Gardaí carry out 126 searches in two days for EU-wide operation targeting human trafficking

A Garda statement said that two further inspections were carried out on June 20 and 21 by the Human Trafficking Investigation and Co-ordination Unit and Garda National Immigration Bureau. File picture: Neil Michael

Gardaí conducted 126 inspections of people, locations, vehicles and documents as part of an EU-wide operation targeting human trafficking and exploitation.

Specialist Garda units were assisted by officers from the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection during the inspections. They were carried out on June 16 and 17 last as part of a week-long initiative coordinated by Europol, the EU police agency.

Almost 490 possible victims of different types of exploitation were identified across 29 states. The initiative, which targeted human trafficking for labour exploitation and related offences, took place across Europe between June 15 and 21, 2022.

The action days, supported by Europol, were led by the Netherlands and co-led by France, Italy, Romania and the United Kingdom and involved 29 countries, including Ireland. The European Labour Authority and the European Commission also took part.

A statement by Europol said: “A wide range of law enforcement authorities including police, immigration and border guards, labour inspectorates and tax authorities took part in the coordinated operational activities.” 

A Garda statement said: “An Garda Síochána participated in an EMPACT (European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats) joint-action operation against labour exploitation between 16 and 17 June.” 

It said it was executed alongside participating European law enforcement authorities and Europol. “This operation was focused on labour exploitation and was a multi-agency approach,” the statement said. 

“Gardaí attached to the Human Trafficking Investigation and Co-ordination Unit (HTICU) and Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) were accompanied by representatives from the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection while conducting inspections.

“During the course of the operation, a total of 126 entities (persons, locations, vehicles, documents etc) were inspected.” 

It said that two further inspections were carried out on June 20 and 21 by HTICU and GNIB. As a result, GNIB issued a number of letters to individuals in respect of their immigration status in Ireland.

Europol said that almost 18,500 officers took part in the 29 states and they searched more than 10,467 locations and 32,525 vehicles. They checked more than 86,000 people to detect different administrative infringements and criminal offences.

“These checks led to the detection of a significant number of companies linked to infringements of employment law,” the Europol statement said.

“About 500 individuals who had been working undeclared were identified during the inspections. This means the employers in question did not ensure that their employees had access to healthcare, insurance in case of accidents, or any other social benefits and rights that they were entitled to according to employment law.” 

Across the 29 states, the action week led to:

• 59 arrests;
• 487 possible victims of different types of exploitation identified;
• About 1,100 workers affected by labour infringements;
• 514 employers linked to labour infringements;
• 34 forged documents detected;
• 80 new investigations initiated;
• 715 new inspections/administrative investigations.

It said restaurants, healthcare and the mining sector came under scrutiny in the operation.

“This year’s inspections focused on a number of labour-intensive sectors such as mining, home healthcare services, nail bars, cleaning services, restaurants and food delivery services,” the statement said.

It said Vietnamese nationals were especially vulnerable to labour exploitation, predominantly in nail bars.

It said home healthcare is also a sector that is susceptible to exploitation and added: “This is especially difficult to detect as it happens behind the closed doors of households. Eastern European nationals often fall victim to domestic servitude with reports of cases in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Authorities also focused on detecting the possible exploitation of Ukrainian refugees.”