Any decision to deport or return a trafficked person, including trafficked children, should be preceded by a risk assessment, that is to say an assessment regarding the safety and well-being of the trafficked person and her/his children and family members during and after return, to ensure that trafficked persons are not sent back to a situation that endangers their life, health or personal freedom and/or would submit them to inhuman or degrading treatment. Under Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights, States have a positive obligation to protect individuals. Protection offered to trafficked persons should be on the basis of individual risk assessment and need.