Ian McColl is a British surgeon, professor, politician, and Conservative member of the House of Lords.Â
Conservative leadership on the tragedy of modern slavery has inspired action to be taken around the world. The Modern Slavery Act was a groundbreaking piece of legislation, of which we should be extremely proud: since its passage, law enforcement efforts to hold traffickers to account have increased, as businesses have taken action to tackle slavery in their supply chains.
Governments around the world have passed similar legislation. There is always room for improvement but this was a monumental step forwards in addressing this egregious crime of which we can be proud.
However, in recent years our leadership has been called into question. The government has drawn criticism for dealing with modern slavery through the prism of immigration enforcement. Some have argued that we are strengthening the traffickers’ hand by limiting protection for survivors and seeking their removal to Rwanda.
Survivors may be less willing to come forward if they face being detained and deported. Whilst Rwanda has offered assurances that survivors will be well cared for, what does it say about our commitment to helping this most vulnerable group of people?
The Prime Minister is right that the country needs bold action. This is certainly true as regards our efforts to tackle modern slavery. This general election is an opportunity to reset our strategy. We can do more to support survivors, tackle traffickers, and hold businesses accountable for their responsibility to tackle slavery in their supply chains.
We have to start by working with those who have lived experiences of modern slavery. Too often survivors of modern slavery haven’t been part of the conversation about how we address this problem. This is a complex crime, touching upon so many policy areas and societal issues. It is only by listening to, and collaborating with, survivors that we can understand this fully and address the factors that drive this abuse.
There must be accountability for those who violently deceive, coerce and exploit vulnerable people: our society cannot allow that behaviour to go unpunished. Too often traffickers escape prosecution, receive lenient sentences, or we fail to seize the proceeds of their crimes.
We won’t succeed in holding traffickers to account unless we take better care of their victims. We need to look at the governance of our anti-slavery strategy. To date, the Home Office has led the Government’s response. However, the Home Office has several competing objectives, such as tackling immigration, whichoften conflict with looking after survivors’ well-being. The care for survivors should instead be the responsibility of a government department that is experienced in supporting vulnerable people.
Taking our response to modern slavery out of the immigration discussion is crucial. Firstly, because a person does not need to cross any borders to be trafficked or exploited. UK nationals make up the biggest cohort of victims identified by the Home Office, many of them children exploited by criminal gangs.
Secondly, human trafficking and modern slavery are different from smuggling, and yet in recent years these terms have been used interchangeably. Whilst smuggling is a crime against the state, human trafficking is a crime against the individual, who therefore deserves to be protected like any other victim of crime. Attempts to deter people from being trafficked to the UK fail to recognise the lack of control victims have over their decisions. They should not be punished for being deceived or coerced to come to the UK.
The reason of course that I am passionate about this issue being a priority for our government’s agenda is that back in 2011, I brought the first ever anti-trafficking, anti-modern slavery private member’s bill to the House of Lords.
I want to see the Conservatives once again show leadership in tackling this most challenging issue. There is no quick fix to ridding our society of modern slavery. We can take steps to transform our strategy, to work with survivors rather than against them, and to equip those working on the frontline with the expertise and resources to hold traffickers to account.
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Author: Lord McColl
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