Human Trafficking in Northern Ireland

JUSTICE minister David Ford has announced plans to introduce two new human trafficking offences in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland has the fastest growing sex industry of all parts of the UK. The PSNI have reportedly identified 26 potential victims since April 2011 and last week saw the first human trafficking conviction in a Northern Ireland court.

Helen McCormick from the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities believes the reason for the rapid growth could be the toughening of laws in the Republic of Ireland: “We know from talking to other NGOs in the south that as their legislative processes move on, it could displace the problem to Northern Ireland."

Mr. Ford told the Assembly the aim is to bring Northern Ireland in line with a new EU directive on human trafficking and to strengthen the overall legislation in the region.

“I am committed to doing all I can to tackle this wicked crime,” said Ford.

The first proposed offence would mean UK nationals involved in human trafficking could be prosecuted anywhere in the world. The second would be specifically to deal with those trafficking citizens within the UK.

"Northern Ireland society should not be ignorant to the fact that trafficking is going on in every part of our community. I therefore welcome the spotlight that is being shone on human trafficking,” added Ford.

"This is rape for profit. This is a high-yield, low-risk crime," said David McIlveen of the DUP.

The same zero-tolerance attitude was echoed by members of the other main political parties, "We need to put these people away, we need to give them long prison sentences and we need to make sure that a strong message is sent out that it is totally unacceptable, it's a vile crime," said Sinn Fein’s Jennifer McCann.

The new EU directive will involve further training for law enforcement in this field, awareness campaigns and the penalty for traffickers will be extended to 10 years. There will also be a recognised definition of what should be considered trafficking and participating member states must implement all rules into national legislation within the next two years.