GRETA monitors the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings through regular evaluation cycles. The fourth evaluation round focuses on vulnerabilities to trafficking and on the measures taken by States Parties to prevent them, detect and support vulnerable victims, and prosecute traffickers, including through the use of ICT. As part of this fourth cycle, a GRETA delegation carried out an evaluation visit to Belgium from 3 to 7 November 2025, meeting with representatives of the Belgian authorities and other relevant actors. The resulting report, published on 6 October 2026, assesses developments in Belgium since the previous evaluation and sets out GRETA’s findings and recommendations.

GRETA recognises the measures taken by Belgium to strengthen its legal and policy framework and to identify and assist victims, but points to persistent vulnerabilities among several groups, including asylum seekers, unaccompanied children and other vulnerable young people, migrant workers, people in an irregular situation, people in prostitution or sex work, LGBTI people and Roma people. The report calls, among other things, for adequate reception and support for asylum seekers, stronger protection for vulnerable children, measures to reduce migrant workers’ dependency on employers and improved access to regularisation. GRETA also highlights the need to strengthen the identification of victims, particularly children and people subjected to forms of exploitation such as forced criminality and begging, and to ensure access to the recovery and reflection period for victims in irregular or precarious situations.

The report also makes recommendations aimed at strengthening victims’ rights and the effectiveness of criminal justice responses. GRETA calls for sufficient capacity and funding for specialised victim support, including appropriate accommodation for boys, as well as better access to free legal aid and effective compensation. It recommends strengthening investigations, including financial and digital investigations, and ensuring the effective use of victim and witness protection measures and the principle of non-punishment. GRETA further calls for stronger cooperation with online platforms and other digital actors to address technology-facilitated trafficking, and for improved coordination of policies and activities to combat trafficking. 

The full report and the response of the Belgian authorities provide further detail on these findings and recommendations.