A coalition of NGOs criticizes the government for its national strategy against human trafficking, which was adopted on October 25. The organisations, united in the Network of NGOs Against Trafficking in Human Beings (RoITP), claim the changes in the national strategy mean a major setback in the fight against human trafficking, as it reduces state responsibility, removes the team of experts for monitoring and evaluation, and eliminates prevention activities.

In June, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) also urged Romania to do more to crack down on human trafficking by ensuring offenders are punished and victims compensated. In its report, GRETA was particularly concerned about the fact that victims rarely receive compensation because the perpetrators’ assets were not identified or frozen at an early stage. The experts also expressed concern about the practice of making names and addresses of victims of trafficking publicly available on judicial websites and urged authorities to effectively protect victims and witnesses of trafficking.

Together with Ireland, Romania was the only EU country on the so-called Tier 2 Watch List of the influential U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report 2021 as it “does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking”.

Romania is predominantly a country of origin of victims of trafficking in human beings. Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom are the main countries of destination. Romania has the most trafficking victims in the European Union, according to the most recent European Commission report.