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Article

13 Jul 2016

Author:
Felicity Lawrence, Guardian (UK)

US State Dept. trafficking report records forced labour in UK & Ireland

The spread of the trafficking of people and forced labour in a growing number of sectors in the UK and Ireland was confirmed as the US State Department released its latest global report on Trafficking in Persons (TIP). The TIP report records that some migrant workers in the UK were subjected to forced labour in agriculture, cannabis cultivation, construction, food processing, factories, domestic service, nail bars, food services, car washes and on fishing boats in 2015, according to evidence supplied to the State Department by the UK government. Albania, Vietnam, Nigeria, Romania and Poland were the top countries of origin for foreign trafficking victims. In Ireland, victims of forced labour were formally identified in the restaurant industry and car washes, and, for the first time, one non-EU victim was identified as a victim of trafficking in the fishing sector. The annual TIP report ranks countries on their effectiveness in tackling forms of slavery and is the principal diplomatic tool used by the US to pressurise foreign governments to act against trafficking. Both the UK and Ireland received the top ranking for their efforts but were told they need to do more.