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Breaking the Cycle of Child Trafficking - An Examination of Sweden’s Compliance with International and Regional Anti-Trafficking Legislation Protecting Children Against Re-Trafficking

Jakobsson, Linnea LU (2024) LAGM01 20241
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Barnhandel är rekrytering, transport, överföring, inhysande eller mottagande av ett barn i syfte att exploatera hen. I Sverige, som i första hand är ett destinationsland för barnhandel, identifieras ett 50-tal barn per år som offer för människohandel. Antalet okända fall uppges dock vara betydligt högre. Med barn re-trafficking avses varje situation där ett barn som har brutit sig loss från en människohandelssituation återigen utsätts för människohandel. Det saknas studier om vad som orsakar re-trafficking. Men två kända riskfaktorer för barn re-trafficking är en instabil levnadssituation och bristfällig repatriering. Detta examensarbete granskar hur Sverige efterföljer internationell och regional lagstiftning mot människohandel, både i... (More)
Barnhandel är rekrytering, transport, överföring, inhysande eller mottagande av ett barn i syfte att exploatera hen. I Sverige, som i första hand är ett destinationsland för barnhandel, identifieras ett 50-tal barn per år som offer för människohandel. Antalet okända fall uppges dock vara betydligt högre. Med barn re-trafficking avses varje situation där ett barn som har brutit sig loss från en människohandelssituation återigen utsätts för människohandel. Det saknas studier om vad som orsakar re-trafficking. Men två kända riskfaktorer för barn re-trafficking är en instabil levnadssituation och bristfällig repatriering. Detta examensarbete granskar hur Sverige efterföljer internationell och regional lagstiftning mot människohandel, både i lag och praxis, med avseende på de två riskfaktorerna.
De tre huvudsakliga lagstiftningarna mot människohandel på internationell och regional nivå är Palermoprotokollet, Konventionen mot människohandel och EU:s människohandelsdirektiv. Denna lagstiftning innehåller skydd mot re-trafficking i form av bestämmelser rörande hjälp och stöd till barnoffer, relevanta för att säkerställa en stabil levnadssituation, och artiklar om uppehållstillstånd och repatriering, relevanta för att säkerställa adekvat repatriering.
Sverige har ratificerat alla dessa tre instrument, och genom en granskning finner denna masteruppsats att svensk lag verkar efterfölja dem. Det finns dock ingen heltäckande svensk lag om människohandel. I stället efterlevs instrumenten ofta genom mer allmänna och breda svenska bestämmelser, som inte explicit ger uttryck för motsvarande skydd som specificeras i internationell och regional lagstiftning mot människohandel. Det finns alltså en risk för oklarhet om dess innehåll. Vissa svenska bestämmelser använder däremot formuleringar som liknar dem i internationella och regionala bestämmelser.
Även om Sverige tycks följa internationella och regionala lagar, identifierar denna masteruppsats flera brister när det gäller Sveriges efterlevnad i praktiken. De fem mest framträdande bristerna är; inkonsekvent tillgång till stöd för barn som utsatts för människohandel, beroende på var i Sverige de befinner sig; brist på åtgärder för att förhindra och åtgärda försvinnanden av ensamkommande barn; förekomsten av instabila och icke-stöttande boende; förekomsten av icke-stöttande och opålitlig behandling av vuxna, såsom god man och socialarbetare; och brister i tillämpningen och innehållet i Återvändandeprogrammet. För att säkerställa att barn som fallit offer för människohandel skyddas mot re-trafficking är det viktigt att vidta åtgärder för att ta itu med dessa problem. Detta skulle också förbättra den praktiska efterlevnaden av internationell och regional lagstiftning mot människohandel. (Less)
Abstract
Child trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation. In Sweden, which primarily is a country of destination for child trafficking, around 50 children per year are identified as child victims of human trafficking. However, the number of unknown cases is said to be significantly higher. Child re-trafficking means any situation in which a child who has broken free from a trafficking situation, is trafficked again. There is a lack of studies on the causes of re-trafficking. Still, two known risk factors for child re-trafficking are unstable living situations and inadequate repatriation. This thesis examines how Sweden complies with international and regional... (More)
Child trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation. In Sweden, which primarily is a country of destination for child trafficking, around 50 children per year are identified as child victims of human trafficking. However, the number of unknown cases is said to be significantly higher. Child re-trafficking means any situation in which a child who has broken free from a trafficking situation, is trafficked again. There is a lack of studies on the causes of re-trafficking. Still, two known risk factors for child re-trafficking are unstable living situations and inadequate repatriation. This thesis examines how Sweden complies with international and regional anti-trafficking legislation, in both law and practice, in regard to these two risk factors.
The three main anti-trafficking legislations on an international and regional level are the Palermo Protocol, The Anti-Trafficking Convention, and the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive. These legislations contain protections against re-trafficking in the form of articles concerning assistance and support to child victims, relevant for ensuring stable living situations, and articles concerning residence permits and repatriation, relevant for ensuring adequate repatriation.
Sweden has ratified all these three legislations, and through an examination, this thesis finds that Swedish law does seem to comply with them. There is, however, no comprehensive Swedish law concerning human trafficking. Instead, compliance is often found in more general and broad Swedish provisions, which do not explicitly express corresponding protections to those listed in international and regional anti-trafficking legislation. Thus, there is a risk of unclarity regarding its contents. Some Swedish provisions, on the other hand, use very similar wording compared to international and regional pro-visions.
Even if Sweden does seem to comply with the international and regional legislations in law, this thesis identifies several shortcomings when it comes to Swedish compliance in practice. These five most prominent are inconsistent access to support for child victims of human trafficking, depending on where in Sweden they are; lack of measures to prevent and remedy disappearances of unaccompanied children; the occurrence of unstable and unsupportive accommodation; the occurrence of unsupportive and unreliable treatment by adults, such as guardians and social workers; and flaws in the application and contents of the Return Program. To ensure that child victims of human trafficking are protected against re-trafficking, it is essential to implement measures to tackle these issues. This would also improve compliance with international and regional anti-trafficking legislation in practice. (Less)
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author
Jakobsson, Linnea LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGM01 20241
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
International Human Rights Law, Human Rights, Child Trafficking, Re-trafficking, child rights, Folkrätt, Mänskliga rättigheter, barnhandel, barnrätt
language
English
id
9162831
date added to LUP
2024-06-25 10:58:51
date last changed
2024-06-25 10:58:51
@misc{9162831,
  abstract     = {{Child trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation. In Sweden, which primarily is a country of destination for child trafficking, around 50 children per year are identified as child victims of human trafficking. However, the number of unknown cases is said to be significantly higher. Child re-trafficking means any situation in which a child who has broken free from a trafficking situation, is trafficked again. There is a lack of studies on the causes of re-trafficking. Still, two known risk factors for child re-trafficking are unstable living situations and inadequate repatriation. This thesis examines how Sweden complies with international and regional anti-trafficking legislation, in both law and practice, in regard to these two risk factors. 
The three main anti-trafficking legislations on an international and regional level are the Palermo Protocol, The Anti-Trafficking Convention, and the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive. These legislations contain protections against re-trafficking in the form of articles concerning assistance and support to child victims, relevant for ensuring stable living situations, and articles concerning residence permits and repatriation, relevant for ensuring adequate repatriation. 
Sweden has ratified all these three legislations, and through an examination, this thesis finds that Swedish law does seem to comply with them. There is, however, no comprehensive Swedish law concerning human trafficking. Instead, compliance is often found in more general and broad Swedish provisions, which do not explicitly express corresponding protections to those listed in international and regional anti-trafficking legislation. Thus, there is a risk of unclarity regarding its contents. Some Swedish provisions, on the other hand, use very similar wording compared to international and regional pro-visions.
Even if Sweden does seem to comply with the international and regional legislations in law, this thesis identifies several shortcomings when it comes to Swedish compliance in practice. These five most prominent are inconsistent access to support for child victims of human trafficking, depending on where in Sweden they are; lack of measures to prevent and remedy disappearances of unaccompanied children; the occurrence of unstable and unsupportive accommodation; the occurrence of unsupportive and unreliable treatment by adults, such as guardians and social workers; and flaws in the application and contents of the Return Program. To ensure that child victims of human trafficking are protected against re-trafficking, it is essential to implement measures to tackle these issues. This would also improve compliance with international and regional anti-trafficking legislation in practice.}},
  author       = {{Jakobsson, Linnea}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Breaking the Cycle of Child Trafficking - An Examination of Sweden’s Compliance with International and Regional Anti-Trafficking Legislation Protecting Children Against Re-Trafficking}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}