Trafficking Victims Could Get Right To Remain In Britain

[The_Moog]

Thoughts (Kat?)

I feel there is a poetic justice in this. Girls (often Thai) who get trafficked to UK at least will get to stay permanently after securing their freedom from traffickers. Its some consolation to them.

LONDON (AFP) - Human trafficking victims could be spared deportation from Britain and get automatic permission to stay under government proposals revealed.

The Home Office said that illegal immigrants could be handed special residence permits when people-smuggling scams were uncovered.

Pledging to tackle the "appalling modern-day slave trade of human trafficking", ministers said they were considering allowing victims to stay temporarily while they decide whether to prosecute the traffickers, by offering an automatic "reflection period".

The cases of trafficking victims -- often forced into prostitution -- are currently decided case by case, with no right for those concerned to remain in Britain.

The consultation paper warns, however, that the measures could attract immigrants to Britain.

"They could be misused by individuals seeking to extend their stay in the UK, where they do not have a genuine claim as a victim of trafficking," it said.

"Dealing with fraudulent applications will slow down our ability to respond to genuine claims."

The consultation will look at all forms of human trafficking, including labour exploitation, sexual exploitation and trafficking in children.

Home Office minister Paul Goggins said: "Human trafficking, often for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labour, is an appalling crime and amounts to modern day slavery.

"It causes great harm, not just to the victims, but to our society as a whole.

"The Government is determined to tackle this terrible crime and reduce the harm it causes."

In October, police arrested the suspected kingpins of a pan-European ring believed to have smuggled tens of thousands of people, mainly Turkish Kurds, into Britain in recent years.

Eighteen people were arrested in raids in London and in Boston, near the eastern English coast.