THE UK has been urged to do more to better identify and help victims of human trafficking and to convict traffickers after a report revealed the number of possible victims referred to its National Referral Mechanism (NRM) rose from 1182 in 2012 to 10,613 last year.
And the Council of Europe’s expert group on human trafficking said the number of children referred to the NRM almost quadrupled between 2016 and 2020, from 1279 to 4946. It said the UK should also make sure that victims receive legal and psychological assistance and ensure that more traffickers are convicted.
The measures were among the main proposals to emerge from the latest evaluation of the UK’s implementation of the Council of Europe’s (CoE) anti-trafficking convention, published yesterday by the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (Greta).
Their report welcomed efforts by the UK authorities to establish specialised anti-trafficking bodies and their involvement in international efforts to tackle human trafficking.
It also welcomed their commitment to eliminating human trafficking in business and supply chains, including the public sector, and suggested mandatory sanctions for companies that fail to comply with their obligations under the Modern Slavery Act.
However, Greta said the UK should speed up the identification of trafficking victims by funding further recruitment of relevant staff and making the process more efficient.
Free and timely legal aid should also be provided to victims across the UK, said the report, and psychological assistance should be offered for as long as required.
“The vast majority of children were identified as possible victims in England (92% of child referrals),” according to the document.
“There were 174 children identified in Wales, 156 in Scotland and 16 in Northern Ireland.”
Greta also urged UK authorities to continue to monitor the impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic on labour exploitation.
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