In addition to protection of victims, and the right to stay in the country of destination, the Protocol
deals with repatriation of victims of trafficking. The Protocol facilitates the repatriation of victims
through article 8. The State Party of which a victim of trafficking in persons is a national or in which
the person had the right of permanent residence at the time of entry shall facilitate and accept, with
due regard for the safety of that person, the return of that person without undue or unreasonable delay.
The definition of permanent residence caused some debate during negotiations. Some legislation
does not recognise the concept of permanent residence. However, permanent residence was agreed to be
better than mere residence. Many victims who have been away for long periods of time might not
anymore have a residence in their country of origin while they usually do have the right to permanent
residence.
States should take into consideration the safety of the person when repatriating a victim of
trafficking. States should also consider the other provisions of the Protocol, such as victims’ rights to
justice before repatriating a victim of trafficking. When a State returns a victim, the return shall,
besides being safe, also consider the status of possible legal proceedings, and shall preferably be
voluntary (art. 8.2). However, the interpretative notes from the negotiations outline that the return can
also be involuntary. In repatriating victims States should preferably return only those that want to
return, and those whose safety can be guaranteed and whose legal proceedings in the receiving country
have been finalised. It is thus necessary to consider the risk of retaliation to the victim and his or her
relatives before repatriating him or her. The article shall furthermore be without prejudice to victims’
rights in existing domestic law and to any bilateral or multilateral agreements that govern the return
of victims of trafficking.
The rights of the receiving countries are quite strongly outlined in the next paragraphs. In order to
facilitate repatriation the Protocol requires countries of origin to co-operate with receiving States in
providing information on the nationality of victims (article 8.3) and in issuing travel documents to
enable the person to travel and re-enter (article 8.4)