In a newly published report published, the Council of Europe's expert group on human trafficking, GRETA, has welcomed progress in Portugal to tackle human trafficking but has called on the authorities to improve the identification of victims and ensure that they have access to legal aid and compensation.
The report examines the measures taken by Portugal to implement the Council of Europe's anti-trafficking convention, with a particular focus on the prevention of vulnerabilities to trafficking in human beings and the use of information and communication technology (ICT).
New working groups sharpen fight against trafficking
GRETA welcomes the adoption of the fifth National Action Plan for preventing and combating human trafficking, covering the period 2025-27, following an external evaluation of the previous national action plan.
Positive developments also include the setting up of a working group of prosecutors specialised in human trafficking and working groups on trafficking in sports and on child, early, and forced marriages. The Agency for integration, migration and asylum (AIMA) has reduced the backlog in issuing residence permits and increased the number of permits granted to victims of human trafficking. Moreover, the public prosecutor's office has instructed prosecutors to pay particular attention to vulnerable victims and to file compensation claims on their behalf.
Who is being trafficked, and why?
GRETA notes that Portugal remains primarily a country of destination of trafficked individuals but is also a country of origin and transit. In the period 2021-24, the number of presumed victims was 690 and the number of formally identified victims was 250, most of them foreign men trafficked for labour exploitation. There were 39 children identified as victims. A total of 22 Portuguese nationals were recorded amongst the formally identified victims.
The Portuguese authorities have identified heightened risks of human trafficking among migrant workers, especially in seasonal agriculture, Portuguese nationals from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds or with mental-health conditions, women in prostitution, children and young people, including unaccompanied or separated children, homeless people and people with disabilities.
Efforts needed to prevent trafficking
GRETA stresses the need to improve the protection of migrant workers by strengthening labour-inspection mechanisms, enhancing communication and coordination between the Labour Conditions Authority and the police, and ensuring that subcontracting companies involved in trafficking, particularly in agriculture, are effectively investigated and prosecuted.
Further efforts are also needed to prevent trafficking in children and young people through a comprehensive school-based prevention strategy and targeted training and awareness-raising initiatives in the sports sector to prevent the risk of boys and young men involved in football and other sports being exploited.
The report places special emphasis on the need for additional steps to improve the identification of victims of trafficking in human beings, including by ensuring that, in practice, the formal identification of victims does not depend on their cooperation with law-enforcement agencies or on the outcome of criminal proceedings.
GRETA welcomes the efforts made in Portugal to strengthen online safety and prevent trafficking in human beings facilitated by ICT. It notes that further action would be needed to raise awareness and train schoolchildren on issues related to recruitment and abuse via the internet and social media. It also asks the authorities to develop capacity-building and digital tools to conduct proactive investigations and gather electronic evidence in cases of human trafficking.
In its report, GRETA calls on the Portuguese authorities to implement several recommendations issued in previous reports that remain unimplemented or partially implemented in three particularly important areas: victims' access to legal aid, compensation and the non-punishment provision.
It reiterates, once again, that the national authorities should ensure that all victims of human trafficking, including third-country nationals, can effectively access legal assistance and free legal aid. Further, GRETA stresses that the authorities should guarantee victims' effective access to compensation by making full use of the freezing and confiscation of criminal assets, reviewing the conditions and procedures for granting state compensation and providing training to legal practitioners, prosecutors and the judiciary.
Furthermore, the authorities should ensure compliance with the non-punishment provision established by the convention by adopting a specific provision in national law and developing guidance and training for police officers and prosecutors.
