UK to bring measures to protect human trafficking victims

The UK govt will introduce measures as part of a European convention to provide better protection and support to the victims of human trafficking from India and other countries.

The UK government will soon introduce measures as part of a European convention to provide better protection and support to the victims of human trafficking from India and other countries.

The Council of Europe’s Convention Against Trafficking in Human Beings creates minimum legal rights for victims and improves methods used to catch and prosecute traffickers.

The UK ratified the convention in December 2008 and its requirements are now coming into force.

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Each year an increasing number of people,the majority of them women and children and from the Indian sub-continent,are lured or kidnapped by traffickers to be used in the sex trade or as forced labour.

The government has been working hard in recent years to arrest the traffickers and find and free the victims.

Some key elements the convention contains are: new national guidelines to help frontline staff identify and help victims of trafficking,4 million pounds over two years to improve victim support and housing,creating a 45-day recovery period for victims of trafficking and the possibility of a one-year renewable residence permit.

The convention’s procedures have already been tested in the UK in several operations. Operation Pentameter-2 in 2007-08 rescued 167 victims from 833 premises and resulted in more than 500 arrests. More than half a million pounds was seized and more than 3 million pounds in assets were held under restraint.

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Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said “Human trafficking is one of the most horrendous crimes threatening our society. Those who are responsible for this modern form of slavery are profiting from human misery and suffering.

“It is vital that European member states work together to stop this awful crime and I am determined that the UK will continue to play its part by supporting victims and bringing the perpetrators to justice.”

The government plans to build on these advances by continuing to fund programmes that help victims of trafficking,and find and arrest members of the criminal gangs responsible.