The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Britain has said the critical findings of an independent review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 are “further evidence that we are seriously failing in our duty to protect those who have been subjected to trafficking”.
The independent review, set up last year to examine and improve the Act, found that existing anti-slavery measures, including the role of Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, were “too heavily influenced and constricted by Government”. It identified a lack of ongoing support for victims, and a prioritisation of immigration control over victim support.
Sarah Teather, director of JRS UK, said: “At JRS UK, we regularly support victims held indefinitely in immigration detention, often even after they have been referred into the mechanism that is supposed to protect them. Urgent action is required."
Meanwhile a conference organised by members of RENATE (Religious in Europe Networking against Trafficking and Exploitation) in Sweden heard Scandinavian human rights lawyers, Rebecca Ahlstrand and Ruth Nordstrom, also express exasperation at the very low number of convictions for trafficking.
In their address, ‘Strategies to Combat Human Trafficking and Protect Victim’s Rights in Sweden – A Human Rights Approach’, the lawyers revealed that there were just five convictions for all forms of human trafficking in Sweden in 2017, while convictions for the purchase of sexual services (prostitution) totalled 222, with 54 people convicted for the purchase of sexual acts from children, a jump from 15 convictions in 2016.
RENATE delegates questioned why law enforcement agencies are constantly outwitted by criminal trafficking gangs and called on governments to adequately fund and resource law enforcement personnel to tackle this crime.
Anne Kelleher, spokesperson for RENATE, told The Tablet that collaboration with law enforcement “is a critical component for combating human trafficking.”
The conference also heard about some countries’ failure to implement laws and the absence of state records on child trafficking in Albania, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Ukraine, the Netherlands and Slovakia
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