- Some 3,266 people have been trafficked into the UK from 102 countries
- Victims are being exploited sexually and physically or working as slaves
- The number of reported trafficking cases has increased by 40 per cent
The
number of suspected human trafficking victims in the UK has increased
by almost 40 per cent in the last year as crime gangs exploit EU free
movement rules.
In
new official figures, 3,266 immigrants from 102 countries - a third of
them children and more than half women – were deemed as victims of human
trafficking.
Hundreds
and possibly thousands more are believed to remain undetected by
authorities and are surviving within the black economy living in
substandard accommodation.
The National
Crime Agency is investigating reports that organised crime gangs from
Romania are involved running begging and petty crime gangs around London
and other major British cities
Criminal gangs have been smuggling in people from Vietnam to operate cannabis farms, file photograph
The
figures represent a 40 per cent rise on the 2,340 cases recorded in
2014. Many of those smuggled into the country and being sold into
prostitution, slave labour and exploiting the benefit system.
The National Crime Agency is investigating five cases of organ harvesting, with three involving children.
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Also,
105 children are believed to have been smuggled into the country to be
sexually abused, up by some 70 per cent on the previous years.
Investigators
believe that Britain is being targeted by international criminal gangs
who are exploiting the free movement of goods and people within much of
the EU to target Britain.
The Albanian mafia is suspected of smuggling 394 adults and 206 youngsters for sex, slave labour and domestic servitude.
A
further 478 victims are believed to be from Vietnam, an increase of 121
per cent on 2014. More than half of the men and boys are understood to
have been trafficked to work on illegal cannabis farms.
The
National Crime Agency is also investigating organised crime gangs from
Romania, including Roma gipsy criminals who have highly organised
begging and pick-pocketing rings.
Other
nationalities who have been trafficked and abused include people from
Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria. Many of these people are enticed into the
UK on the promise of well paying jobs and good quality accommodation,
but end up being exploited.
The figures show an almost 500 per cent increase in people exploited from the Sudan.
The
figures come from the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), a government
safeguarding framework which authorities and charities refer potential
trafficking victims to.
The North West saw notable increases in potential victims – from three to 25 on Merseyside and 30 to 89 in Manchester.
According
to campaigners, migrants are duped into believing they are travelling
to the UK for work and enter the country legally under the EU's Free
Movement Directive.
The
traffickers then seize control of their bank accounts and travel
documents, and force them to work in often unsafe and exploitative
conditions.
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