OSCE Special Representative calls for child care quality standards to prevent child trafficking

VIENNA, 22 February 2011 - The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, called for enhanced child protection systems to ensure the wellbeing of all children, especially migrant children, during a meeting today at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.

Giammarinaro emphasized the role of child protection services in reducing vulnerability to trafficking and helping to ensure that children are not at risk of being re-trafficked.

“Quality standards of care for child services are particularly important also to prevent the disappearance of children from facilities,” said Giammarinaro.

“Child protection services should be tailored to respond in a timely manner to the individual needs of the child. Moreover, children should be informed and consulted about plans made for them.”

She called for the immediate appointment of an independent guardian for any unaccompanied or separated child to advise and protect the child until a safe and durable solution is identified and implemented in accordance with the best interests of the child.

“Children must not be prosecuted for the activities in which they have been involved as a direct consequence of being trafficked; nor should they be detained in placement centres for irregular migrants, denied access to essential services and proper care, or expelled and therefore exposed to the risk of re-trafficking,” she said.

Giammarinaro also emphasized the need for more targeted qualitative and quantitative research on child migration, including on policies to promote safe, child-friendly migration and to prevent migratory conditions that may render children vulnerable to abuse, violence, and trafficking.