A new report published today by the Council of Europe anti-trafficking group GRETA covering the period 2020-24, examines the measures taken by Bulgaria to prevent vulnerable people from becoming victims of trafficking, detect and support vulnerable victims, and punish offenders. The report pays particular attention to the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to commit human-trafficking offences and to the use of technological innovations to prevent trafficking, protect victims and prosecute traffickers.
GRETA's report notes that during the reporting period, frequent changes of the chair of the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and delays in the adoption of the budget for the implementation of the national anti-trafficking programme have slowed down the implementation of key reforms and policies. In 2024 the state budget allocated to the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings was increased to BGN 950,800 (approximately €486,000). While welcoming this increase, GRETA is concerned that the financial resources provided by the Bulgarian Government for combating human trafficking remain insufficient to meet the actual needs, and calls upon the authorities to allocate appropriate funding and ensure its timely availability for the different services provided.
While sexual exploitation of women and girls remains the predominant form of exploitation of the identified victims of human trafficking in Bulgaria, the report notes a rise in identified victims of forced labour, who are mostly men. Another trend is the increase in foreign nationals detected as victims of trafficking. The use of the internet and social media by traffickers has become more prevalent, enabling them to recruit and control victims remotely.
The report stresses that disadvantaged minorities, people with disabilities, children from disadvantaged areas, unaccompanied children and persons facing domestic violence, addiction or severe debt are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking. Asylum seekers and refugees face significant risks due to social and economic challenges. There is an increased awareness of the risks of trafficking of migrant workers, whose number in Bulgaria has risen due to important labour emigration and demographic changes.
The report highlights the vulnerability of Roma to human trafficking and measures taken to address them, including through the work of Roma mediators. In this context, GRETA considers that the Bulgarian authorities should continue strengthening the prevention of human trafficking through sustained social, economic and other measures for the Roma community.
GRETA also considers that the Bulgarian authorities should continue investing in the prevention of child trafficking, with a particular focus on online methods of recruitment, and the protection of children from harmful practices, including child and forced marriages.
The report notes with concern that there is no vulnerability assessment of migrants at the borders nor in immigration detention facilities, and no interpreters to facilitate communication. GRETA stresses the need for proactive identification of victims of trafficking among asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, and the development of programmes for the social and economic integration of refugees.
Furthermore, GRETA welcomes the measures taken to raise awareness of the risks and to prevent trafficking and exploitation of Ukrainian refugees and considers that the Bulgarian authorities should continue the support provided to them, as well as ensure enhanced monitoring of workplaces employing them.
Migrant workers are at an increased risk of trafficking because of deceptive employment practices and insufficient protection. Therefore, GRETA calls upon the Bulgarian authorities to take further steps to prevent trafficking of migrant workers, including by increasing the resources of the General Labour Inspectorate, introducing a legally binding certification of recruitment agencies which act as intermediaries for migrant workers arriving in Bulgaria, and ensuring that such workers are provided with contracts and information on their rights in a language that they can understand prior to arrival in Bulgaria. Another recommendation made in the report is to ensure the sustainability of the national human-trafficking hotline as an instrument for early detection of victims as well as prevention.
A significant proportion of penalties upon conviction for human trafficking continue to be suspended, and therefore GRETA calls upon the Bulgarian authorities to take additional measures to strengthen the criminal justice response to human trafficking, including by ensuring that human trafficking cases are prosecuted as such, rather than as lesser offences, and lead to effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions.
In this context, GRETA also stresses the fundamental importance of using a definition of trafficking in human beings on which there is international consensus and calls upon the Bulgarian authorities to introduce the concept of "abuse of a position of vulnerability" in the criminalisation of human trafficking.
Finally, GRETA repeats a certain number of recommendations already made in preceding reports which have not been implemented or have been only partially implemented, and should be implemented as a priority.
The Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) is an independent body which monitors the way countries implement the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. All 46 member states of the Council of Europe are bound by the Convention, as well as non-member states Belarus and Israel.
