Finland grants residence permit to victim of human trafficking
Finland's Directorate of Immigration has granted a residence permit to a victim of human trafficking. The purpose of the new type of residence permit is to help victims of trafficking to disengage from the snares of traffickers, and to fight trafficking more efficiently.
Thanks to a change in aliens' legislation, people believed to be victims of human trafficking have been eligible for residence permits since late August last year.
The Directorate of Immigration is considering whether or not to grant residence permits to two other victims. "The cases are very different", says Tutta Tuomainen, head of the immigration unit at the directorate.
According to the directorate, the person who received the residence permit was in an especially vulnerable position, and was therefore given an open-ended residence permit instead of a temporary one. Tuomainen would not give any further information on the case out of fear for the safety of the victim.
Tuomainen says that a suspected victim of human trafficking can be granted a residence permit even if nobody has been convicted of the activity. "We can grant a residence permit already if it is quite obvious that charges of human trafficking will be filed."
Tuomainen says that it is not always easy to recognise a victim of human trafficking, because they do not always know themselves what they are getting into.
"It is a common phenomenon in Europe that young people arriving from poor countries think that they are to get real work, selling ice cream for instance, but end up somewhere else as prostitutes, or working in conditions of slavery", Tuomainen pointed out.
So far there has been only one trial in Finland in which convictions for human trafficking have been handed down.
Thanks to a change in aliens' legislation, people believed to be victims of human trafficking have been eligible for residence permits since late August last year.
The Directorate of Immigration is considering whether or not to grant residence permits to two other victims. "The cases are very different", says Tutta Tuomainen, head of the immigration unit at the directorate.
According to the directorate, the person who received the residence permit was in an especially vulnerable position, and was therefore given an open-ended residence permit instead of a temporary one. Tuomainen would not give any further information on the case out of fear for the safety of the victim.
Tuomainen says that a suspected victim of human trafficking can be granted a residence permit even if nobody has been convicted of the activity. "We can grant a residence permit already if it is quite obvious that charges of human trafficking will be filed."
Tuomainen says that it is not always easy to recognise a victim of human trafficking, because they do not always know themselves what they are getting into.
"It is a common phenomenon in Europe that young people arriving from poor countries think that they are to get real work, selling ice cream for instance, but end up somewhere else as prostitutes, or working in conditions of slavery", Tuomainen pointed out.
So far there has been only one trial in Finland in which convictions for human trafficking have been handed down.
Helsingin Sanomat