In a new report on Malta published today, the Council of Europe's Group of experts on action against trafficking in human beings (GRETA) assesses developments since 2021, regarding the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on action against trafficking in human beings.
Malta, one of the first countries to ratify the Convention, has made progress in several areas. The authorities adopted a National anti-trafficking strategy for 2024-30, accompanied by an action plan, which take into account previous GRETA recommendations. Legislative amendments strengthened protection for vulnerable victims, including extending special interviewing conditions to all children under 18, and introduced measures to improve migrants' rights and prevent their exploitation. The report praises efforts made to enhance specialisation among police officers, prosecutors and judges dealing with human-trafficking cases, alongside awareness-raising campaigns through media and public events.
Social inclusion of trafficking victims must improve
While GRETA welcomes these developments, it also notes that important challenges remain. Victims of trafficking continue to face difficulties accessing the labour market, and funding for NGOs providing legal and psychological support is limited. GRETA calls on the Maltese authorities to improve victims' social inclusion, ensure sustainable funding for support services, and increase the number of trained cultural mediators to facilitate communication and build trust with victims.
While welcoming the increased focus on the financial aspects of human trafficking, GRETA expresses concern about excessive length of court proceedings in human-trafficking cases. It calls on the authorities to ensure proceedings are completed within a reasonable time, in line with the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. GRETA also reiterates its recommendation to introduce as an aggravating circumstance the offence of human trafficking committed against a child, regardless of the means used.
The report highlights that some long-standing recommendations remain unimplemented or only partially implemented. In particular, GRETA asks Malta to guarantee effective access to compensation for victims by ensuring legal aid, integrating evidence collection on harm into criminal investigations, and revising the eligibility criteria for access to state compensation.
In addition, the report discusses measures to address the vulnerabilities to human trafficking of migrant workers, asylum seekers, unaccompanied children, persons in prostitution, persons with disabilities and LGBTI persons. While acknowledging the legislative and practical measures already taken, GRETA identifies priority areas requiring further action. These include strengthening legal protections for migrant workers, preventing disappearances of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, ensuring the application of child-sensitive procedures in asylum processes, and regulating sectors which can be used to sexually exploit victims of trafficking.
GRETA also stresses the need to improve victim identification by allocating sufficient resources to labour inspectors and systematically screening migrants and asylum seekers. It calls for greater access for specialised NGOs and international organisations to detention and reception centres.
Trafficking is also an online problem
The report moreover highlights the growing role of information and communication technology (ICT) in facilitating victim exploitation. While welcoming the steps taken by the Maltese authorities to promote online safety, GRETA considers that the authorities should develop further measures to prevent ICT-facilitated human trafficking, including by enabling online covert operations to identify traffickers and gather evidence in human trafficking cases, investing in capacity building and digital tools for proactive investigations and strengthening co-operation with ICT companies and Internet service providers.
The report covers the period 2021-25 and is based on the Maltese authorities' reply to the questionnaire for the fourth evaluation round of the convention and a country evaluation visit carried out by GRETA in December 2024, involving meetings with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders.
