THE ROMANIAN LEGISLATION (Law no 678/2001) PROVIDES THE FOLLOWING RIGHTS FOR VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING:

The right to a reflection period of up to 90 days to allow them to recover and escape from the influence of traffickers and to take an informed decision on whether to cooperate with relevant authorities;
• The right to physical, psychological and social recovery. Assistance is provided to all victims of trafficking without discrimination, regardless of the type of exploitation and their decision to participate or not in criminal proceedings.
• The right to free legal assistance. Victims are entitled to receive information on the conditions and procedures for obtaining legal assistance.
• The right to financial compensation by the state. Victims are entitled to information on the condition for granting financial compensation and assistance with the submission of the application for compensation and necessary documents.
• The right to protection. Physical protection is provided to victims of trafficking. Those who offer decisive information on identifying and convicting the perpetrators may be included in the witness protection program.
• The right to coordinated assistance during criminal proceedings. The Victims’ Coordination Program was initiated by ANITP in 2006. The program aims to create a coordinated response for victims of human trafficking, who are witnesses or injured parties in the criminal trial, through an institutional coordination of those involved in the fight against human trafficking in order to encourage victims to participate in criminal proceedings. The program mandate is to maintain a permanent contact with the victims in order to provide them information about their rights and services that they are entitled to, about judicial procedures and updated information with regards to developments of the criminal case;

Previous investigation into modern slavery/human trafficking of Romanian origins highlighted a high risk towards the victims which decided to cooperate with the law enforcement in the UK or Romania, their families in the country of exploitation/origin, other victims etc. This usually emerges during the initial investigation, as well as throughout the court stages, and generally materialise in threats towards to the victim / their relatives in Romania or approaches made by the traffickers’ associates to “reconcile” with the victim, including through the payment of money. This is meant to discourage the victims to disclose information which may be used against the traffickers or even to withdraw their statements substantiating the prosecution case.

Very often such threats or approaches were made directly towards the actual victims, especially when they decided to return to their country of origin and, for various reasons, was not provided with the required assistance in Romania (i.e.: the Romanian authorities have not been notified of the repatriation or the victims decided to leave the safe house and live with their families.

If such information regarding threats or approaches directed towards the victims / their families or relatives in Romania are known by the UK law enforcement, the UK based investigators should make immediate contact, preferably via the Romanian police liaison officers based in the Romanian Embassy in London, with the Romanian law enforcement, with the view of taking the necessary protective measures.

One of the most common tactics employed by the traffickers is to depose the victims of their travel documents, with the view of preventing any attempt to escape from the venues of exploitation.

When the Romanian victim find themselves in these situations (don’t have a valid passport or Romanian ID card), the first responder/NGO could assist the victim in obtaining an Emergency Travel Document from the Consular sections of the Romanian Embassy ( London and Edinburgh, soon in Manchester).

An Emergency Travel Document could be issued on the same day of the application and, on case to case basis, the fee could be waived by the consular staff.

The attendance of the victim is required as his/her identity and citizenship must be verified and a photo of the applicant must be obtained, prior to obtaining the document.

The process of obtaining an Emergency Travel Document:
1. An email should be sent to Consular Section (see contact), containing the following information;
•  Name of first responder/NGO;
•  Name of victim, including surname;
•  Place of victim’s birth/date of birth/ address in Romania:
•  Any identity details for the victim’s parents/family in Romania;
•  Victim consent statement;
•  Request for waiving the consular fees;
2. The first responder / NGO’ representative will be contacted by the consular staff with the view to arranging an appointment
3. The victim (accompanied by the first responder / NGO’ representative) to the Consular Section;
4. The application will be fast track so the victim does not have to wait in the queue;
5. The victim is required to fill in an application form;
6. The Emergency Travel Document will be issued the same day;

It is also very important to coordinate this process with the repatriation arrangements, including the notification of the Romanian authorities via the required template (download form from the link below).