Twenty years ago, in 2006, the Belgian legislator introduced the "status of victim of smuggling" (in Dutch "smokkelstatuut" in French "statut de victime de trafic"). This status offers victims of human smuggling involving aggravating circumstances - analogous to victims of human trafficking - the opportunity to obtain a residence permit if they cooperate with the competent authorities in the fight against the suspected perpetrators of the crime. With this, Belgium is one of the few European Member States to provide a status for victims of human smuggling based on the Residence Permit Directive.

But who are these victims of human smuggling? How do they get into contact with police services, magistrates, and specialised centres? And how can they contribute to the detection and prosecution of human smuggling offences? To answer these questions, the Federal Migration Centre Myria, together with the National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology (NICC), launched the research project TRAQ ("Trafic Analyses Qualitatives") in 2024. This research project received support from the European Union's Internal Security Fund (ISF).

On 27 March 2026, the research results were presented during a seminar. About a hundred participants, including representatives from the police, judiciary, specialised centres, government institutions, and NGOs, learned about the findings through presentations, conversation tables, and a panel discussion. EMN Belgium was also present at this engaging and interesting seminar.

The research report can be found here.