ation in legal proceedings are rarely offered the possibility to remain in the country of destination once proceedings are concluded.131 Where permits are available, they may be conditional on the outcome of the criminal proceedings and only offered where a conviction is made or the victim “does their best to co-operate”.132 As with reflection periods, some EU countries impose additional requirements for granting residence permits, including by requiring that the victim provide identity documents.133 Such requirements can be impossible for victims to fulfil, as they may not have possessed valid documents in the first place or may have had their documents confiscated by traffickers. The UN Trafficking Protocol requires that destination countries conducting return take into consideration the status of any related legal proceedings involving the individual who is to be returned.134 The presence of the trafficked person in the country in which remedies are being sought is often a practical – and sometimes a legal – requirement. When returning countries do not take this into account, then this will inevitably obstruct the free and effective exercise of the trafficked person’s right to remedies. At the very least, returning countries should defer deportation and provide a temporary residence permit to allow the victim to participate in legal proceedings. The OSCE Action Plan and Ministerial Council Decision No. 8/07 urge states to consider providing victims of trafficking with temporary and permanent residence permits.135 In the OSCE context, such permits are not explicitly linked to judicial proceedings. While Ministerial Council Decision No. 8/07 does not specify the purposes of these permits, the Action Plan mentions them in connection with potential dangers to victims’ safety. The OSCE commitments call on states to consider granting work permits to victims for the duration of their stay in the destination country.136 The commitments also recommend that states provide a reflection delay and enhance employment opportunities available to victims during their stay, including through information on and the provision of work permits.137 Although Council of Europe and EU standards both envisage the provision of temporary residence permits to victims of trafficking, there are differences in terms of eligibility criteria. The Council of Europe Trafficking Convention obliges States Parties to issue residence permits to victims of trafficking if the competent national authority considers their stay necessary either due to their personal circumstances, or for the 131  Hancilova and Massey, Legislation and the Situation Concerning Trafficking in Human Beings, op. cit., note 80, 2009, p. 82. 132  Sarah Craggs and Ruzayda Martens, Rights, Residence, Rehabilitation: A Comparative study Assessing Residence Options for Trafficked Persons, International Organization for Migration, 2010, p. 97. 133  Ibid, p. 55. 134  UN Trafficking Protocol, art. 8. 135  Reiterated also in the 2013 Addendum to the OSCE Action Plan, part IV, paras. 2 and 2.3. 136  OSCE Action Plan, part V, paras. 8.2-8.3; OSCE Ministerial Council, Decision No. 8/07, para. 2; 2013 Addendum to the OSCE Action Plan, part IV, paras. 2 and 2.3. 137  OSCE Ministerial Council, Decision No. 8/07, para. 2. 56 Part 2: Explanatory Report to the Principles