As part of the process of developing a National Referral Mechanism for Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings in Libya, a workshop will be held on 22-23 and 24 March 2022 in Tunis on the development of a list of indicators related to the detection and identification of victims of human trafficking in Libya.

The activity is the result of a partnership between the Council of Europe, in the framework of the South Programme IV, the Libyan National Council for Civil and Human Rights and the Organisation No Peace without Justice. Other national actors such as the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and the Attorney General's Office are involved in this important initiative.

The identification phase of victims of trafficking in human beings is a key step because it is where the fight against trafficking derives. This is a crucial step in guaranteeing the fundamental rights of victims and ensuring their access to adequate care. Identifying a victim is a complicated process that requires extensive research and standardised procedures because victims of trafficking are often "in great psychological fragility, a certain isolation, ignorance of their 'victim' situations".

Through the identification process, the competent authorities "research and assess the different circumstances according to which they may consider a person to be a victim of trafficking". To ensure adequate identification and follow-up of victims by all authorised authorities and to have a single means of transmission, it is important to adopt a list of indicators that make known, through evidence collected from the victim, the existence of objective factors determining that the respondent is a victim of trafficking.

This workshop will thus aim to bring together stakeholders in the fight against trafficking in human beings in Libya, and more specifically in the detection and identification of victims, to develop together a list of generic and specific indicators that would allow these actors to have a standardised document that would help in the detection and identification of victims of trafficking in human beings in Libya.

In this regard, it is worth highlighting the presence, at this workshop, of officials of the Libyan National Council for Civil and Human Rights, representatives of the Libyan Ministries of Justice, Interior, Defence and Health, as well as the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Superior Council of the Judiciary, the Higher Committee of Children, the Customs Service and representatives of civil society of Libya. Representatives of the Council of Europe, the organisation No Peace without Justice, the Tunisian National Authority for the Fight against Trafficking in Persons and national and international experts will also contribute to this activity.

 Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings 

The South Programme IV is a joint programme of the Council of Europe and the European Union, financed by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.