Email this page

News & Updates

Yorkshire, UK Tackles Human Trafficking

THE UK Government is to make new money available to tackle the criminals responsible for people trafficking.

The UK Human Trafficking Centre, which was set up in Sheffield last year and has already gained an international reputation for its work, will play a pivotal role in the Government's new action plan on human trafficking, being unveiled by Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker today in London. That means the centre's future is secured beyond 2008, when its initial funding will be exhausted.

The plan will also involve condensing the role of a series of national police "reflex" teams which currently investigate a broad range of immigration and other related matters to focus solely on people trafficking, with Ministers committing more money to that work. Changes will also be made to include all Government departments with a potential role to play, such as health and education, into the strategy.

Yesterday, senior figures at the centre were in Brussels to lead work aimed at creating better links between law enforcement agencies throughout Europe. That should make it harder for criminals to operate because the authorities will be ready to close in from both ends of their operations. It is also looking to recruit academic establishments on the continent to help with research into the issue as a lack of reliable information about the scale of the problem and how traffickers operate is an acknowledged weak spot for the authorities here and abroad.

South Yorkshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell said: "Our region is clearly at the forefront of tackling this heinous crime. All four chief constables are interested in making sure we have the right type of specialist investigators we require. "This is a monumental change in terms of direction. It lays out very clearly what we have to do and it will be monitored in terms of delivery."

A new focus should also mean even police working at grass roots on neighbourhood policing teams taking an active part in dealing with trafficking issues.

Yorkshire police forces have been recognised as some of the most active in the country against people trafficking, which is thought to have played a part in the decision to base the UK Human Trafficking Centre in South Yorkshire.  Investigators who discovered four Brazilians masquerading as Portuguese in Sheffield, using false EU documents, triggered an investigation which led to 13 addresses being raided in London yesterday, with 22 arrests and £40,000 cash recovered.

Officers from South Yorkshire and the Metropolitan Police were involved in the operation. At this stage, police believe they have closed down a forgery workshop and undermined a gang responsible for bringing many Brazilians into Britain to work illegally. Many Brazilians speak Portuguese and that country is an EU state, meaning its citizens have a right to work in the UK.

Adapted from: Paul Whitehouse. "Yorkshire centre at heart of new drive on people trafficking."  Yorkshire Post. 23 March 2007.