19th dec 2008
A
trafficked boy found in NorwichA young boy of 14 was found in Norwich he was dropped off to the indian resturant in prince of wales road. The boy, who was dumped at an Indian restaurant on Tuesday night, is thought to have spent 15 months living in one room only seeing daylight for rare trips to the supermarket. Unable to speak a word of English and so cold after being outside with little clothing, a regular customer of the restaurant found the 14-year-old in the city and thought perhaps waiters at the restaurant could communicate with him. After a night at the restaurant, having been fed and given a bed for the night, the waiters called the police, who believe the boy has been a victim of human trafficking. Detectives from Norfolk Constabulary believe the boy was actually in London until Tuesday when he was brought up to the city by the unknown man. Det Sgt Stuart Bailey said one of the vital clues in finding out more answers - about who the boy is, why he is here and who brought him here - is to track down the man that took him to the restaurant. He said: “We suspect the boy has been trafficked - whether that's from outside the UK or from within the UK we don't know.
You can print these posters and put
them around your local city!
12th dec -
12 jan 2009
Human
Trafficking gang arrested
11th Nov 08
Authorities have cracked down on a human trafficking gang in what is thought to be the largest operation in UK.
More than 200 staff from nine different organisations took part in the crackdown on the organised crime group
believed to be trafficking people into the UK for cheap labour.
Three men were arrested at a field near Holbeach, South Lincolnshire,
on suspicion of human trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation.
Northamptonshire Police said more than 60 men and women from Eastern European countries
from Poland and Lithuania had been taken to Kettering, Northants,
where they are now being treated as potential witnesses and victims.
Officers also searched 21 houses in Kettering and across the Midlands
and well a business premises in Market Harborough, Leics.
A spokeswoman said four men and a woman
have also been arrested on suspicion of people trafficking and money laundering.
The huge crackdown, codenamed Operation Ruby, involved the East Midlands Foreign National Crime Team,
It centres on allegations people were recruited through advertisements and agencies in Eastern Europe
to travel to the UK on the promise of work.
When they arrived, it is thought their documents were taken from them
and their wages was withheld to pay for housing and transport costs.
Fury at Met's shut down
of specialist Unit
18th Nov 08
A specials police human trafficking unit will close next year due to a lack of money, Scotland Yard said yesterday. Home Office funding for the Metropolitan Police's Human Trafficking Team will end in April. The unit – the UK's only specialist operational anti-trafficking team has secured a string of convictions, including those last week of a gang of brothel owners.
Eleven men were given sentences of up to 14 years for luring a 16-year-old Slovakian girl into sex slavery.
After the case, the Home Office said combating human trafficking was a "key government priority".
A spokesman for the Met said: "The Met's Human Trafficking Team was launched in March 2007 "Although this money to keep this team in its current format will no longer be available from April 2009, our commitment remains to tackling those involved in these highly-illegal trades."
News of the impending closure drew criticism from charities. Christine Beddoe, director of End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking UK (Ecpat UK) said: "Human trafficking requires a specialist operational response we can't understand why this decision has been made.
18th Nov 08
A specials police human trafficking unit will close next year due to a lack of money, Scotland Yard said yesterday. Home Office funding for the Metropolitan Police's Human Trafficking Team will end in April. The unit – the UK's only specialist operational anti-trafficking team has secured a string of convictions, including those last week of a gang of brothel owners.
Eleven men were given sentences of up to 14 years for luring a 16-year-old Slovakian girl into sex slavery.
After the case, the Home Office said combating human trafficking was a "key government priority".
A spokesman for the Met said: "The Met's Human Trafficking Team was launched in March 2007 "Although this money to keep this team in its current format will no longer be available from April 2009, our commitment remains to tackling those involved in these highly-illegal trades."
News of the impending closure drew criticism from charities. Christine Beddoe, director of End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking UK (Ecpat UK) said: "Human trafficking requires a specialist operational response we can't understand why this decision has been made.