafficking and forced labour and organised successful meetings with representatives of the Filipino, Indonesian, and Bangladeshi embassies. Special leaflets to raise awareness about migrants’ rights for migrants from the Filipin’s, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh will be distributed at the consulates.
Project Cases
