{"id":339,"date":"2024-09-06T10:54:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-06T10:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cbss.org\/bsr-trm\/?page_id=339"},"modified":"2024-11-18T15:25:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T15:25:17","slug":"early-and-immediate-assistance","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cbss.org\/bsr-trm\/countries\/iceland\/early-and-immediate-assistance\/","title":{"rendered":"Early and immediate assistance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Available assistance for victims of human trafficking<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Bjarkarhl\u00ed\u00f0 serves as a National Referral Mechanism based on a service agreement with the Ministry of Social Affairs. Authorities and organisations that offer assistance include Bjarkarhl\u00ed\u00f0, the Women\u2019s Shelter, the Icelandic Human Rights Centre, social services, police, labour unions, legal aid, the immigration authorities, and the Directorate of Labour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initial services aim to meet the basic needs of the presumed victim. The victims are entitled to support in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Emergency health care<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Finding housing<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Securing a livelihood<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Returning home<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Reporting their case to the police<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Seeking help from the NGOs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    In addition, Bjarkarhl\u00ed\u00f0 offers psychological assistance to victims and presumed victims of human trafficking, including to female victims that stay in the women\u2018s shelter. Bjarkarhl\u00ed\u00f0 can also refer victims to assistance and services, including legal and medical assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The social services are authorised to provide a psychological assistance, if needed, to a foreign citizen, including a victim of THB, who does not have a legal domicile or has had a legal domicile for less than two years. The assistance focuses on psychosocial first aid and psychosocial support until the survivor achieves long-term stability and psychological treatment can be started. The social services can apply to the state\u2019s treasury for reimbursement for the costs of psychological assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    \n

    Safe accommodation<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Iceland does not have specific shelters for victims of human trafficking. Usually, the THB team of Bjarkarhl\u00ed\u00f0 refers victims to the appropriate housing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Women\u2019s Shelter for victims of domestic violence in Reykjav\u00edk has an agreement with Icelandic State to accommodate presumed female victims of human trafficking. The social services provide shelter for male victims. Time limitations are determined case by case, depending on factors such as whether police are investigating the case.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Child protection services handle cases regarding children. Child protection services manage two emergency accommodation houses for children in danger in Reykjavik: one house for children up to 12 years and one for unaccompanied children older than 12. They can accommodate possible victims of human trafficking before their placement in a foster family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>
    \n

    Risk and needs assessment<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Iceland does not currently have a risk assessment for victims of human trafficking in use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The needs assessment for a presumed victim of trafficking is done by the THB team at Bjarkarhl\u00ed\u00f0. In most cases, victim\u2019s needs include financial assistance, shelter, legal assistance, and assistance regarding employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>
    \n

    Reflection period<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    The reflection period in Iceland is connected to a temporary residence permit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    According to Article 75 of the Act on Foreigners, a foreign national suspected to be a victim of THB, and their possible children in residing in Iceland, may be granted a temporary residence permit. The duration of the permit is up to nine months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The temporary residence permit is given to allow possible victims of THB to recover, escape the influence of the perpetrators, and decide whether to cooperate with the state authorities. Presumed victims that obtain a temporary residence permit on grounds of Article 75 are entitled to health care and social services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Article 75 states that the police shall assist the Directorate of Immigration in investigating the case, for instance in assessing the circumstances of the person concerned. In practice, the police are always consulted before granting a temporary residence permit. However, the permit can be granted even if the person does not agree to cooperate with law enforcement authorities or the police concludes that a criminal case on the ground of human trafficking cannot be built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The residence permit can be refused for two grounds: if there are reasons to suspect that the person is claiming to be a victim only to gain a residence permit, or if granting of the permit is against public order. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Available assistance for victims of human trafficking Bjarkarhl\u00ed\u00f0 serves as a National Referral Mechanism based on a service agreement with the Ministry of Social Affairs.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":267,"parent":99,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-339","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbss.org\/bsr-trm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbss.org\/bsr-trm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbss.org\/bsr-trm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbss.org\/bsr-trm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbss.org\/bsr-trm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/cbss.org\/bsr-trm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1143,"href":"https:\/\/cbss.org\/bsr-trm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/339\/revisions\/1143"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbss.org\/bsr-trm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/99"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbss.org\/bsr-trm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbss.org\/bsr-trm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}