The four-day exercise was led by the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior and brought together more than 40 professionals from law enforcement, social affairs and victims’ protection. Colleagues from Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Morocco also took part, and partner organisations attended as observers.

No classrooms, no lecture slides, no courtroom. Unlike conventional training or mock trials, the simulation exercise dropped participants straight into the field. Actors played victims and perpetrators in scenarios drawn from real-life trafficking cases, and the situations unfolded in real time, as they would on the ground.

Over four days, participants raided apartments, searched premises and pursued suspects. Along the way they had to spot the signs, identify potential victims, investigate and work hand in hand with other actors, always keeping the victim at the centre and human rights at the core of their response.

The outcomes of the exercise will be presented at a later stage and will be followed by further activities.

The exercise was organised in the framework of the joint programme "Strengthening Euro-Mediterranean legal space for shared prosperity and human security" (South Programme VI), co-financed by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.