GICJ Oral Statement with Meezaan Center for Human Rights 

Delivered by Isabelle Despicht

On the 24th of March, Isabelle Despicht delivered an Oral statement for the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Ireland, on behalf of the Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ), and Meezaan Center for Human Rights. In her Oral Statement, Ms Despicht addressed the issue of modern slavery, as women, young girls and children are trafficked to be exploited in numerous ways. The decreasing victim identification, as well as the low prosecution and convictions rates in trafficking cases, foster a climate of impunity, which should not be maintained.

GICJ and Meezaan call on Ireland to assist victims of human trafficking without discrimination based on their immigration status. We also strongly encourage Ireland to make progress in the development and implementation of programmes to protect victims of Human Trafficking. This should also include the ratification of other important human rights instruments which are inherently linked to human trafficking.