Rise in human trafficking as Kenny MacAskill hosts summit on ‘abhorrent crime’

THERE has been an increase in people being trafficked into the UK, the Government has said.

• Number of referrals increased by 236

• Kenny MacAskill hosts summit in Edinburgh

Some 946 potential victims of human trafficking were referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) last year, a report showed.

From that number, 712 were adults and 234 were children.

That was more than the 710 referrals in 2010, of which 524 were adults and 186 were minors.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) estimates there are approximately 300 child trafficking victims in the UK per annum.

The report said that organised criminal gangs within countries including China, Nigeria, Vietnam, Slovakia and Romania now pose the greatest threat to the UK, where they exploit their victims for sex, labour and domestic slavery.

Summit

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill today hosted a special summit aimed at finding new ways of tackling the problem of human trafficking.

Mr MacAskill said it was an “abhorrent crime” that was “totally unacceptable”.

The summit, which is being held in Edinburgh, will bring together representatives from the Scottish Government, organisations involved in tackling the crime and those who work to support the victims of human trafficking.

Mr MacAskill said the event was “timely” as it is being held on European anti-trafficking day.

He said: “Human trafficking is an abhorrent crime. It’s totally unacceptable in this day and age that victims continue to be exploited for forced labour, sex or domestic servitude. We want to do everything we can to stamp it out wherever and whenever it occurs.

“That is why we are hosting the summit to bring together a range of partners to look at where we can potentially strengthen existing measures, whilst identifying future priorities for action.”

He added: “I am looking forward to discussing the issue with delivery partners and coming up with some real tangible measures which will strengthen our approach to tacking this appalling crime.”

Lynn Welsh of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Scotland will be among those attending the event.

She said: “Almost a year on from the publication of the EHRC’s groundbreaking inquiry report into human trafficking in Scotland, we look forward to contributing to this summit, which should be an important milestone in the development of a comprehensive Scottish trafficking strategy to address this terrible human rights abuse.

“The EHRC will shortly carry out a one-year review to assess whether and how our inquiry recommendations have been addressed and implemented by government and public bodies.”

‘Heinous’

Agnes Tolmie, the president of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, is also taking part in the event.

She said: “We want all the involved agencies in Scotland who combat trafficking to ensure proper support mechanisms are in place to support the victims of this heinous crime.”

Clare Tudor, children’s policy officer for the Scottish Refugee Council, said: “We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to working in partnership with all agencies to eradicate trafficking in Scotland.

“However, through our direct work with young victims of trafficking, we are finding that systems to identify and protect victims - and to punish their abusers - are not working. These issues need to be tackled urgently.

“To date, trafficking remains extremely hidden and we sincerely hope that this summit is the start of real engagement with this Scotland-wide problem.”