2022 Annual overview of the National Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking
The Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking releases reports on its activities twice a year. On this page, you will find statistics from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022.
Annual review 2022: contents
Referral of victims of human trafficking to the NAS – Statistics of the organisations referring potential victims of human trafficking to the Assistance System in 2022 and the decisions made by the Assistance System.
Statistics: New clients 2022 – The Assistance System accepted 367 new clients. Find statistics on them here.
Statistics: New clients who have fallen victim to human trafficking in Finland – The Assistance System processed 236 people who may have fallen victim to human trafficking in Finland.
Statistics: All clients 31 December 2022 – On the last day of 2022, the Assistance System had 1,314 clients.
How to interpret NAS statistics – Instructions for interpretation and information on what the statistics collected by the National Assistance System (NAS) tell us. The link opens in a new window.
Year 2022 in brief
In 2022, the Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking accepted 367 new clients. Of all the new clients, 236 people, in other words more than 64%, may have fallen victim to human trafficking in Finland. Most of the new clients (178) had been involved in circumstances indicating forced labour in Finland.
Those who had fallen victim to human trafficking were usually staying in Finland legally, either with a residence permit (54 people) or a visa (104 people). 28 people were staying in Finland as asylum seekers, and four people received temporary protection. 21 people were originally from Finland or another EU country. 25 people had no legal right of residence.
The war in Ukraine did not affect the number of Ukrainian citizens referred to the Assistance System. Six Ukrainian citizens were admitted to the Assistance System in 2022, which is not unusual compared to the numbers of the previous years.
Of the 367 new clients, 131 people were estimated to have fallen victim to human trafficking outside of Finland. At the end of 2022, the Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking had 1,314 clients.
In 2022, up to 14 people worked for the Assistance System across four locations: Helsinki, Lappeenranta, Oulu and Tampere. The employees of the Assistance System travelled from these locations to various parts of Finland, whenever needed, to work with clients and attend training, among other things. The Assistance System’s team includes professionals from the social welfare and healthcare sectors as well as legal and social scientists.
New legislation concerning assistance to victims of human trafficking
On 1 January 2023, the legislation regulating the activities of the Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking was amended. The amendment enables the Assistance System to help clients who have fallen victim to human trafficking even when the victims do not want the crime reported to the criminal investigation authority at any point, among other things.
The amendment also confirms the status of the Assistance System as a national expert authority. Learn more about the amendment here (opens in a new window).
In connection with the legislative amendment, the Assistance System renewed its referral forms for victims of human trafficking. The new forms can be found here. The old forms are expired and should no longer be used.