Updated 17/11/2011
‘People who used to move drugs around now move people around.’
Phil Taylor, Scotland and Northern Ireland Regional Director,UK Border Agency speaking at the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Conference, Belfast, 20 April 2009
‘It wasn’t alright then. It isn’t alright now. Modern slavery traps more people today than in the entire 400 years of the transatlantic slave trade.’ Blue Blindfold awareness campaign web site www.blueblindfold.co.uk/
‘According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), about 12.3 million people worldwide are in forced labour, bonded labour, forced child labour or sexual servitude at any given time. Other estimates range between 4 million and 27 million. According to US Government-sponsored research, about 800,000 people are trafficked across national boundaries each year, about 80% of whom are women and girls and “up to 50%” are children.’ House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, The Trade in Human Beings: Human Trafficking in the UK, Sixth Report of Session 2008–09 Volume I p.14 www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmhaff/23/23i.pdf
What is People Trafficking?
‘Trafficking involves transporting people away from the communities in which they live and forcing them to work against their will using violence, deception, or coercion. When children are trafficked, no violence, deception or coercion needs to be involved: simply transporting them into exploitative conditions constitutes trafficking. People are trafficked both between countries and within the borders of a state.’ Definition by Anti-Slavery, Read in full
Stories of Victims indicate the damage this crime inflicts.
Continue reading ‘Definitions relating to People Trafficking’
Our local arrangements for identifying, rescuing victims and prosecuting crimes sit within the UK framework. Continue reading ‘The UK situation and policy’
The National Referral System (NRM)
In 2009 a National Referral Mechanism (NRM) was introduced as a framework where organisations such as the police, UK Border Agency, local authorities and NGOs can work together to identify possible victims of trafficking and provide protection and support. Continue reading ‘The UK Trafficking Referral System’
During the last decade there has been increased awareness of trafficking as a live issue locally. New identification and support services were established and an increased number of victims have been rescued. Continue reading ‘The Local Situation’
