UK News

Slavery levels in UK ‘higher than thought’ with up to 13,000 'imprisoned’

There could be up to 13,000 victims of slavery in the UK - thousands more than previously thought. It is the first time the Home Office has made an official estimate of the scale of the problem and is now launching a strategy to help tackle it, the BBC reports. The government says that victims - often from countries like Albania, Nigeria, Vietnam and Romania - are forced into prostitution or “imprisoned” as domestic staff or labourers.

Working with a wide-range of partners, we must step up the fight against modern slavery in this country, and internationally, to put an end to the misery suffered by innocent people around the world. Home Secretary Theresa May

The government says that the Modern Slavery Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, will provide courts in England and Wales with new powers to protect people who are trafficked into the countries and held against their will.