271. Operational duty to protect victims of trafficking.

Where state authorities are aware, or ought to be aware, of circumstances giving rise to a credible suspicion that an identified individual has been, or was at real and immediate risk of being, trafficked or exploited¹, there will be a violation of Article 4² where the authorities fail to take appropriate measures within the scope of their powers to remove the individual from that situation or risk³. This operational obligation must not impose an impossible or disproportionate burden on the authorities⁴, and will not arise merely from a general known risk where the state has taken general measures to