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Crocodile tears
The corridors of Westminster have been echoing with the sound of self-congratulation as the Home Secretary, Theresa May, launched her draft White Paper, which includes the Modern Day Slavery Bill, in Parliament on 16th December. Politicians of all hues rushed to condemn the horrors of human trafficking in the UK today. TTRP will be looking at the Bill in more detail as it progresses through Parliament, but a few aspects stand out. (more…)
Theresa May’s love affair with legislation
Theresa May, the UK Home Secretary, took the quiet summer Parliamentary recess to launch her attack on “modern day slavery”; a tiresome, over-emotive phrase which functions as political speak for human trafficking. While the contents of her Bill have yet to be released, the press briefings on this proposed legislation promise a number of significant anti-trafficking mechanisms, though information about the actual substance of the proposals is thin. Firstly, the introduction of trafficking prevention orders, which would function like sexual offence prevention orders, so that an individual convicted of trafficking offences “cannot simply go back to being a gangmaster”. Secondly, the creation of a Modern Slavery Commissioner, an interesting U-turn as the Government appeared hostile to the idea of a Commissioner, previously arguing that the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group covered the tasks proposed under such a post and that there were no plans to create this a distinct role. Such a post would, however, increase UK compliance with the EU Directive on Human Trafficking, a positive step forward. Thirdly, the harmonisation of existing trafficking offences, which are currently scattered across a number of Acts, into a single piece of legislation. Finally, the Bill has the noble aim to “seek a commitment from companies not to use slave labour”. (more…)
No, Man is an island. Without a strategy: the absence of policy in the CTA.
A few months ago, I met with an old childhood friend who is currently undertaking a PhD in the UK on human trafficking. While reminiscing about growing up on the Isle of Man, we wondered if trafficking was an issue on the Island. For those unfamiliar with the Isle of Man, it is in the middle of the Irish Sea, population 84,497; the main source of income is the provision of financial services and its status as a tax haven. Of the resident population, only 4%, as of 2001, were born outside the British Isles. Multi-cultural and ethnically diverse, the Island is not. But, more recently, there has been an increase in work permits issued to non-European Economic Area (EAA) nationals: “During 2005/06 NI [national insurance – tied to holding a work permit] numbers were issued to people from Poland (271), India (155), South Africa (148) and the Philippines (76).” Sadly, more recent figures don’t seem to be available.
Considering the extensive coastline of the island, the increasing numbers of wealthy residents, both Manx born and from the UK, and the relative economic boom which has seen increased non-EU immigrants take up roles in the service and healthcare industries, the conditions seem ripe for trafficking and exploitation to at least have featured on the radar of the Island’s authorities. Further, the increased consumption of illegal drugs, pretty much all of which are imported, points to the presence of some level of organised criminal activity. For example, a survey in 2008 found that half of the Island’s prison population were detained for drug offences. The main source of these drugs was Merseyside in England, with 95% of all drugs coming from this source. My friend and I recounted rumours that the Island had functioned as a transit point for IRA weapons during the height of the conflict in Northern Ireland, pointing to its strategic location and potential stopping point in the transportation of illegal goods. While we are not suggesting that the Isle of Man is full of hardened criminal “syndicates” that are expanding their criminal empires from guns, to drugs, to people in reflection of the increased wealth of the island, we are highlighting the fact that the conditions noted above point to the potential for the movement of people onto the island for the purposes of exploitation. (more…)
A critique of the Transparency in UK Company Supply Chains (Eradication of Slavery) Bill
In June 2012, the Labour MP Michael Connarty submitted a Private Members Bill which sought to:
Require large companies in the UK to make annual statements of measures taken by them to eradicate slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and the worst forms of child labour (as set out in Article 3 of the International Labour Organisation’s Convention No. 182) from their supply chains; to require such companies to provide customers and investors with information about measures taken by them to eliminate slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and the worst forms of child labour; to provide victims of slavery with necessary protections and rights; and for connected purposes.
Currently this proposed legislation is in its second reading (the first opportunity for Members of Parliament to debate the main principles of the Bill) in the House of Commons. The Transparency in UK Company Supply Chains (Eradication of Slavery) Bill echoes the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010, recognising a more holistic interpretation of ‘modern day slavery’ in a globalised world, beyond the oft-repeated focus on sex trafficking. Though brief, this Bill has the potential to improve the UK’s response to trafficking by requiring that companies publicly declare their efforts to eradicate slavery; where companies find such issues, they ‘shall take action necessary and appropriate to assist people who have been victims and shall report on that action in their annual reports.’ So far, so good. (more…)
Impaired visibility: transparency in policymaking
Transparency and accountability are central to building confidence in the rule of law. With crimes such as human trafficking, these principles serve several purposes: to emphasise the seriousness with which government takes this issue, to act as a deterrent and to facilitate engagement with citizens and civil society. Developing and sustaining transparency and accountability is good practice for a democratic society. In the UK, this has manifested in the televising of Parliamentary sessions; the powers of Parliamentary Committees to hold inquiries into legislation, policy development and other areas of national importance and hold Ministers (among others) to account; the development of public consultations on legislation and policy proposals and, in 2000, the Freedom of Information Act (FoI), which was supposed to open public authorities to scrutiny by ordinary citizens. While the implementation of the Act has not always been a smooth process, the ability to hold the government to account via FOI requests has been broadly positive. Indeed the Government claims it is:
committed to increasing transparency across Whitehall and local authorities in order to make data more readily available to the citizen and allow them to hold service providers to account. Not only will transparency allow people to see where their money goes and what it delivers … [it] will put the voluntary sector and small business in a much stronger position to pitch for contracts and bring new ideas and solutions to the table. (more…)
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