Yesterday evening I watched the television coverage of the
London 2012 closing ceremony. Before the ceremony began there were various
short pieces reviewing the London Olympics and all that had happened. Near the
end there was a piece on the impact on London. As the presenter talked he
described how Londoners, who have a reputation as being unfriendly, had come
together to watch the games and celebrate Team GBs successes. He described
people from different sectors of society talking to each other and sharing
these exciting times. As I saw the images of communities coming together I felt
encouraged. If we can hold onto this community spirit and cohesion, I believe
it could help us see an end to Human Trafficking.
As people in
communities in the UK come together and different parts of the community begin
to dialogue there is new hope for men, women and children trafficked into the
UK and from the UK.
I read recently of a young man who was trafficked into
Ireland. He had been working as a chef at a restaurant in Pakistan when an
Irish customer complemented him on his cooking and offered him a job in Ireland
working at his restaurant. He was told that he would earn 300-400 euros per
week and he accepted the job in the belief that it would be better than the job
he already had. His new employer arranged the necessary work visa and he
arrived in Ireland and started work immediately. This is when the truth of his
situation became apparent. He was forced to work from 8am to 2am the following
morning, 7 days per week. His work included delivering take-away menus to
housing estates, working as a chef, cleaning dishes and delivering take-away
meals to customers. He received 150 euros per week but his employer kept back
100 euros ‘to cover the cost of his work permit’. Verbal abuse, physical
intimidation and threats of deportation were used and his passport disappeared.
He found himself a victim of human trafficking and labour exploitation, earning
just 50 euros per week, owing his employer a never-ending debt and having no
means to escape.
What struck me when I read this story was the number of
people in the local community who must have seen him; as he delivered leaflets,
worked in the take-away and delivered food. But yet no one reached out to him,
no one got to know him and no one noticed anything suspicious. His situation
eventually become known to local police following a minor workplace accident
and he was rescued.
There are likely to be
victims of human trafficking in the cities and towns we live in. We need to know
the people in our communities.
Young men, particularly from Vietnam, are trafficked into
the UK to work in ‘cannabis farms’. The traffickers set up these ‘cannabis
farms’ in houses in towns and cities across the country. The house usually looks
normal from the outside but inside has been converted to create a giant hot-house
for growing cannabis. Victims of trafficking are then forced to work as ‘gardeners’
in these houses. Tell tale signs that a house could be used for growing cannabis
can include:
- Paranoid
behaviour and excessive fortification (internal and external)
- Silver
ducting tape hanging out of windows.
- Gas cylinders.
- Bin bags filled with vegetation.
- Pungent smell.
- Humidity -
condensation on windows.
- Powerful
lights on day and night.
- Blocked out
windows.
- Unusual
amount of activity when tenants first move in.
- A large
number of visitors (day and night).
- Noise.
Source: Cannabis Farms: The Dangers and
Tell-tale Signs for Landlords, Direct Line
If we know our
neighbours and are aware of what could be going on in our communities and we react
to things we see that are suspicious we will have a chance of helping victims
of human trafficking.
This is why I was excited to hear about Londoners talking to
each other, about communities coming together. It sounds like a nice thing and encouraging
it can sound trite, but when people live isolated self-focused lives we are
creating an easier environment for traffickers to operate.
Human trafficking is
the fastest growing crime, but if we come together in communities and decide
that this is not going to happen on our doorsteps then maybe together we can
reverse that trend.
If you see anything that you think might be suspicious you
can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. They will then assess whether there is
a crime being committed.
