Ireland Has Failed, Again, To Meet Minimum Stands To Eliminate Human Trafficking.

Ireland is on Tier 2 "watch list", alongside Romania and Belarus.

Ireland does not meet the minimum standards to eliminate human trafficking, according to the US Government.

The Trafficking in Persons report from its Department of State found that Ireland is on Tier 2 "watch list", alongside Romania and Belarus.

It is the second consecutive year Ireland has been ranked so badly https://t.co/kck6TMUICP

— The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) July 1, 2021

The document found that Ireland is working on reducing the issue but says victim identification decreased for the fourth year in a row and no labour traffickers were prosecuted last year.

It adds "The government continued to have systemic deficiencies in victim identification, referral, and assistance, and lacked specialized accommodation and adequate services for victims. Therefore Ireland remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year"

And, it adds "The government did not initiate any prosecutions for labor trafficking in 2020. For the seventh year in a row, the government did not convict any traffickers under the anti-trafficking law, as amended in 2013, although the government has reported identifying 508 victims since 2013."

The US State Department has chastised Ireland for its efforts in combatting sex trafficking, citing falling prosecutions and victim identification numbers for the fourth year in a row | @PodgeExaminer reports https://t.co/yHHBTflQNw

— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) July 1, 2021

And, on the matter of protection, the report was damning: "The government maintained inadequate victim protection efforts. Authorities identified 38 trafficking victims, a small decrease compared with 42 in 2019; however, 2020 was the fourth consecutive year of decreasing victim identification and the fewest victims identified since 2013. Of the 38 victims, 26 were exploited in sex trafficking and 12 in labor trafficking (which included two victims of forced criminality), compared with 34 victims of sex trafficking and six victims of labor trafficking identified in 2019. Of the 38 victims identified in 2020, all were adults, 33 were female and five were male. Unlike 2019, when the government identified nine child trafficking victims, the government did not identify any children as victims in 2020. This may have been due to the ODPP’s 2018 decision to reclassify child trafficking victims as victims of sexual exploitation, which consequently excluded children from trafficking statistics."

Ireland is only 1 of 2 EU countries on US State Dept's annual country watch list for not doing enough to combat #HumanTrafficking. Criticisms include issues w/victim identification & referrals, & lack of specialised accommodations & supports for victims:https://t.co/oaDlxKSkEe pic.twitter.com/VTgEgBgx4R

— Immigrant Council.ie (@immigrationIRL) July 2, 2021

The Department of Justice says it's disappointed Ireland's ranking has not been upgraded

The report did not take in to account the first convictions for human trafficking under Irish law which was handed down in Mullingar last month.

Brian Killoran, CEO of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, says more of these need to happen to protect victims:

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