Wrong Kind of Victim? One Year On: an Analysis of UK Measures to Protect Trafficked Persons
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Northern Ireland Supriya Begum, 45 South Asia trafficked for domestic servitude Scotland Abiamu Omotoso, 20 West Africa trafficked for sexual exploitation Aberdeen▪ Stirling▪ ▪ Glasgow Dumfries ▪Londonderry ▪ /Derry ▪ Belfast Leeds ▪ Blackpool ▪ Conwy ▪ Manchester Anglesey ▪ ▪Liverpool ▪ Sheffield London Wales Swansea Newport ▪ Cardiff Slough ▪▪ Bristol ▪ Mikelis Ðíçle, 38 Bridgend▪ ▪ ▪ Dover▪ Latvia ▪Portsmouth trafficked for Torquay forced labour ▪ England Tuan Minh Sangree,16 Vietnam trafficked for forced labour in cannabis farms Wrong kind of victim? One year on: an analysis of UK measures to protect trafficked persons. June 2010 Front Cover The cases on the cover refer to real cases of trafficked persons identified in the course of the research for this report. The names were changed and ages approximated to protect the identity of these individuals. The places indicated on the map are examples of some of the locations where cases of trafficking were identified in the course of the research for this report. This is by no means an exhaustive list. This report has been produced by the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group with Mike Dottridge Researcher: Lorena Arocha Coordinator: Rebecca Wallace Design and layout: Jakub Sobik ISBN: 978-0-900918-76-6 © Anti-Slavery International for the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group Acknowledgements This report has been made possible due to the information and advice provided by the Members of the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group and a variety of individuals, organisations and agencies across the UK and beyond who have shared their experience of working with trafficked persons. The Monitoring Group works closely with the Anti-Trafficking Legal Project (ATLeP). Contributions were received under the agreement that names of individuals and organisations would not be cited unless specifically requested. The Monitoring Group is grateful to all those who contributed. This report could not have been completed without the invaluable assistance of a very committed group of volunteers who contributed to transcribing the interviews. The Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group would also like to thank Comic Relief and the City Parochial Foundation for funding this project. The views expressed in this report are not intended to reflect the opinion of the funders. 1 Preface In May 2009 a group of nine UK-based organisations set up the Anti- Trafficking Monitoring Group to monitor the implementation of the Council of Europe’s Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, which came into effect in the UK on 1 April 2009. The nine organisations belonging to the Monitoring Group are: • Amnesty International UK • Anti-Slavery International • ECPAT UK (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) • Helen Bamber Foundation • Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) • Kalayaan • POPPY Project (of Eaves Housing) • TARA (The Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance, of Glasgow Community and Safety Services) • UNICEF UK In addition, the Monitoring Group works closely with the Anti-Trafficking Legal Project (ATLeP). 2 Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................1 Acronyms used in the report ...................................................................5 Executive Summary..................................................................................7 Introduction .............................................................................................7 Methodology ...........................................................................................8 Scope of trafficking in the UK..................................................................8 Flawed identification system ...................................................................9 Child victims of trafficking......................................................................10 Failure to implement the entirety of the Convention..............................12 Misinterpretation of key provisions........................................................12 Conclusion ............................................................................................13 Recommendations ................................................................................13 Preface .......................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Introduction ..........................................................................15 Purpose of this report............................................................................15 Central argument ..................................................................................16 Trafficking in the UK..............................................................................16 A note on methodology .........................................................................17 Structure of this report...........................................................................17 Chapter 2: The Convention and its implementation in the UK............19 Overview of the Convention ..................................................................19 UK response to trafficking.....................................................................23 Conclusion ............................................................................................24 Chapter 3: The National Referral Mechanism.......................................25 Origins of the UK National Referral Mechanism (NRM) ........................25 Conclusion ............................................................................................28 Chapter 4: The NRM in practice.............................................................29 NRM referrals and decisions in 2009 ....................................................29 The process of identification .................................................................33 Interpretation of who is a ‘victim of trafficking’.......................................38 The implications of an absence of any right of appeal ..........................41 Obstacles to identification in the NRM ..................................................42 Conclusion ............................................................................................43 Chapter 5: Decisions by UK authorities concerning children presumed to have been trafficked .........................................................44 Standards set by the Convention and International Standards .............44 The issue of legal guardians .................................................................48 The challenge of preventing children being re-trafficked after going missing from care..................................................................................50 Conclusion ............................................................................................52 Chapter 6: The impact of the NRM’s procedures on presumed trafficked persons ...................................................................................53 Impact of the NRM on First Responders...............................................55 Granting trafficked persons a longer-term right to reside in the UK ......56 Conclusion ............................................................................................59 Chapter 7: Issues relating to investigation and prosecution .............60 Assessing when children are forced to work .........................................61 Example of children convicted of cultivating cannabis ..........................63 3 Conclusion ............................................................................................64 Chapter 8: A National Rapporteur or ‘Anti-trafficking watchdog’.......65 Standards set by the Convention ..........................................................65 The view of the UK Authorities..............................................................65 Chapter 9: Conclusions and Recommendations..................................67 Conclusions ..........................................................................................67 Recommendations ................................................................................74 Appendix 1: Methods and Sources .......................................................79 a) Terminology ......................................................................................79 b) Sources.............................................................................................79 c) Data Protection and Storage.............................................................82 Appendix 2: Review of UK law and practice related to trafficking.....83 a) Legislation on Human Trafficking......................................................83 b) Legislation to tackle slavery, forced labour and debt bondage .........85 c) Convictions resulting from new laws .................................................86 d) Relevant immigration law..................................................................87 e) Structures and responsibility.............................................................88 g) Responsibility for possible cases of child trafficking .........................89 Appendix 3: The referrals process .......................................................91 a) Referrals of adults.............................................................................91 b) The referrals process for children .....................................................92 c) Competent