In October 2013 our regular contributor Jim Gannon wrote about the Government seeking to introduce legislation to curb the rise in human trafficking where victims are treated as a commodity simply to be traded for pleasure or reward. This country’s perceived open door has not helped the situation as we continually read or hear about almost daily of instances where vulnerable victims are used and abused in every conceivable way as if they are a form of crime currency.
In August 2013 Theresa May the Home Secretary announced the introduction of a modern day slavery bill to target human trafficking gangs plaguing Britain and to end the misery of those forced to work under appalling conditions without pay, without rights and without hope. Forced into a life of crime by fear and retribution by their gangmasters they often also live in fear of the law if they are illegal immigrants. In a clear message to those involved in human trafficking she also announced the introduction of the National Crime Agency (NCA) in October 2013 giving it a top priority to target this type of crime and to bring those involved to justice. The fact remains that prosecution for this type of crime across the whole of Europe is woefully low and some are content to allow the problems and cost associated with the detection and investigation of this type of crime to pass to neighbouring countries more willing to do something about it.
Bill Introduced
The Queen’s speech to parliament in June 2014 announced the long-awaited Modern Slavery Bill which will also seek to end the criminalisation of victims. It will in fact aim to provide some protection for those who have been compelled to commit crime in circumstances beyond their control. Many will be illegal immigrants forced to work in the sex, drugs and forced labour industry or organised crime gangs. The Bill has been described by many of its supporters as being the first concerted move against the slave trade in 200 years, although its public face has changed during that period many times. It includes longer sentences for repeated offenders and greater powers for the police to confiscate the overseas assets of human traffickers with seized assets being used to compensate victims. Restrictions on those convicted to run companies are also included. The real problem is that the victims are often migrants from eastern Europe, Asia and Africa who possess nothing but a dream and who are illegally smuggled into Continental Europe or Britain in the belief that they will be able to start a new life and be able to earn more money in a month than they could earn in their own country in a lifetime. The reality however is much different and they usually end up living in appalling conditions working long hours for their gangmasters in illegal brothels, nail bars, massage parlours, cannabis farms, factories or on the land. In June we were informed of a dozen Lithuanians living in Swindon who were forced to pose as charity workers collecting donations of used clothing in Oxford for as little as £2 per day which was sold off in shops in Lithuania for a profit. This method of forced labour and crime appears to be yet another emerging tactic for traffickers operating in Britain.
Envoy comment
Anthony Steen the Home Secretary’s special envoy on modern slavery was concerned about the recent Lithuanian case and he was quoted in the Sunday Times as saying that the case illustrated how important it was that the Modern Slavery Bill granted victim immunity from prosecution for crimes done under duress. By punishing victims, gang masters get off free. Steen went on to say the police are impotent unless victims speak out to nail the real criminals, their traffickers. Imprisoned, they will never help law enforcement, especially if they are too scared to talk for fear of retribution.
Reality
The Lithuanian story started with answering online adverts offering lucrative jobs in Britain helping a charity raise funds by collecting unwanted clothes. This was followed by arranged transport to Britain in a mini-van and forced to live in costly cramped conditions before the victims realised the promises of a dream job were little more than slave labour enforced by threats of violence. Built in safeguards to the Bill will seek to ensure the defence of being ‘compelled to commit a crime’ will not be abused. Some see it as a loophole to prosecution but this defence will apply only to a person who is a victim of slavery or trafficking. They must have had no other reasonable alternative than to commit the offence as a consequence of their enslaved or trafficked situation. There is no defence for those accused of crimes of violence which include rape and other sexual assault. The Bill however is designed to ensure victims of slavery who have been forced to commit offences through physical or mental abuse are fully protected by British justice. The MPs involved in the parliamentary task force appointed to recommend reforms to the Bill to ensure it meets its objectives, including increasing the number of successful prosecutions.
Home Secretary
The Home Secretary Theresa May wants the new Bill to be on the statute books before the next general election in 2015. Some see this latest Government move to be a major step forward in fighting crime associated with modern day slavery putting us ahead of the rest of Europe. The revelation of modern day slavery exposed by a well-fought campaign by the Sunday Times over the last 12 months has helped to bring the problem into the public domain. The Home Secretary has said that no man, woman or child should be left to suffer through modern slavery and I think we can all agree.
