UK urged to crack down on people trafficking

The government should change immigration laws so that women brought into Britain for prostitution, and children for the drugs trade, are treated as victims not criminals, a parliamentary committee said.

"The growth and extent of people trafficking into the UK is extremely worrying," said Andrew Dismore, chairman of the cross-party Joint Committee on Human Rights.

"We should recognise women trafficked for prostitution through deception, fear and violence as victims of this serious crime and not immigration offenders or criminals themselves."

"Of even greater concern is the lack of knowledge about the extent of the trafficking of young children, for domestic servitude or, even worse, labour in the drugs trade," said Mr Dismore, presenting a report by the influential committee.

The 84-page report urged the government to review immigration laws and make protection of victims a top priority. The committee also called on the government to sign and ratify the Council of Europe's 2005 Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings.

Official statistics give widely varying estimates of the extent of trafficking. The committee said unpublished government research showed that during 2003 there were an estimated 4,000 victims of trafficking for prostitution in Britain.

The figure has risen at least threefold since 1998, according to Home Office data.

No reliable estimates exist of the number of adult men who have been trafficked into the country for use as cheap labour.

In January Britain rejected plans to set up so-called tolerance zones for prostitution, saying there was no evidence they offered greater protection for women.

At the time, the Home Office said the London market was "saturated" with migrants working in brothels.

Some 85 per cent of women found working in brothels now are estimated to be from outside Britain, a reversal from 10 years ago when 85 per cent of them were British citizens.

The committee called on the government to publish research into organised crime being conducted by Home Office researchers, which may give a clearer picture of the extent of human trafficking into the country.