Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Portugal (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee notes the observations of the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers–Intersindical (CGTP–IN) and the General Union of Workers (UGT), received with the Government’s report.

Article 7(2)(b) of the Convention. Effective and time-bound measures. Direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes, from the UGT’s observations, the existence of reports of children being sold by their families in order to work or beg in Portugal. The UGT further indicates that Portugal is a port of entry for the trafficking of children, and that continued efforts are needed to raise the awareness of police authorities and labour inspectors to better detect cases. The CGTP-IN also indicates that while there are no statistics on trafficking in children, several bodies, including law enforcement agencies, have reported an increase in some forms of child exploitation during the reporting period, and as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Committee notes that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations, recommended that the Government: (1) collect and publish data, disaggregated by age and gender, on the trafficking of children for sexual exploitation in the country; and (2) improve its mechanisms and procedures for the identification and care of child victims of sale, sex trafficking and forced labour, and adequately train professionals on those procedures to ensure that victims receive the necessary support (CRC/C/PRT/CO/5-6, 9 December 2019, paragraphs 26 and 43). The Committee also notes, from the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), that concerns remain about the lack of identification of victims of trafficking. In addition, while many capacity-building activities and awareness-raising campaigns for professionals are in place, and have been for several years, they do not seem to lead to the effective identification of victims (CEDAW/C/PRT/CO/10, 12 July 2022, paragraph 24).

The Committee further notes, from the Report of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings concerning the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by Portugal, 2022 (GRETA Report), that Portugal is primarily a country of destination of trafficking in persons, but also a country of origin and transit. In 2019, 28 presumed child victims of trafficking were identified, and 29 in 2020. While noting the launch of a new National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for child victims of human trafficking which provides all national authorities involved in the identification and protection of child victims with clear and comprehensive practical tools, the GRETA Report also recommended that further steps be taken to improve the identification and assistance of child victims of trafficking (paragraphs 11, 179 and 186). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the measures taken to identify child victims of trafficking and to provide them with the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for their removal from this worst form of child labour, and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration; and (ii) the results of the measures taken, including by providing up-to-date statistical information on the number of children identified and removed and who were rehabilitated and socially integrated.