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Human trafficking involving migrants in the UK has gone up 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 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 more remain undetected by authorities and are surviving within the black economy living in substandard accommodation.

The figures represent a 40 per cent rise on the 2,340 cases recorded in 2014. Many of those smuggled are being sold into prostitution and slave labour.

The National Crime Agency is investigating five cases of organ harvesting, with three involving children. 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.

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.

Ontario will spend $100 million over the next three years on a long-term strategy to end violence against indigenous women.

Premier Kathleen Wynne says indigenous women are three time more likely to face violence and to be murdered than other women in Ontario.

The strategy, called Walking Together, is part of the Liberal government’s broader action plan to end sexual violence and harassment.

It will include support for children, youth and families, new police training and a public education campaign, as well as a survivor-oriented plan to prevent human trafficking.

The provincial strategy also incorporates a number of the Calls to Action from the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“Super Bowl XLIX remains the most-watched television program in United States history, with 114.4 million viewers. What many of those viewers did not know was that law enforcement agencies in 17 states arrested nearly 600 people and rescued 68 victims of human trafficking during a sting in the two weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLIX.”