Clause 58 - Trafficking into the UK for
Sexual Offences Bill [Lords]
11:15 am
Mr Neil Gerrard (Walthamstow, Labour)
I welcome this part of the Bill. I am glad that the Government have taken up the issue of trafficking. We signed the convention in 2000 that said that we would do something about trafficking, and I am pleased that it appears in the Bill. In some ways, I would have preferred it to be in a criminal justice Bill, as that would have allowed us to deal with trafficking for labour. There is no doubt that that happens to a significant extent, and I hope that we will return to it in future legislation. I understand why a Bill dealing with sexual offences cannot cover it, but I hope we do not forget that aspect of trafficking.
Unquestionably, trafficking is becoming highly organised. The amendments raise the issue of how we deal with those organisations. A key part of that is that the people who have been trafficked should be treated as victims rather than criminals.
As I said on Second Reading, there is a surprising lack of hard evidence about the scale of trafficking, and who is involved in it.
It being twenty-five minutes past Eleven o'clock, The Chairman adjourned the Committee without Question put, pursuant to the Standing Order.
Adjourned till this day at half-past Two o'clock.