The workshop on Fighting Human Trafficking in the Railway Environment, co-organised by the UIC Security Department and RAILPOL, was held on 26 March 2025 at UIC HQ in Paris. Around 50 participants representing railway companies, railway police, government agencies, international associations, private sector and civil society representatives all came together to foster collaboration on combating this heinous crime.
After welcome words and introductory remarks from both the UIC Security Department and RAILPOL, a keynote speech from the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) provided an overview on the evolving nature of human trafficking.
During the first session on human trafficking in the railway environment, UNECE shared the main findings from the joint UIC – UNECE workshop on the security of vulnerable rail users and invited all present to join the informal group of experts on combatting human trafficking on the railways kick-off meeting on 29 April, online, which will continue this joint work.
IJM, the International Justice Mission, then shared powerful testimonies from victims of human trafficking. DG HOME Office of the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator discussed the lack of data regarding the intersection of human trafficking and the rail environment and also emphasized the importance of raising awareness within the sector. The French National Police Central Office for the Suppression of Human Trafficking discussed the fight against human trafficking for sexual exploitation and highlighted the importance of public-private partnerships. Lastly, the Railway Protection Force of Indian Railways shared the results of two ongoing operations: Nanhe Farishtey (Little Angels in Hindu) and AAHT (Action Against Human Trafficking).
Then a training on weak signals detection was provided by the Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants Unit of INTERPOL.
This was followed by a session dedicated to transferable lessons from other sectors. AIRPOL gave an overview of human trafficking in the aviation sector and the various initiatives from ICAO to prevent and mitigate this threat. Meta outlined the company’s efforts to combat human trafficking across its various platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), emphasizing its use of community standards. Uber highlighted their education and awareness programmes for both drivers and users of their apps. Both Meta and Uber also explained how law enforcement can request access to their data in a regulatory compliant way. Then participants learned more about the new technologies and training developed as part of the EU-funded projects HEROES and ALUNA, which aimed to combat human trafficking.
The workshop underscored the importance of international, cross sectoral and multi-stakeholder cooperation, and how the rail sector could contribute to this fight. Thank you to all the speakers and participants for making this event a success.
