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   UK needs national human trafficking watchdog
Totnes MP Anthony Steen writes for ePolitix.com about the modern slave trade ahead of tomorrow's Westminster Hall debate on human trafficking. Despite the abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century, insidious forms of trading human beings for sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic slavery and organised crime continue. In the United Kingdom, many thousands of individuals are bought and sold as commodities and forced into modern-day slavery, commonly known as "human trafficking". The majority of victims are women and girls and come from poor and unstable countries, where there are few opportunities for education and employment. Trafficked children are highly vulnerable in their home country and may have already been exploited and abused before they are targeted by traffickers. Victims may be deceived by false promises of opportunity or coerced into working in slave-like conditions. The UK has taken several positive steps to tackle human trafficking. It implemented the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings in 2009, launched a strategic national action plan and established the United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre. It pledged substantial funding to a women's organisation that provides accommodation and counselling for trafficked women over 18 years old. The gaps in this strategy are well illustrated by the shortcomings of the National Referral Mechanism, meant to systematically identify victims but whom it has failed to protect, leaving them vulnerable to criminalisation and deportation. So whilst competent authorities recognise individuals as trafficked, this doesn't prevent the Crown Prosecution Service from prosecuting them for crimes committed as a result of being trafficked. The UKHTC should have been in a position to resolve such problems but its future is now at risk with its 35-member staff being swallowed up by the nearly 4000-strong Home Office-run Serious Organised Crime Agency. Surely this is an ideal time to establish a national human trafficking watchdog to act as a central and independent monitoring body, similar to the national rapporteurs that exist in Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Portugal. This could greatly strengthen the UK's anti-human trafficking programme. It could collect figures and facts and better identify the deficiencies in existing government policies and intelligence. It could also be responsible for the coordination of anti-trafficking policy and the identification of potential trends or problems. Above all, it would submit an annual report to Parliament. In order to ensure that the UK offers a hostile environment to traffickers rather than to victims, I suggest: The National Referrals Mechanism (NRM) to be administered by welfare workers rather than immigration officials. The establishment of a UK National Anti-Slavery Day so that each year we are reminded of the plight of thousands of adults and children who suffer from modern-day slavery. The creation of a "National Human Trafficking Watchdog" to keep an eye on what is or is not going on, independent of government. Maintain a proactive Police Force focusing on driving Human Trafficking out of the country rather than underground. The establishment of a National Network of Shelters providing acceptable standards of care and support for all victims. Work permits and identity cards for victims of trafficking whilst they are in the UK. Change in visa arrangements so that domestic workers brought into the UK to work for diplomats are free to seek other domestic work and not forced to return home. A Guardian Ad Litem system for every trafficked child. Anthony Steen is MP for Totnes. Source: ePolitix.com Copyright Dod's Parliamentary Communications Ltd
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