Georgia maintaining “highest level” in combating trafficking - US State Department
It also continued to “demonstrate serious and sustained efforts” during the reporting period, including in identifying and investigating cases of trafficking, the report noted, adding the county was taking appropriate measures to prevent trafficking and protect victims. Photo via the US Department of State
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The Georgian Government has maintained the “highest level” of performance in combating human trafficking, the United States Department of State has said in its annual 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report, published on Thursday.
The report said the Georgian Government fully met the “minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking” and remained on Tier 1 in performance evaluation on the metric.
It also continued to “demonstrate serious and sustained efforts” during the reporting period, including in identifying and investigating cases of trafficking, the report noted, adding the county was taking appropriate measures to prevent trafficking and protect victims.
It also pointed out law enforcement measures were being effectively implemented by the state, and positively evaluated Criminal Code consequences outlined for the crime.
The amendments made to the Criminal Code in June 2021 to provide witnesses and victims with coordinator assistance were also positively evaluated.
The 2023 report noted the Government maintained several specialised trafficking units, including the Anti-Trafficking and Illegal Migration Unit in the Central Criminal Police Department and its six mobile units. It also highlighted a task force in the Adjara Autonomous Republic region, with its specialised investigators and prosecutors, was “proactively investigating trafficking”.
The signing of an updated memorandum between the Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the Labour Inspection, which aimed to detect cases of forced labour through joint inspections by mobile teams and labour inspection units, also found a mention in the document.
It noted protection efforts had been “slightly” increased and “equal services for Georgian citizens and foreign national victims” had been provided, granting foreign victims renewable one-year residence permits with the ability to seek legal employment.
The Department of State said investigators, members of mobile groups, border police, prosecutors, labour inspectors, witness and victim coordinators were trained in combating trafficking with the financial and technical support of international organisations.
The document noted the Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) remained outside the Georgian Government’s control and supported by Russian forces.
The report included priority recommendations on increasing efforts to identify victims proactively and encouraging their participation in investigations and prosecutions through victim-centred court procedures, as well as on improving measures to order restitution for victims, among other advices.
A new project designed to help Georgian agencies combat human trafficking and supported by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe was launched on Friday. The project, entitled Combating Trafficking in Human Beings: Sustaining Multi-Agency Collaboration through National Simulation Based Training Exercises, aims to facilitate the introduction of simulation-based training exercises on trafficking in Georgia.
Challenges, achievements and the current situation in combatting human trafficking in Georgia were in focus of a meeting hosted in Tbilisi between prosecutors, judges and investigators working on trafficking issues, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia said on Thursday.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry on Sunday said its professionals, together with the General Prosecutor's Office, detained four individuals on charges of trafficking minors.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry on Sunday said its professionals had arrested a foreign citizen on charges of human trafficking in Georgia’s western Zestaponi municipality.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry on Tuesday said law enforcements had detained an individual on charges of trafficking minors.
Georgia and its people, as a “proud and freedom-loving nation”, share the same values and principles of freedom and democracy that “form the foundation of the enduring friendship” with the United States, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Thursday at the official reception held at the US Embassy in Tbilisi on the occasion of the Declaration of Independence of the USA.
The United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan on Thursday said the “strong independent spirit” and love of freedom of citizens of Georgia was a basis for close partnership and friendship between the two countries.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry on Saturday said its professionals had arrested four individuals, including Georgian and foreign citizens, on charges of human trafficking.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry on Sunday said its professionals had arrested one individual on charges of human trafficking.
Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze on Friday highlighted the role of the Ministry in the Government’s implementation of the recommendations outlined by the European Commission in 2022 for the European Council to grant the country the European Union membership candidate status next month.
Beka Dzamashvili, the Georgian Deputy Justice Minister, on Thursday highlighted the “significant role” of domestic reforms against human trafficking in the country obtaining the European Union membership candidate status this month.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry on Friday said its professionals had revealed a minor trafficking scheme and arrested two individuals and brought charges against one more person already in custody at that moment.
Vakhtang Gomelauri, the candidate for the position of the Interior Minister of Georgia, on Monday commended the country's “significant contribution to ensuring peace and security" in the Black Sea region during his address to Parliamentary committees, while also praising his body’s “relentless efforts” to combat organised crime.