Supplementary memorandum submitted by
STOP THE TRAFFIK
Many thanks for your letter of 18 February,
inviting updates to submitted evidence on recent developments
in this area. Please find below our response to the points identified.
We have tried to affirm the positive steps forward that have been
taken, whilst also constructively addressing some of the areas
of concern, so that together we can increase our effectiveness
in tackling human trafficking.
1. OPERATION
PENTAMETER II
The results achieved in terms of apprehending
criminals and recovering victims are to be welcomed.
There are some key areas of concern:
— the concentration on tackling trafficking
for sexual exploitation at the expense of other forms of trafficking;
— the apparent lack of informed support
for identified victims after the operation; and
— the statement in the July 2008 Update
to the UK Action Plan on Tackling Human Trafficking that says
"There is no evidence to suggest that the scale of trafficking
is on the increase in the UK". Our concern is that the government
is in no place to make such a statement when Operation Pentameter
II concentrated only on trafficking for sexual exploitation, omitting
other forms of trafficking, and when the majority of evidence
we are aware of points to an increase in trafficking in the UK,
including the recent February 2009 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking
in Persons.
2. FORCED LABOUR
PILOT PROJECT
This project is to be welcomed in that it attempted
to address an area not covered by Operation Pentameter II.
Areas of concern included:
— the short-term nature of this project
with no noticeable follow-up; and
— The lack of resources committed to
supporting the identified victims after the project.
Long-term sustainable support for victims of
trafficking for forced labour is therefore essential.
3. UKHTC'S BLUE
BLINDFOLD CAMPAIGN
Awareness-raising is crucial to tackling human
trafficking. The key is to target such material and then monitor
its success. In our opinion the material of Blue Blindfold is
more suitable for frontline professionals such as police officers
than it is for members of the public or for victims or people
vulnerable to trafficking. Such material needs to be made appropriate
to specific audiences.
4. FUNDING LONDON'S
ANTI-TRAFFICKING
TEAM
The establishment of a specific anti-trafficking
team within the London Metropolitan Police has assisted in victim
rescue and perpetrator prosecutions. There have also been improvements
in the gathering of expertise and experience that can be shared.
— There is concern over the progressive
reduction in funding from the government that has left the future
of the team insecure.
— There appears to have been individual
frustration within the team, demonstrated by members leaving to
pursue other responsibilities, and resulting in their experience
and expertise being lost.
— The government has since committed
to funding half the team's costs for another year, but this will
only lead to the same situation reoccurring next year. The government
needs to demonstrate its commitment to tackling trafficking by
sustainably resourcing key projects such as this team.
5. UK RATIFICATION
OF THE
COUNCIL OF
EUROPE CONVENTION
STOP THE TRAFFIK welcomes the belated ratification
of the Convention. The issues that we raise are concerning the
implementation:
— We have concerns over the structure
of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The UKHTC has been made
the Central Competent Authority, on the basis of its multi-agency
status. However, the vast majority of these various agencies within
the UKHTC are statutory and/or law enforcement based. There are
a few Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) involved, but less
involvement from further afield, such as civil society, grassroots,
and community-based organisations. The law enforcement makeup
of the UKHTC shapes the nature of their operations, which may
be the key focus that the UKHTC should have. However, as many
victims will have had negative experiences of corrupt and/or complicit
police forces in other countries, this will need to be taken into
account as it could deter successful identification and referral
of cases. The aim should not be to replicate what is already being
done but to excel in bringing a consistent victim-centred approach
and complementary partnerships.
— The secondary Competent Authority
is the UKBA, and this raises many concerns over their suitability
to identify and refer victims, when their main focus is on immigration
issues.
— What is needed are Competent Authorities
which show a demonstrable victim-centred human rights ethos as
their primary priority, so that the focus will always be the wellbeing
and best interests of the victims.
6. THE SCALE
OF UK HUMAN
TRAFFICKING
There have been recent efforts to discredit
the few existing estimates as to the scale of human trafficking.
This highlights the need for a post, such as a National Rapporteur
which has already been established in other European countries,
to collect, analyse and publicly present information on human
trafficking nationwide.
It also highlights the need for all frontline
professionals and the general public to be trained in identifying
and referring suspected human trafficking victims. It is only
when this has occurred that a true estimate of the scale of human
trafficking in the UK can be reached. Recent figures include assumptions
made by the government in their impact assessment of ratification
of the Council of Europe Convention:
— 500 adult referrals to Competent
Authority p.a. through NRM (300 victims of sexual trafficking
and 200 victims of forced labour);
— 360 child referrals pa (majority
covered through existing safeguarding children funds);
— 100% of referrals provided stage
1 temporary support;
— 70% adult victims and 90% of child
victims identified as trafficking victims and receive stage 2
support;
— 70% of adults and 90% of children
apply for Temporary residence? 40% of adult applications and 60%
of child applications granted Temporary Residence.
7. SOURCE COUNTRIES
AND TYPES
OF TRAFFICKING
We are increasingly aware of particular patterns
of child trafficking. These include children from Mali trafficked
into the Ivory Coast to farm cocoa for major chocolate manufacturers,
some of which are based in the UK. There is a distinct lack of
accountability and independent verification of corporate supply
chains to ensure lack of worst forms of child labour, and this
needs to be addressed immediately. Children also continue to be
trafficked into the UK from Vietnam for cannabis cultivation,
from Romania and Bulgaria for forced street crime, and young British
girls are trafficked around and out of the UK for sexual exploitation.
8. POLICE AND
IMMIGRATION ACTION
STOP THE TRAFFIK has very strong working partnerships
with different sectors of the police service. We are aware of
the great work of many in the police force to raise the issue
of human trafficking and to fight this crime in creative ways.
Many organisations offer training in tackling human trafficking,
yet police training is yet to be rolled out to key officers, and
the sheer size of this task means that it will be several years
before they are all reached. We continue to speak to many police
officers, particularly local community officers, who are unaware
of human trafficking. Some still appear to be reluctant to address
it until there are significant statistics that will justify allocating
resources to tackling human trafficking. Training will continue
to require a proactive and flexible approach requiring other organisations
to provide effective and complementary training in communities
that are most likely to encounter human trafficking at a local
level.
9. UKHTC RECORD
The establishment of a single multi-agency coordinating
centre is to be welcomed as an attempt to provide increased dialogue
and resourcing of the work across the UK to fight trafficking.
However, it does require a clear sense of what its key focus is
and how effective it is being. The focus of the UKHTC continues
to be with the law enforcement community. Attempts to broaden
this by, for example, having NGO stakeholder meetings, can be
in danger of replicating the arrangements already in place with
the Home Office.
There has been some constructive help and advice
from the UKHTC with respect to some individual cases. However,
other cases have seen problems in referring suspected human trafficking
victims. There are many examples of this, one of which is below:
A suspected case of child trafficking was identified
by individual X in south London. A call was made to the local
police station, which were unaware of child trafficking and referred
X to an unrelated immigration unit in central London. X then contacted
NSPCC CTAIL, who in conjunction with CEOP contacted the UKHTC.
The relevant officer was in meetings and did not address the issue
until the following day. This officer then emailed several questions
to X, after which the issue was referred the following day to
London Metropolitan Police's anti-trafficking team, who then referred
it on to the Operation Paladin Child team. It was only when X
contacted the Paladin team through NSPCC CTAIL that X was informed
that they were dealing with the case.
We do have concern over the lack of awareness
and coordination demonstrated and this case is not an isolated
one. Many helplines are often referred to, including UKHTC, Crimestoppers,
NSPCC CTAIL, and STOP-UK, as well as local authorities and police
forces. The UKHTC stresses that it is not an operational centre,
and yet it is to be the Central Competent Authority for the NRM,
and examples such as the one above demonstrate that much remains
to be achieved. This again highlights the need for clarity of
purpose and the need for an operational centre of excellence as
a first port of call for those concerned for another or for those
in need.
10. PROSECUTION
TRENDS
Whilst there have been several recent landmark
cases involving human trafficking, which set positive precedents
for future decisions, the majority of prosecutions in human trafficking
cases continue to be for non-trafficking offences, such as facilitating
illegal entry into the UK, or controlling prostitution for gain.
One gap in current legislation is the lack of offences related
to the trafficking of babies—the human trafficking offences
as established in Section 4 of the 2004 Asylum and Immigration
Act only applies if the victim is `induced'. There is increasing
evidence of baby trafficking into the UK for purposes such as
benefit fraud, and the gap in legislation needs to be addressed
immediately.
11. INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION
There have been many attempts at international
cooperation on human trafficking, the majority of these have resulted
in conferences and protocols. Concrete cooperation with civil
society and local communities is essential to tackle human trafficking
from source, through transit, to destination, and STOP THE TRAFFIK
are working to achieve this in Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium,
India, the Netherlands, the UK, and the USA and emerging in other
countries as it builds a global movement. Partnerships with the
UN, national governments, EU, law enforcement agencies, and other
organisations need to be applied to specific actions in deliverable
projects.
12. VICTIM SERVICES
PROVISION
There still remains a significant lack of provision
for victim services, particularly for victims of trafficking for
forced labour. The government announced funding for 50 more places
for human trafficking victims nationwide, but this was only for
two years, and as such, the provider of these places will face
the same problem that the London anti-trafficking team have faced,
as outlined above. We are also aware of attempts to establish
safe houses in other areas of the UK, such as the southwest, which
are being jeopardised through lack of available funding. The NRM
needs places to refer victims to, and based on the assumptions
made by the government in their impact assessment above, referrals
will significantly outstrip provision. This will result in victims
being placed with inappropriate services, subsequently reducing
their chances of rehabilitation and cooperation with prosecution.
There needs to be creative thinking in how this provision can
be found and sustained and we believe that civil society will
need government support to play a key part.
13. OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
STOP THE TRAFFIK are currently working to tackle
human trafficking through several projects:
— Freedom Week: facilitating
community awareness and action events on human trafficking across
the UK and abroad in March 2009;
— STOP THE TRAFFIK: publishing
a book by Steve Chalke MBE and Cherie Booth QC with information,
stories, and ideas for action, in March 2009;
— Active Communities against Trafficking
(ACT): informing and equipping local communities nationwide
to work with local authorities and police forces to tackle local
sex trafficking;
— Business Travellers against Trafficking:
informing and equipping business travellers to identify and anonymously
report online suspected cases of human trafficking;
— Global Webcast: broadcasting
anti-trafficking messages and resources to young people worldwide
from the United Nations headquarters in New York in October 2009
leading to community engagement;
— Olympic Summit: informing
and equipping local and global communities to tackle human trafficking
before, during, and after the 2012 London Olympic Games.
More information on these projects is available
on request.
The point STOP THE TRAFFIK wishes to emphasise
throughout is that human trafficking occurs in communities, and
therefore communities must be mobilised to tackle human trafficking.
Recent developments as highlighted in your letter of 18 February
fail to grasp this concept, and STOP THE TRAFFIK would urge the
Home Affairs Committee and the UK government to grasp the opportunities
available to tackle human trafficking through mobilising local
communities.
March 2009
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