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People trafficked for forced labour in the UK, are not being identified
by the authorities and there is no system of protection or support
for the victims of this crime, a new report launched by Anti-Slavery
International reveals.
Trafficking
for Forced Labour: UK country report also establishes that
many people trafficked into Britain and forced into slavery
enter the country legally from countries in Europe, Africa, Asia
and South America.
Traffickers use coercion, deception or the threat or use of violence
to lure men, women and children into slavery. They control people
through keeping their passports, demanding their labour in return
for a debt or through the use of intimidation and threat.
In the UK, people are trafficked into such areas as agriculture,
construction, cleaning and domestic work, food processing and packaging,
care/nursing, hospitality and the restaurant trade. One case in
the report concerns two men recruited in Vietnam to work in a hotel
in the UK:
The men had to pay to their agent in Vietnam £18,000 for
arranging the job. They came to the UK under the work permit scheme
and were promised wages of £4.95 per hour. After their arrival,
an agent representing an agency that supplied workers to major hotel
chains, met them at the airport and took their passports away from
them. The men worked for two months without receiving any pay; all
they were given was food. In protest, they tried to go on strike,
but almost immediately, their families in Vietnam received threats.
Trafficking for forced labour has been a criminal offence in the
UK since 2004, yet there has not been a single prosecution. And
the authorities failed to identify any of the cases in Anti-Slavery
International's report as victims of trafficking.
"It is vital the Government establishes a monitoring system
and guarantees protection for trafficked people by signing the Council
of Europe's Convention on trafficking. It is equally important that
the Government avoids introducing policies that will increase people's
vulnerability to trafficking, such as its proposal for measures
that would prevent migrant domestic workers in abusive situations
from changing their employers," Aidan McQuade Director
of Anti-Slavery International said.
Trafficking
for Forced Labour: UK country report contains cases and
recommendations for action. It is available online as a PDF document
in full and as an executive summary.
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