Latest news

All the latest news, press releases, advocacy and blogs from Anti-Slavery International.

London’s Met Police help bust child trafficking gang in Romania

20 April 2010 A gang of Romanian child traffickers responsible for forcing Romanian Roma children to beg and steal on London’s streets were arrested on 8 April during an operation supported by London’s Met police. Eighteen people were arrested following raids on 34 homes in Tandarei, a sleepy town of… Keep reading »

Lack of compensation leads to the re-trafficking of victims

16 April 2010 A new legal guide by Anti-Slavery International and Eaves Poppy Project has warned that victims of trafficking for forced prostitution and forced labour are vulnerable to being re-trafficked because of a failure of the criminal justice system to provide financial compensation for their ordeal. International and domestic… Keep reading »

Changes to Met policing raise concerns for trafficking victims

1 April 2010 Anti-Slavery International is concerned that changes to the structure of London’s Metropolitan Police will result in less protection for trafficking victims. Today, the highly successful but now disbanded Met Police Human Trafficking team hands responsibility on the issue of trafficking over to the SCD9 Human Exploitation and… Keep reading »

Child slavery found on West African Fairtrade cocoa farms

25 March 2010 BBC Panorama has uncovered child slavery and child labour on Fairtrade certified cocoa farms in Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire that supply cocoa to Cadburys and Nestle. The investigative news programme indentified trafficked children within the Kuapo Kokoo cooperative in Ghana, which supplies Fairtrade cocoa to Cadburys. Panorama… Keep reading »

Ten year olds forced to risk lives racing camels in UAE

3 March 2010 Children as young as ten years old are being forced to take part in dangerous camel races in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), new photos released today by Anti-Slavery International can reveal. The photos show children racing at the Sweihan camel race track and even show a… Keep reading »

Shell makes deal with Cosan in Brazil despite slave labour claims

3 February 2010 The oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has announced a $12 billion (£7.5 billion) deal with Cosan, one of the world’s largest ethanol and sugar producers, despite claims that the Brazilian company used slave labour. On 31 December Cosan was included in the Brazilian Labour Ministry’s slave labour… Keep reading »

Mexican women and children trafficked to the US

12 January 2010 A Channel 4 News investigation has uncovered the trafficking of Mexican women and children to the US. The trade was revealed by Maria (not her a real name), a woman who had been held captive by human traffickers for four months. Maria was only 16 years… Keep reading »

Riots lift lid on slavery of migrant workers in southern Italy

11 January 2010 The two days of rioting in Rosarno, in the Calabria region of southern Italy, have revealed fruit pickers in conditions of slavery, according to the International Organisation for Migration. The rioting by dozens of migrant workers followed attacks on 7 January by local residents on African farm… Keep reading »

Call for H&M and Zara to stop using Uzbek cotton

23 December 2009 Anti-Slavery International and the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) are demanding that high-street giants H&M and Zara stop selling clothes made with cotton from Uzbekistan, a country where around half of all cotton is picked by forced child labour, following an investigation that links Uzbek cotton to products… Keep reading »

Over a hundred people freed from slavery in Mexico

4 December 2009 Mexican police have rescued 107 indigenous people held in forced labour at a factory in Mexico City disguised as a drugs rehabilitation centre. Twenty three suspects were arrested following a raid by police on Thursday 3 December. A further two more were arrested the following morning. The… Keep reading »