Swiss platform to be launched to combat human trafficking

Victims who have been exploited abroad and fled to Switzerland should have access to support and protection, say the organisations behind the new platform Keystone

Trafficked people in Switzerland often don’t receive the necessary protection and have hardly any access to their rights, according to counselling centres. Four organisations are therefore launching the Swiss Platform against Human Trafficking.

The occasion is the European Day against Human Trafficking on October 18. The founding NGOs – FIZ, CSP Geneva, MayDay Ticino and Astrée – together advised and cared for around 400 victims of human trafficking in 2019. The focus was on protection and rights.

The platform is a network for relevant actors and develops political action, lobbying and awareness campaigns, the four organisations said on Wednesday.

They are calling for specialised victim-protection organisations in all cantons to be involved at the earliest possible stage in the identification, counselling and care of presumed victims of human trafficking. These services should also be financed, they said.

Raise awareness

Victims who have been exploited abroad and fled to Switzerland should also have access to support and protection. This applies above all to those seeking asylum, they said.

If there is a suspicion of human trafficking, Switzerland should make use of the right to self-assessment of the asylum application. Dublin repatriations – in which asylum seekers are returned to the EU member state where they first applied for asylum – should not be carried out in such cases, the four organisations stated.

More resources are also needed to raise awareness among authorities and the public about human trafficking, they said.