Supporter Briefing NI: Human Trafficking Autumn 2012
On August 22nd Lord Morrow MLA launched a consultation on his draft Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Further Provisions and Support for Victims) Bill. The consultation lasts until 18 October, Anti-Trafficking Day. CARE very strongly supports the Bill in every respect for the reasons outlined in this briefing. It is vital that as many people and organisations as possible respond to this consultation and affirm its great importance and timeliness. The consultation asks questions about several different aspects of the Bill. As with any consultation, you do not need to respond to all the questions. You may prefer to simply write a letter warmly welcoming the Bill. This briefing has been designed to help you with both forms of response, considering a draft letter first and then going through each question in turn for those who are able to provide a more detailed response. Background For many people it may come as a surprise that human trafficking is taking place in Northern Ireland, but it is, and it is a growing industry. The Government has only just started to collect statistics on victims of human trafficking. The table below illustrates the extent of the problem in recent years, but it is generally acknowledged that this is just the tip of the iceberg: Year
2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12
Victims of Human Trafficking 11 25 23 27
Sexual Exploitation
Forced Labour
Domestic Servitude
6 17 18 18
3 5 5
2 1
Unknown
2
As a consequence of the growing prominence of human trafficking in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Assembly has become more engaged with this key subject in recent months. In February there was a debate on trafficking and also the launch of an All Party Anti-Trafficking Group. However, CARE is very concerned that when it has actually come to policy and updating the law, the Northern Ireland Executive has failed to step up. In January it became clear that the Northern Ireland Assembly would be given responsibility for achieving Northern Ireland’s compliance with the European Directive on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims 2011 by April 2013 – now less than a year away. Since then, however, the Department of Justice has only consulted on and proposed two new offences in the current Criminal Justice Bill. These ensure that: a) When offences are carried out abroad, British citizens and residents of Northern Ireland can be prosecuted in Northern Ireland; and b) A loophole which allowed trafficking for labour exploitation within the UK is closed and becomes a crime. 1