The “National Referral Mechanism” (NRM) designed to better protect victims of human trafficking was launched in Tunis by the National Body for Combating Trafficking in Persons (INLCTP) in the context of a regional conference held this Wednesday and Thursday, 15 and 16 December, in partnership with the European Union and the Council of Europe (“South Programme IV”).
The first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), this mechanism corresponds to one of the key recommendations of the “Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings” and has received support from the Council of Europe and the EU (“Project to Support Independent Bodies in Tunisia (PAII-T)”). With the NRM, trafficking victims can be better detected and identified, referred to appropriate services, and protected in a way that is adapted to their needs.
The NRM is aimed at all professionals who work with victims, be they government agents, members of public institutions, members of civil society, or media professionals.
In 2020, Tunisia recorded 907 victims of trafficking on its territory, 52% of whom were children and 63.7% of whom were women. As the country is located on a migration route, 40.4% of them were of foreign origin. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)