Part 2 Evolution of the phenomena and the fight against the trafficking and smuggling of human beings 34 Chapiter 1 Recent developments in the legal and political framework Recent European and Belgian developments are on victims of trafficking and the fight against it123. summarised hereafter. While, at first sight, their entry into force and the increased police presence at borders and in public spaces may have appeared to deter crime, they may also have driven criminals further underground. Criminals have adapted to the "new reality" created by the 1. Developments in the pandemic, especially through the misuse of new communication technologies. At the same time, the European legal and pandemic is having an impact on the ability of public political framework authorities and non-governmental organisations to provide essential services to trafficking victims. The pandemic has also highlighted the systemic and deep-rooted economic and societal inequalities 1.1. | Human trafficking that are among the root causes of human trafficking. UNODC therefore fears that the pandemic and its There were no particular developments in the European preventive measures will further complicate the anti-human trafficking policy in 2019. The mandate of identification of trafficking victims, increase their Ms. Vassiliadou, the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator, exposure to contracting the virus and limit their expired end February 2020. At the close of this access to healthcare for the treatment of the disease. report122, the Deputy Director General of the The pandemic has increased the precariousness of Directorate-General Migration and Home Affairs, Mr these already vulnerable people, with low incomes or Olivier Onidi, had taken up the position. working in the informal sector (illegally staying migrants, seasonal workers, sex industry workers, etc.). There is a risk of greater exploitation in sectors COVID-19 and human trafficking where trafficking is frequently detected, owing to the reduction in production costs caused by the economic The start of 2020 was characterised by the measures difficulties encountered, as well as the drop in taken on a global, European and national level to deal checks by the authorities. Similarly, for victims who with the coronavirus pandemic. Several international are held by traffickers, the measures against and European agencies have drawn the authorities COVID-19 are likely to worsen their situation, attention to their repercussions on human increase their isolation and reduce their chances of trafficking. being identified. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Consequently, the mechanisms to identify and (UNODC) warned states about the adverse effects of refer trafficking victims and give them access to their the coronavirus measures rights, have slowed down or have ceased to function. This 123 UNODC, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on trafficking in persons: Preliminary findings and messaging based on rapid 122 September 2020. stocktaking, May 2020: https://www.unodc.org/documents/ Advocacy-Section/HTMSS_Thematic_Brief_on_COVID-19.pdf 35 has also been observed in Belgium by the specialised with reduced profit margins owing to an economic reception centres. They noticed an abnormal drop in the crisis, is indeed likely to open up the market to those number of reports of potential victims of human offering illegal or cheap labour. trafficking during the lockdown. Moreover, the closure of establishments offering Other obstacles exist preventing access to services, legal sexual activities can lead to an increase in the assistance and support owing to the stay-at-home number of acts of illegal sexual exploitation. Similarly, lockdown rules and the resulting closure of NGOs travel restrictions complicate seasonal work in and government services. Identified victims who were agriculture, likely increasing the demand for receiving support form government services or NGOs third-country migrants who are the victims of may face difficulties, such as the renewal of their trafficking in this domain126. residence permit. Furthermore, inspection services such as labour inspectorates or the police may also be affected. For instance, the police is required to enforce the lockdown 1.2. | Human smuggling or social distancing measures, which affects their normal operational capacity. Therefore, there is a risk that investigations into human trafficking will COVID-19 and human smuggling become less of a priority and that there will be fewer inspections of suspected sites and cases. This observation applies to Belgium, as shown by several Measures to combat COVID-19 also have an impact players in the external contributions on the impact of on migrant smuggling. the health crisis on human trafficking124. UNODC127 therefore believes that restrictions on As a result, here are some of UNODC's travel and movement don't impede the migration recommendations to states: of people fleeing conflicts or violence. Often, these people have no other choice than to resort to smugglers. Migrant smuggling is therefore likely to increase owing to the closure of borders and the even ■ continuous monitoring of responses to COVID and greater need to use smugglers to cross them. These the necessary adjustments to be made when they closures and restrictions also risk leading to more have a negative impact on vulnerable groups such as dangerous conditions and the use of more hazardous victims of trafficking; routes, as well as higher prices. ■ vigilance on the part of frontline services and magistrates regarding new crime patterns and Europol has observed that smugglers adapt their modi their evolution; operandi to border closures. ■ flexibility of support services; ■ systematic collection and analysis of data on the As a result of increased border control measures and impact of COVID-19 on human trafficking. travel restrictions within the EU, Europol has seen a shift in smuggling activites128: among other Europol has also analysed the effects of the pandemic things, an increase in the use of the on organised crime. The agency assesses the short-, medium- and long-term consequences of it. For human trafficking, it believes that if, in the long term, the pandemic is followed by a recession, it is likely that there will be an increase in the demand for sexual exploitation and labour exploitation, as well as a rise in 126 European Migrant Smuggling Centre, 4th Annual Report, 2019: https:// 125 www.europol.europa.eu/publications-documents/emsc-4th-annual- intra-European trafficking . The closure of businesses activity-report-%E2%80%93-2019 127 UNODC, How COVID-19 restrictions and the economic consequences are likely to impact migrant smuggling and cross-border trafficking in persons to Europe and North America, research brief, May 2020: https://www. 124 See below. unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/covid/Covid-related-impact- 125 EUROPOL, Beyond the pandemic: how COVID-19 will shape the serious on-SoM-TiP-web3.pdf and organised crime landscape in the EU, 30 April 2020: https://www. 128 European Migrant Smuggling Centre, 4th Annual Report, 2019: https:// europol.europa.eu/publications-documents/beyond-pandemic-how- www.europol.europa.eu/publications-documents/emsc-4th-annual- covid-19-will-shape-serious-and-organised-crime-landscape-in-eu activity-report-%E2%80%93-2019 36 Central Mediterranean route129 and the use of small account the initiatives already launched with the boats to cross the Channel. federal entities. The emphasis is on continuing training and awareness-raising activities, especially for the police, money transfer agencies and bank compliance departments. 2. Developments in the Belgian legal and political framework 2.2. | Other measures Even if they don't directly concern the fight against human trafficking, new measures adopted for the 2.1. | Trafficking and smuggling posting of workers and the fight against social dumping of human beings can nevertheless have an impact on it . As the federal Belgian government has been in a state Transposition of the European directive on of flux since the political crisis of 2018, no major new the posting of workers political initiatives could be taken in 2019 (or at the beginning of 2020). The new Directive 2018/957 on the posting of workers132 was supposed to be transposed by the However, in the previous report, Myria mentioned, Member States by 31 July 2020 at the latest. The Belgian among other measures, the enshrinement of the law transposing the new directive on the posting of principle of non-punishment of victims in the criminal workers came into force on 30 July 2020133. code130 and the updating of the 2015-2018 action plan 131 on human smuggling in 2019 . The principle of the former directive on the posting of workers was that a posted worker could be sent by In June 2020, the Interdepartmental Unit for the their employer to another Member State (host Fight Against Trafficking and Smuggling in Human country) to work there for a certain period, within Beings adopted, in writing, through a silent procedure, the framework of the free movement of services, but an update of the 2015-2019 action plan on trafficking according to the conditions and rules of the country of in human beings for 2020 and 2021. origin. However, a hard core of mandatory minimum protection rules in the host country had As a result of the federal government being in a state to be respected. Now, posted workers who are of flux, it wasn't possible to adopt a new doing the same work in the same company as their local action plan. However, a detailed draft, covering the colleagues, must benefit from the same working period 2020 to 2025, was drawn up by the bureau of conditions and remuneration. the interdepartmental unit. The directive introduces several important In order to ensure the continuity of the work started changes, such as the term "minimum wage" and to establish the perspectives during this replaced by "remuneration". Hence, the transitional period, the previous action plan was remuneration of posted workers must not only subsequently updated.