Oral Answers to Questions — Scotland – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 13 December 2005.
What steps the Government are taking to prevent trafficking of people into and through Scotland.
The Government are committed to tackling people trafficking, and we have made that issue a priority in our presidency of the EU, resulting in the adoption of a UK-drafted action plan on trafficking at a Council of Ministers meeting earlier this month.
Does the Minister accept that the see no evil, hear no evil approach is not a sufficient answer to torture flights and people trafficking on Scottish soil? What is he doing to stop such criminal activity, bearing in mind Lord Woolf's words last week about torture being one of the most evil practices known to man? Will the Minister encourage the police to investigate any suspicious flights and not pass by on the other side on this issue?
We have made the attack on people trafficking one of the priorities of our presidency of the EU. Three important strands need to be put in place to deal with it. First, we need domestic legislation, which we now have in place. Secondly, we need the law enforcement agencies to work in a coherent manner throughout the UK; we will do that through the Serious Organised Crime Agency. Finally, we need co-operation across Europe and beyond because many people who are trafficked come into this country not only from the EU but from Africa.
People trafficking is a big issue not only in Scotland but throughout the United Kingdom. A big problem is the accommodation in which those who are trafficked live. Will my hon. Friend use his influence with local authorities and housing associations to find out whether local authority environmental officers check out people who have been put in local authority housing?
People trafficking is a crime and anyone who puts up those who have been trafficked commits a crime irrespective of the standard of the housing. To that end, we should look to some of the work of Glasgow city council, which is running a pilot programme to examine the impact of people trafficking. That shows the need for a joined-up approach between the various agencies of the council and the law enforcement authorities. People trafficking is modern slavery. As someone once said:
"If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong."
We must take every possible measure to stamp out the evil of people trafficking.