In the national report of the European Migration Network study “International dimension of the EU policy: prevention, combating of trafficking in human beings and protection of victims in Latvia”, you can read about:
- policies and measures addressing the international dimension of trafficking in human beings of third-country nationals;
- the best practices and challenges of the Member States in addressing the international dimension of trafficking in human beings of third-country nationals;
- an overview of the main results achieved in the context of the international dimension of trafficking in human beings; and
- the needs of the responsible authorities of the Member States to address the international dimension of trafficking in human beings of third-country nationals and the capacity of the authorities to seek ways to address these needs.
Until now, no specific plan has been developed in Latvia to solve only the problem of trafficking in human beings of third-country nationals. However, general principles and measures are included in the Trafficking in Human Beings Prevention Plan 2021-2023, which envisages training, research and closer cooperation with various institutions.
The responsible institutions of Latvia have recognized that the greatest challenges to cooperation with third countries are related to the implementation of preventive measures in third countries. In countries with which better cooperation has been established, cooperation partners have already been identified, for example, in Ukraine and Moldova. Similarly, communication channels, joint preventive measures and cooperation between law enforcement authorities to combat trafficking in human beings have already been successfully established with these countries. However, there has been no such ongoing cooperation with other countries such as Central Asian countries and India.
Currently, it is important for Latvia to promote cooperation with Ukraine, Moldova, Central Asian countries, as well as India, which are the most frequent countries of origin of detected victims of trafficking in human beings’ cases in Latvia.
The review period of this study covers policies and measures that were adopted or are ongoing between 2021 and 2023.