LONDON: Britain’s National Crime Agency yesterday reported a sharp 22 percent rise in suspected human trafficking cases in 2013 from the previous year, including hundreds of children.
The report found 2,744 potential victims in Britain last year, and cited reports that some traffickers were even branding their victims with tattoos and “various symbols signifying ownership or to show that a victim is over 18”.
“Modern slavery is an appalling crime that has no place in today’s society,” Modern Slavery and Organised Crime Minister Karen Bradley said in a statement.
“These figures show it is taking place here — often out of sight —in shops, fields, building sites and behind the curtains of houses on ordinary streets,” she said. The report found that 602 of the cases reported involved children — a 10-percent increase from 2012 — with British, Slovakian and Vietnamese children the most frequent victims.
AFP
