Police in Northern Ireland investigated nearly 60 cases of human trafficking/modern slavery last year, according to recently released figures.

The 59 potential victims were identified through the UK-wide National Referral Mechanism (NRM) which was set up to help those at risk.

Last year saw an increase in the number of cases investigated, up from 36 in 2017. The figures come from the latest modern slavery strategy for 2019/20 from the Department of Justice.

The strategy reports that in 2018/19 financial year, the PSNI made 11 arrests, compared to eight arrests during 2017/18.

Human Trafficking in the UK

The latest figures are a sobering reminder that modern slavery exists here in the UK. It’s hard to imagine that in a free, democratic society there are people hidden in plain sight, who are victims of this cruel and dehumanising trade. Last year, new figures suggested there are 136,000 people in modern slavery in the UK. Globally, the figure is more than 40 million.

2015: the year the UK took on the traffickers

While the challenge remains very real, the UK has taken important steps to tackle the issue of human trafficking.

Four years ago, Northern Ireland became the first part of the UK to introduce dedicated anti-trafficking laws for nearly 200 years through. Lord Morrow’s landmark Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 became a template for the other home nations.

Over the course of 2015, the Modern Slavery Act was passed in England and Wales and then, MSPs voted through the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Bill.

Modern Slavery: where next?

In Northern Ireland, CARE was privileged to act as Lord Morrow’s principle advisor and we also worked with MPs, Peers and MSPs to ensure that by the end of 2015, every part of the UK was covered by anti-slavery laws. But the challenge of modern slavery is as serious as ever.

On Anti-Slavery Day 2018, our Senior Policy Officer – Human Trafficking, Louise Gleich wrote a blog reflecting on the progress that has been made and what still needs to be done. You can read it here.