Today, 19 November, the Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee of the Saeima (Latvian Parliament) visited the association “Shelter ‘Safe House’”, holding an off-site committee meeting to learn more about our work and the support services we provide.
The visitors included Leila Rasima (PRO), Jurģis Klotiņš (NA), Anna Rancāne (JV), Jānis Zariņš (JV) and Didzis Zemmers (ZZS), along with their assistants and a representative of the association “I Want to Help Refugees”.
During the meeting, we shared our experience of supporting victims of human trafficking and newcomers to Latvia, including refugees, asylum seekers and Ukrainian civilians. We highlighted the challenges that hinder access to justice, particularly in cases of labour exploitation, where people often find themselves in a grey area between employment disputes and criminal offences. We emphasised the need to make more effective use of existing legal mechanisms to ensure protection for people facing difficult circumstances.
We also discussed support for newcomers from Ukraine and other countries. Unfortunately, many people become victims of labour exploitation because they are unfamiliar with Latvian legislation and employment rights. For this reason, “Shelter ‘Safe House’” proposed introducing a short information session for everyone arriving in Latvia for employment, so that they would be aware of their rights and better protected against exploitation and other violations.
Having heard about our experience, the members of the Saeima committee expressed their willingness to explore ways of supporting the work of “Shelter ‘Safe House’” at the political level, thereby strengthening human rights in Latvia and the support system for victims of human trafficking.
This publication was prepared with financial support from the Society Integration Foundation, using funds from the Latvian state budget.
The association “Shelter ‘Safe House’” is responsible for the information campaign “Find Shelter in the Safe House!”, implemented as part of the project “Sustainable Growth: Strengthening the Operations and Capacity of the Association ‘Shelter Safe House’”.