26 Amendments of Karen MELCHIOR related to 2020/2029(INI)
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 15 a (new)
Citation 15 a (new)
- having regard to Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, and replacing Council Framework Decision2004/68/JHA,
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas there are many forms of trafficking, but they are all based on the abuse of the inherent vulnerability of the victims and aimed at the exploitation of human beings;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. Whereas trafficking is a highly gendered phenomenon and sexual exploitation remains the most prevalent form of trafficking in the EU since 2008;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas societal tolerance of gender inequality and violence against women and girls and the lack of public awareness of the issues surrounding THB perpetuate a permissive environment for THB and a culture of impunity;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas trafficking in human beings is a complex transnational phenomenon that can be tackled effectively only if the EU institutions, Member States and international organisations work together in a coordinated manner;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. whereas THB is a crime driven by high demand and profits, estimated at of EUR 29,4 billion a year, according to Europol; whereas differences between legislation in Member States greatly facilitate the activities of organised crime, there is still too low risk of prosecution and a high level of impunity and the sanctions applied to deter this crime are inadequate in comparison with the high profits;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1a. Whereas law enforcement authorities in the EU have witnessed a considerable increase in intra-EU trafficking and that nearly half (49%) of all victims of trafficking in the EU are EU citizens and more than one third (27%) of all EU victims are trafficked internally within one’s own country;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses the importance of the funding of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), the Daphne Program and Internal Security Fund (ISF) programmes to continue to be used for projects tackling THB, as well as using other available instruments, such as the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme, EMPACT actions, EU-UN Spotlight Initiative, the EU Trust Fund for Africa, Glo.Act Initiative, the Development Cooperation Instrument and the European Development Fund;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to monitor the use of digital technologies, internet and social media for THB as the predominant tools used to recruit trafficking victims and to regulate third party responsibility for technology companies hosting exploitative materials;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on all Member States to ensure that early expert legal intervention and advice is provided to potential victims of THB at the earliest possible moment, including accessible information about their legal rights and options;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Highlights that while the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet measureable, it is nevertheless clear that the crisis disproportionately affects the most vulnerable victims of THB, especially women and children; calls on Member states to ensure effective functioning of NRMs and equivalent systems and that they should be updated to respond to emerging THB trends during the COVID- 19 pandemic;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Urges the Member States to ensure gender-specific provision of services and supports to victims of THB that is appropriate to their needs, recognizing any needs that may be specific to the form of trafficking to which they have been subjected; Calls on the Member States to address the needs of LGBTI people, as they are highly vulnerable to THB due to the cumulative effect of different types of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity;
Amendment 293 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Urges the Member States to adopt comprehensive sexuality education as a key form of prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls including trafficking and sexual exploitation, to include consent and relationships education promoting healthy attitudes of respect and equality in all interactions and the reality of prostitution and THB for sexual exploitation;
Amendment 352 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Points to the need to set up national mechanisms for data collection on THB victims in international protection procedures to be able to ensure follow up on identified cases;
Amendment 355 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 b (new)
Paragraph 23 b (new)
23b. Calls on Member states to extend the International Protection granted to victims of human trafficking to their family members after having assessed the potential involvement of these relatives in the trafficking process;
Amendment 356 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 c (new)
Paragraph 23 c (new)
23c. Calls on Member states to swift procedures of family reunification of those family members of the victims at risk in the country of origin;
Amendment 357 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 d (new)
Paragraph 23 d (new)
23d. Is concerned that the recovery and reflection period is linked to cooperation by the victim during the investigation and is granted by law enforcement agencies; deplores that the period does not apply to EU/EEA nationals nor to asylum seekers; calls on the Commission to monitor the implementation of available legal solutions at Member states level, in particular the granting of a recovery and reflection period;
Amendment 371 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Calls on Member states to provide more safe and legal routes for migration in order to prevent the exploitation of vulnerable individuals;
Amendment 376 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Calls on the Member states to ensure strong child protection measures, presumption of childhood and child age assessment, the protection before and during criminal proceedings, access to unconditional assistance, compensation, non-punishment, assistance and support to the family member of a child victim as well as prevention;
Amendment 377 #
26. Calls on the Member States to focus on identifying child victims and helping them to avail themselves of their rights; recalls the obligation of Member States to pay special attention to child victims of trafficking and to provide special protection to children in criminal procedures, with the best interests of the child being considered paramount at all times; emphasises the need for guardians, including temporary guardians as an emergency measure, to be appointed immediately for child victims;
Amendment 391 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Notes with high concern the prevalence of child sexual abuse and normalisation of trafficking and sexual exploitation of children, and calls for the regulation of pornographic sites and hosting platforms to ensure full prevention of the risk of such materials becoming available and normalized;
Amendment 437 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Stresses the importance of financial investigation and ‘following the money’ as a key strategy for investigating and prosecuting the organised crime networks that profit from THB; calls on the Commission to assess and promote the use of existing judicial and police cooperation, and the available toolsMember States to launch financial investigations and work with money laundering specialists when starting a new trafficking investigation; calls on Member States to strengthen cooperation in freezing and confiscating the assets of individuals involved in trafficking and providing compensation to victims; calls on the Commission to assess and promote the use of existing judicial and police cooperation, and the available tools, such as mutual recognition of court judgments, joint investigation teams and the European investigation order;
Amendment 453 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Recalls the role of EU agencies in the early identification of victims and the fight against THB; calls for more resources for the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Agencies to enable their staff to be trained and capacity-building instruments to be developed in the area of detecting victims, including the appointment of gender- trained agency officers, especially in the Member States faced with increased mixed migratory flows; calls on the Commission to develop guidelines to mainstream gender expertise in the activities of law enforcement authorities across the EU, including by developing sustained programs of improving gender balance in decision-making processes and in the staff of the JHA agencies relevant to trafficking;
Amendment 461 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33a. Encourages Member States to increase exchange of data and information by using Europol’s resources and databases such AP Phoenix, AP Migrant Smuggling and AP Twins;
Amendment 476 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)
Paragraph 34 a (new)
34a. Calls on the Commission to review implementation of the Anti-Trafficking Directive by Member States and introduce infringement procedures where there has been a lack of effective implementation;
Amendment 487 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Paragraph 35 a (new)
35a. Calls on the Commission to review the application of Directive 2004/81/EC on granting residence permits to victims of trafficking who are third country nationals ensuring that victims are not returned upon expiry of reflection period, calls on the Member States to grant that the unconditional access to assistance and support mandated by Directive2011/36/EU is reconciled with Directive 2004/81/EC and its application; calls on the Commission to review Directive 2004/81/EC to ensure that residence permits for trafficked persons are not made conditional to the participation or willingness to participate of the trafficked person in the investigation or criminal proceedings of the case;