Problems with the National Referral System

An issue that I have been interested in learning more about through my research is the apparent lack of communication, coordination, and collaboration between government bodies, NGOs, international organizations, and faith-based organizations. Over the past 10 years or so, much has been done to streamline processes and increase coordination efforts with the adoption of a National Referral System and events such as the OSCE-led Anti-Trafficking Coordination Meeting that is held monthly in Chisinau and includes representatives from the Moldovan government and a variety of orgs. I was at such a meeting this morning, and this issue was a heated topic of conversation. A representative from the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection, and Family made a comment early on about the National Referral System and how it is still not yet working the way it should. In 2006 the system was piloted, and it was officially adopted in 2008. It is meant to ensure that all the needs of trafficking victims or potential victims are met so that they are referred to the NGOs or other organizations that can best address what they need whether it is shelter, medical attention, legal consult, or a combination of many different services. She said that now NGOs help victims who call their hotlines or are referred by law enforcement as best they can but then do not cooperate with other organizations to ensure that they get care that they cannot provide themselves. The system should also work to collect correct and up to date statistics and data on human trafficking, but it is really failing in this sense and many people addressed this problem at the meeting.

Representatives from the Center to Prevent Trafficking in Women gave a presentation on their services and annual report and the same lady from the Ministry called them out on not using the National Referral System the way they should. She said that it is necessary to report all cases of trafficking victims to the labor ministry so that they can be recorded in the database and this ministry should be responsible for the repatriation process and she hadn’t been informed of any of the specific cases that the NGO brought up during the presentation. It’s clearly a complicated system and difficult to communicate easily and efficiently with all the actors involved. The long process of getting help for the victims hardly helps their situation and the ladies from the center noted that many times their beneficiaries drop their cases and just go abroad again because everything takes such a long time.