The Vulnerability of Migrants to Human Trafficking in the UK
Human trafficking, a grave violation of human rights, exists in almost every country globally. Trafficking involves the recruitment, transfer, or receipt of victims domestically or overseas where they are exploited for personal or financial gain. The Palermo Protocol established the first internationally-recognised definition of human trafficking and defined exploitation as "the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or removal of organs".
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (The Act) is a piece of UK legislature that effectively consolidates all existing offences of human trafficking and modern slavery. Although the Act has increased policy activity in relation to slavery and trafficking, vulnerable migrants are overlooked and exploited at an alarming scale. A report on the number of potential victims of modern slavery, the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), outlined that 26% of victims claimed they were exploited overseas.
THE DEVASTATION CAUSED BY ORGANISED TRAFFICKING GANGS TARGETING ECONOMIC MIGRANTS
Human trafficking gang leaders often prey on economic migrants and refugees. These gangs manipulate their victims with promises of greater prosperity and opportunity and by advertising substantial wages and security assurances. Tricked by false hope and ambitions for a better life, vulnerable migrants discover that the marketed jobs do not exist and inevitably become trapped by “debt bondage”. This tragic reality forces victims of human trafficking to work under duress to pay the debt accrued by accepting the transit.
In July 2019, the UK's most considerable modern slavery investigation dismantled a human trafficking ring which earned £2 million by exploiting more than 400 European migrants. The ring was led by a well-organised, Polish gang. The Brzezinksi family forced Eastern European and Baltic migrants to work for almost nothing after luring them to the West Midlands. Investigators have asserted that it was the largest criminal prosecution relating to modern slavery in Europe to date.
Victims of the Brzezinksi trafficking ring were manipulated into believing they would earn reasonable wages but were instead forced to work long hours on farms, rubbish recycling centres, and poultry-gutting factories for as little as 50 pence an hour. It was revealed that victims were housed in overcrowded and vermin-infested properties without heating, furniture, or working toilets. The victims were aged between 17-60 and treated as commodities, offered nothing but out-of-date food with no water access during long periods of hard labour.
In some cases, the ring recruited released prisoners, and they proceeded to strip them of their humanity and dignity while forcing them to endure a life of oppressive deprivation and anguish. Hope For Justice exposed the inhuman treatment of victims who resisted, revealing that the gangs often resorted to violence to motivate victims. The eight gang members were ultimately tried and convicted, sentenced for trafficking, conspiracy to require another to perform forced labour, and money laundering.
The ambitious conspiracy underlined the vulnerability of migrants to human trafficking in the UK. As the Judge HHJ Mary Stacey stated when sentencing the criminals: "The hard truth is that the practice continues, here in the UK, often hiding in plain sight."
MIGRANT VICTIMS OF SEX-TRAFFICKING
Sex trafficking is a form of modern slavery where vulnerable victims are coerced into sexual exploitation for profit. Almost 66% of the human trafficking economy is from commercial sexual exploitation, and the global sex trade exploits two million children worldwide. Migrants and asylum seekers make up a particularly vulnerable demographic to sex trafficking in the UK.
A parliamentary inquiry into commercial sexual exploitation confirmed in 2018 that Romanian migrants were trafficked on an industrial scale in the UK. An investigation headed by Leicester Police reported that 86% of exploited women in 156 brothels between 2016-2018 were Romanian migrants. Escaped victims reveal that they were beaten, forcibly injected with narcotics and pressured to watch their own families' physical abuse.
Many migrants fleeing conflict, violence, and persecution are increasingly exposed to sex trafficking. Due to limited resources, access to networks, and information, migrants are often compelled to seek help from third parties. Other vulnerable groups include migrants that work in out-of-sight sectors, such as private homes. Migrant children are particularly exposed to sex trafficking, and victims are significantly underreported. As child migrants endure additional reporting barriers, including the fear of deportation, many are trafficked out of sight and often forgotten.
IMPROVING THE IDENTIFICATION MECHANISM AND COORDINATED POLICE EFFORTS
Criminal organisations go to great lengths to conceal trafficking from the authorities, but when victims do surface, the process of identifying them as victims of trafficking is challenging. The fear of retribution by gangs and the impact of trauma on memory creates significant difficulty in navigating investigations. Further, a reportpublished by the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group identified notable differences between trafficking-identification rates, depending on the victims’ nationalities. The referral rate for non-British nationals identified as trafficked was 11.9% while 76% were UK citizens. The research indicates that the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) potentially endorses a narrow view of the definition of trafficking, impeding victim identification. In 2019, figures suggest that the NRM was almost five times less likely to recognise victims from non-European countries than those from Britain.
Under the NRM, decisions regarding who is a victim of trafficking are made by trained specialists in designated competent authorities. Although this system has identified crucial trafficking trends and data, it must become more accessible. As it stands, the system has created a hierarchy of victims, enabling discrimination against migrant trafficking victims. By allowing more organisations to refer potential victims to the NRM, we can bolster its reliability and achieve a unified data collection system. These measures will help identify migrant victims of trafficking and minimise the risks of re-trafficking, effectively supporting prosecutions of trafficking gangs in the process.
Moreover, law enforcement agencies cannot combat the human trafficking crisis alone. Strengthening coordinated policing efforts has been pivotal to the dismantling of trafficking rings. In 2019, a British and Romanian police operation targeting international human trafficking gangs led to the rescue of 29 women who were victims of sex trafficking. With this said, the National Crime Agency must improve coordination, collaboration, and communication with countries in which trafficking gangs are based.
Milad is a Legal Advisor at the Ministry of Justice UK, currently completing his training at Willesden Magistrates Court. He is also a Strategy & Engagement Director at CASEDO. He received his Call to the Bar in November 2019, aspiring to forge a career as a barrister. He is interested in socio-economic matters concerning the Middle East, as well as justice law & history.