Further memorandum submitted by Anti-Slavery
International
1. Anti-Slavery International is pleased
with the Committee's further extension of the inquiry and hereby
submits its evidence. This submission follows our written evidence
from February 2008, oral evidence given to the Home Affairs Select
Committee on 5 February 2008, and additional written evidence
from 11 February 2008. We will not repeat any of the points covered
in our previous submissions here and will restrict our remarks
to the points laid down by the Committee's new request.
2. In particular, Anti-Slavery International
will contribute its views on the following: progress made on assessing
the scale of trafficking in the UK; developments in types of trafficking;
whether the police and/or immigration officers have become more
aware of the problem of trafficking and are better able to identify
and support victims; whether the UKHTC has been a success in promoting
understanding of the problem of trafficking and co-ordinating
the various agencies involved in tackling it; and changes in the
provision of services for victims.
3. Anti-Slavery International was set up
in 1839 and is the oldest international human rights organisation
in the world. Today Anti-Slavery International works with organisations
from over 40 countries to eradicate all contemporary forms of
slavery, including bonded labour, forced labour, trafficking in
human beings, descent based slavery and the unconditional worst
forms of child labour.
4. Since 2000, Anti-Slavery International
has carried out considerable amounts of policy and research work
related to trafficking in human beings.[229]
At the European level, Anti-Slavery International was involved
in the development of the Council of Europe Convention Against
Trafficking in Human Beings and has been a member on the EU Experts
Group on Trafficking in Human Beings. We hold participatory status
with the Council of Europe and are a member of the Alliance Expert
Coordination Team of the OSCE. In the UK, Anti-Slavery International
has been involved in different multi-agency consultative groups,
including the Counter-Trafficking Steering Group (from 2002) and
the Stakeholders Group on Human Trafficking which replaced it
at the end of 2005. These groups have brought together NGOs, police,
immigration and government officials to discuss and develop aspects
of counter-trafficking policy. Anti-Slavery International is also
on two of the UK Human Trafficking Centre sub-groups, one of which
we chair.
PROGRESS MADE
IN ASSESSING
THE SCALE
OF TRAFFICKING
5. Anti-Slavery International is aware of
the fact that is difficult to assess the real extent of trafficking
in human beings. The ability to produce reliable data depends
on the system of data recording in place and also on the quality
of identification of victims. We noted the progressive steps taken
by the Government to increase the awareness of front-line agencies
in order to improve identification. However, a large number of
trafficked people are still not identified and remain unrecorded
as a central mechanism for monitoring and data gathering in the
whole of UK is missing.
6. The real scale of trafficking is still
not known in the UK. The official estimates by the Government
(4,000 women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation),
and up to 1,000 victims of child trafficking do not reflect the
reality, as they do not include those trafficked for forced labour.
Furthermore, many trafficked persons are hidden behind statistics
that record various related crimes that are often used to prosecute
traffickers, such as facilitation of illegal entry or procurement.
7. Anti-Slavery International estimates
that there are at minimum 5,000 people trafficked in the UK at
any given time for a variety of purposes.
Anti-Slavery International has been involved
in ECPAT's campaign to establish a National Rapporteur in Human
Trafficking in the UK. The establishment of a National Rapporteur
concept was introduced by the EU through the Hague Ministerial
Declaration of 1997on European Guidelines for effective measures
to prevent and combat trafficking in women for the purposes of
sexual exploitation.
8. An Institute of a National Rapporteur,
modelled on successful examples from other EU countries, such
as the Netherlands, would greatly benefit the UK and its ability
to combat trafficking. The Rapporteur would be responsible for
data gathering, analysis of trends and dynamics of trafficking,
independent oversight and monitoring and would provide recommendations
for improvement of implementation of policy and international
obligations. The Rapporteur should have statutory powers to request
information from police, immigration and other statutory agencies,
as well as NGOs. Such model for data gathering would ensure comparable
and comprehensive data. In the Netherlands, where the Office of
the National Rapporteur has been in operation since 2000, comparative
statistics on trafficking as well as comprehensive information
on trends have been available for several consecutive years.
DEVELOPMENT IN
TYPES OF
TRAFFICKING
9. Our evidence shows that trafficking occurs
in the UK for all known purposes, ie forced labour as well as
sexual exploitation. Victims of trafficking are women, men, boys
and girls from various countries and continents.
10. While Anti-Slavery International welcomed
the specific focus of the Updated Action Plan on Tackling Human
Trafficking from July 2008 on labour trafficking and Government's
recognition of the problem, in practice, cases are still underreported
and often not identified.
11. Increasingly, cases of trafficking for
the purpose of illicit activities have been occurring in the UK.
These include trafficking for begging (mainly children, but also
disabled adults), trafficking for benefit fraud (children), trafficking
for financial (fraudulent loans) and credit card fraud, trafficking
for pick-pocketing and other petty crime (children and adults)
and trafficking for growing of cannabis (children and adults).
Cases of trafficked persons being used as couriers of counterfeit
items, such as false passports, were also noted.
12. Several cases in each of the categories
were brought to our attention. None of these were identified as
cases of trafficking by the authorities. Victims were not identified
as victims, but were prosecuted for the crimes they were forced
to commit by the traffickers. The UK is not the only country experiencing
an increase in this problem. Similar cases are known across the
European Union. Consequently, the European Commission is currently
reviewing its Council Framework Decision on Trafficking[230]
to also include trafficking for criminal activities among the
purposes contained in the trafficking definition.
13. We have informed the Home Office about
the occurrence of these forms of trafficking in the UK. Nevertheless,
there has been very little consideration given to these in the
talks lead by the Home Office on the National Referral Mechanism.
Also, we are still missing a comprehensive guidance on the implementation
of the so-called non-punishment clause, Art. 26 of the Council
of Europe Convention, to ensure that victims are treated as victims
and not prosecuted for crimes they committed under duress.
AWARENESS OF
THE PROBLEM
OF TRAFFICKING
14. Anti-Slavery International is aware
that efforts have been made in the last two years to increase
awareness and knowledge of trafficking among the police and immigration
authorities. The organisation itself has participated in the delivery
of trainings for UKBA and GLA (Gangmaster's Licensing Authority)
staff on labour trafficking prior to operation Tolerance (that
targeted trafficking for labour exploitation) and advised on the
development of a DVD for police training.
15. The evidence from the ground suggests
that, despite these efforts, the level of awareness and ability
to deal with concrete cases is inconsistent and both the police
and immigration authorities fail to identify victims. In 2007,
Anti-Slavery International founded, together with two barristers,
the Trafficking Law and Policy Forum that brings together legal
and other professionals who work on trafficking. Members of the
Forum deal with a large number of cases concerning all forms of
trafficking. In at least 25 cases that Anti-Slavery advised the
members on in 2008, the victims of trafficking had not been identified
by the authorities (eg police and immigration service). Several
of the victims were prosecuted for offences they committed while
at the hands of the traffickers (especially immigration and drug
offences).
16. The experience in these cases showed
a lack of understanding and knowledge of the nature of trafficking
by those who came into contact with the victims, which combined
with attitudes of disbelief and unrealistic expectations (such
as that victims know the concept of trafficking and are able to
use the word) lead to failure to identify victims.
17. Furthermore, in several cases, procedures
have not been followed by the UKBA staff. UKBA guidance suggests
that victims of trafficking that apply for asylum should not be
placed into the so-called fast track process and detained. Despite
this, trafficked women were found in the fast track system and
were only removed after repeated intervention of support organisations
and legal representatives. We consider these failures to observe
the guidance to be very serious, as the implications for the well-being
of traumatised trafficked women can be severe. Anti-Slavery believes
that this problem can only be resolved by a decision at a managerial
level to mainstream the issue of trafficking across the UKBA and
also through instigating of attitude change within the organisation.
18. Anti-Slavery International has noticed
a disparity in the way trafficking cases are treated by individual
police bodies. During planned police operations, such as Pentameter
or Tolerance, that were prepared in advance and included thorough
briefings of the staff involved, the identification of potential
victims and investigation of cases was carried out in a professional
way.
19. Outside of planned operations, the ability
and willingness of the police to deal with cases of trafficking
varies greatly. Reluctance or even refusal to take statements,
ignorance to the issue of trafficking and poor treatment of victims
by the local police are but some of the problems commonly faced
by the victims. Kalayaan, a charity that assists migrant domestic
workers exploited in London, regularly faces situations where
police officers in stations across London refuse to take statements
from victims that want to report their abusers. In one instance
the police were reluctant to deal with a victim who was officially
recognised as trafficked by the Home Office. Similar experiences
were reported to Anti-Slavery by legal professionals.
20. It is important to note that there are
pockets of good practice in dealing with trafficking cases. The
Metropolitan Police Human Trafficking Team has consistently dealt
with victims in a very professional way and also intervened several
times in cases that the boroughs were reluctant to deal with.
We also had positive experience with police in other regions,
including Cambridgeshire and Devon and Cornwall. In these instances,
we have seen a dedicated management and individuals that were
interested in trafficking. We believe that this is an issue of
leadership and prioritisation within the police force. The police
are crucial in combating trafficking and unless trafficking is
incorporated visibly into the core police business, many traffickers
will remain impunable.
UK HUMAN TRAFFICKING
CENTRE
21. Anti-Slavery International was pleased
by the Government's decision to invest resources in setting up
the UK Human Trafficking Centre in autumn of 2006. We were satisfied
that a multi-agency centre charged with the task of developing
law enforcement expertise, operational coordination and connecting
policing with victim assistance will improve and create a coordinated
system that would not only ensure that traffickers are criminalised,
but will also benefit trafficked victims. However, two years after
the Centre's inception, we are concerned that the objectives are
not being met and that the Centre is falling short in action to
protect the victims.
22. Recurrent issues concerning clarity
of responsibilities, confusion around the mandate of the organisation
and repeated reluctance to pro-actively search for solution of
assistance in complicated cases is also troubling.
23. We are concerned that, on an individual
case basis, it is not clear what the mandate of the organisation
is, where the responsibility with regards to identification and
referral of trafficked persons lies, what the decision-making
procedure is and how advice is delivered to third parties. During
2008, we have been involved in a number of cases where the UKHTC
failed to provide an advice to other police bodies on the status
and good practice of treatment of victims, or to make a connection
with the country of origin of the victims to ensure safe return.
24. From an organisation that has a dedicated
post of a victim-care coordinator and that enjoys the advice and
input from a multi-agency Victim-Care Subgroup, we would expect
the ability to ensure some minimum standards of referral of victims
and a concern for victim well being. However, in a number of cases
known to us, referrals have not been made, the Centre was reluctant
to communicate with victims' legal representatives and we have
also noted differential treatment of those victims that were EU
citizens compared to those from outside of the EU.
25. Given the number of issues regarding
the operation of the UKHTC, we are concerned by the proposed plans
to appoint UKHTC, together with the UKBA as the central competent
authority, as laid down by the provisions of the Council of Europe
Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. We would
like to see a competent authority whose decision making is close
to the local situation (like in Italy), and where multi-agency
approach is applied. In the current climate, being aware of the
inconsistency in response of the two bodies to cases of trafficking,
it is unclear whether there are the best placed to carry out such
a crucial role.
CHANGES IN
THE PROVISION
OF SERVICES
FOR VICTIMS
26. Anti-Slavery International has welcomed
the progress the Government has made recently on trafficking,
especially the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention
in Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. We are pleased
by the decision of the Government to grant victims residence permits
for both purposes foreseen by the Convention.
27. However, we are concerned that the Home
Office will not have in place the necessary victim support mechanisms
once the Convention enters into force on 1 April 2009 despite
repeated urgent calls by Anti-Slavery International and others,
including the last Stakeholder Group on Human Trafficking.
28. To date, it is still not clear how the
system of identification will operate, what steps will have to
be taken to apply for reflection period, how will the system of
residence permit operate, who will have the case management responsibility
and many other questions regarding the practical operation of
victim assistance remain unanswered. This is particularly disappointing
in view of the fact that the Government postponed the ratification
of the above Convention with the argument to ensure that at the
time of ratification the UK is compliant and has all the necessary
provisions in place.
29. We are very concerned about the fact,
that there are no proposals to include a system of appeals in
the decision-making on whether a person is a potential victim
of trafficking. The issue of potential dispute between the service
providers, the competent authority or between the two proposed
parts of the competent authority that has repeatedly been raised,
remains unaddressed. The risk that vulnerable individuals will
be left in a limbo of uncertainly, without access to services
and in danger of re-trafficking is very real. Anti-Slavery International
believes that the victim-centred human rights approach proclaimed
by the Government with regards to tackling human trafficking is
not applied rigorously in practice.
March 2009
229 Recent publications which include research specifically
on the UK include: Collateral Damage: The impact of anti-trafficking
measures on human rights around the world (2007); Trafficking
for Forced Labour in Europe: report on country studies in UK,
Ireland, the Czech Republic and Portugal (2006); and the Protocol
for Identification and Assistance of Trafficked Persons and Training
Kit (2005); these can be accessed at: http://www.antislavery.org.uk/homepage/antislavery/trafficking.htm Back
230
2002/629/JHA: Council Framework Decision of 19 July 2002 on combating
trafficking in human beings. Back
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