Vol. 571 No. 3
116 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress to date on the development of a protocol aimed at combating human trafficking, which the Garda Síochána agreed to work on as part of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in July 2003; when the protocol and action plan will be completed and operational; and the other countries which are working on this project. [21580/03]
There is widespread and increasing concern about the problem of trafficking in human beings throughout Europe and work is under way in several international bodies to find effective and sus tainable ways to tackle this complex human rights problem. In July 2003, the 55 participating states of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, meeting in permanent council, adopted an action plan to combat human trafficking. The plan envisages improved co-operation between governments in the prevention of trafficking, the prosecution of perpetrators, and the protection of their victims and gives clear guidance to participating states on how to implement the plan's provisions.
Discussions are currently under way at official level in Vienna to find agreement on how to enable the OSCE to bring the plan's provisions forward, in co-operation with the member states. I look forward to a successful conclusion to those discussions, in time for the OSCE ministerial council on 1 and 2 December 2003 in Maastricht when it is intended that the action plan in trafficking will be endorsed by the council. I will arrange for a copy of the action plan to be placed in the Oireachtas Library.
In the Council of Europe, work has begun in September on a Council of Europe convention on trafficking in human beings aimed at setting up a joint observatory in trafficking. The European Union has also been actively engaged since 1996 on this issue. The Brussels Declaration, drafted at the European conference on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings in September 2002, sets out the EU's aims in this field, namely, the further development of European and international co-operation in the fields of prevention, victim protection and police and judicial co-operation to achieve a reduction in human trafficking. I will also arrange for a copy of the Brussels Declaration to be placed in the Oireachtas Library.
