Soca Reveals Forced Labour in Wales
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October 10, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
The Serious Organised Crime Agency says that hundreds of people are being forced to work against their will in Wales.
Hundreds of people, including some as young as 16, are being forced to work for extremely low wages in factories, farms and hotels across Wales.
The revelations were made by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) which is currently conducting several investigations into the issue. Its findings were augmented by a tandem inquiry by a Welsh Assembly group into people trafficking in Wales.
Forced labour in the UK is thought to affect around 5,000 people. Most of these are commonly held to be in the sex industry. But because of the economic crisis, the problem is starting to expand into more conventional industries.
“We’re in austere times at the moment and I think there are a lot of factory owners and manufacturers who feel it’s great to get cheap labour” said Bob Tooby, the anti-human trafficking coordinator for Wales.
The UK’s forced labour problem originates from employment agencies in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. These agencies sub contract their workers to other agencies in other countries. The process is multiplied so that the link to the original agency becomes more and more ambiguous. Eventually a UK recruitment agency is able to offer labour to UK firms for much cheaper than they are used to.
“What we are finding is that some of the workers are only being paid for an hour, when they are working for 10-12 hours” added Mr Tooby.
Many readers will be shocked to learn that forced labour in the UK has only been illegal since the introduction of the Coroners and Justice Act last year. Until then, the practice was only deemed criminal if it was associated with another criminal act. Now though, employers involved in forced labour could end up being prosecuted and jailed.
By Dermot Tobin
[Image Courtesy of Tessek]
