the latest report on Austria from the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), which is responsible for monitoring implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, praises positive developments in the country, but also raises concerns.
The report, covering the period 2020-2024, evaluates the measures taken by Austria to prevent vulnerabilities to trafficking in human beings, detect and support vulnerable victims, and punish the offenders. It pays particular attention to the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to commit human trafficking offences as well as the use of technological innovations to prevent trafficking, protect victims and prosecute traffickers.
The number of human trafficking victims identified by the police has remained "relatively stable", at about 120 per year. While the most frequent form of trafficking remains sexual exploitation of women and girls, the report notes an increase in male victims and victims trafficked for the purpose of labour exploitation. Most victims originated from Nigeria, Romania, Bulgaria, Iraq, Serbia, Philippines and Hungary.
The report praises the "broad consultation" for Austria's 7th National Action Plan on Combating Human Trafficking (2024-2027), which took prior GRETA recommendations into account. GRETA moreover commends the issuing of new instructions concerning victims of trafficking identified during the asylum procedure and the increased funding provided to two specialised NGOs for assistance to victims of trafficking.
GRETA stresses a shift in human trafficking recruitment to the internet and social media, enabling traffickers not only to identify and recruit their victims remotely, but also a digital exchange of criminal proceeds. In 2023, Austria bolstered funding to the Federal Crime Office's Joint Operational Office for Combating Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking to investigate trafficking offences facilitated by digital technology. The government also set up Cyber Crime Competence Centres at the Criminal Intelligence Service and all regional Public Prosecutor's Offices. GRETA welcomes these measures, while suggesting that the authorities invest further in capacity building and digital tools for proactive investigations to identify victims recruited and/or exploited online.
Unaccompanied or separated children as a group are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking. In Austria, the majority of such children go missing from asylum reception centres usually at the beginning of the procedure. GRETA urges the authorities to ensure that all unaccompanied and separated children are placed in safe and appropriate accommodation, with adequately trained staff, and are appointed legal guardians as expeditiously as possible.
Another group vulnerable to trafficking are migrant workers in precarious sectors, including restaurants, domestic work, construction, agriculture/seasonal work and delivery services. The number of cases of alleged unlawful employment of third-country nationals has risen in recent years. While welcoming the range of measures put in place in Austria to protect migrant workers, GRETA considers that sufficient staff and resources should be made available to the agencies supervising the working conditions of migrant workers in order to enable them to carry out proactive inspections in at-risk sectors. The authorities should also increase the legal protection of 24-hour care providers and the legally binding certification of recruitment agencies.
GRETA also considers that the authorities should establish a procedure for the identification of victims of trafficking amongst asylum seekers, and take further measures to prevent vulnerabilities to trafficking of asylum seekers by facilitating their access to the labour market, vocational training and German language courses. The authorities should also continue to take measures to counteract the risks of trafficking and exploitation of sex service providers, through legislative improvements, information and awareness raising.
Furthermore, a certain number of recommendations made repeatedly by GRETA in preceding reports have not been implemented or have been only partially implemented. GRETA once again urges the Austrian authorities to act in the following areas:
• Victim identification. The Austrian authorities should set up a National Referral Mechanism (NRM) which follows a multi-disciplinary approach to victim identification and involves a range of frontline actors who may come into contact with trafficking victims, including labour inspectors, social workers, asylum staff, officials dealing with irregular migrants, prison staff, medical professionals, NGOs and trade unions.
• Recovery and reflection period. The Austrian authorities should enshrine in law the recovery and reflection period as provided in Article 13 of the Convention.
• Compensation. The Austrian authorities should make additional efforts to guarantee effective access to compensation for trafficking victims, by instructing prosecutors to systematically request compensation on behalf of victims as part of criminal proceedings, and providing training on the issue of compensation to prosecutors and judges.
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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.
