More British prosecutors may be sent overseas to coordinate cases against trafficking gangs and those involved in modern-day slavery, the director of public prosecutions has said.

Speaking before a three-day international summit about the issue, hosted by the Crown Prosecution Service, Alison Saunders warned that the scale of the problem was increasing as criminals brought in more victims from overseas for underpaid work in car washes, nail bars, cannabis farms, agricultural picking and domestic service.

The London conference, which opens on Wednesday, will for the first time bring together chief prosecutors from 14 other countries where people traffickers traditionally operate, including those from Albania, Nigeria, Romania and Sudan. Lawyers from Vietnam had also been scheduled to attend but had to cancel at the last minute.



Quick Guide Modern slavery Show What is modern slavery? About 150 years after most countries banned slavery – Brazil was the last to abolish its participation in the transatlantic slave trade, in 1888 – millions of men, women and children are still enslaved. Contemporary slavery takes many forms, from women forced into prostitution, to child slavery in agriculture supply chains or whole families working for nothing to pay off generational debts. Slavery thrives on every continent and in almost every country. Forced labour, people trafficking, debt bondage and child marriage are all forms of modern-day slavery that affect the world's most vulnerable people.

How many people are enslaved across the world? The UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that about 21 million people are in forced labour at any point in time. The ILO says this estimate includes trafficking and other forms of modern slavery. They calculate that 90% of the 21 million are exploited by individuals or companies, while 10% are forced to work by the state, rebel military groups, or in prisons under conditions that violate ILO standards. Sexual exploitation accounts for 22% of slaves. Where does slavery exist? Slavery exists in one form or another in every country. Asia accounts for more than half of the ILO's 21 million estimate. In terms of percentage of population, central and south-east Europe has the highest prevalence of forced labour, followed by Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Who is profiting? In 2005, the ILO estimated that illegal profits from forced labour amounted to more than $44bn. The UN's global initiative to fight trafficking says people trafficking is the third-largest global criminal industry (pdf) behind drugs and arms trafficking. The ILO estimates that people in forced labour lose at least $21bn each year in unpaid wages and recruitment fees. Slavery also exists within global supply chains, generating huge profits for those who control this industry in free labour.

Last year the CPS prosecuted 295 people in England and Wales for trafficking offences. “That was the highest number ever and we think the figure is going up,” Saunders told the Guardian.

There are currently 30 CPS staff, known as liaison magistrates or crown prosecutors, working overseas in France, Italy, Spain, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and the US. “We may increase this,” the DPP said. Increasing foreign deployments will be one issue considered at the conference.



The CPS is also involved in more than 20 joint investigation teams, which bring together police and prosecutors from more than one EU member state to coordinate operations.

In one recent combined operation with Hungary, 11 defendants were convicted in British courts for smuggling 250 women into brothels in London and Peterborough. They received prison sentences totalling 60 years.

“This is to make sure we have a strong network of experts,” Saunders said. “Sometimes prosecutions are brought in the UK, sometimes the CPS supports charges brought in what are known as ‘source countries’ where vulnerable victims are ensnared.”

Prosecutors from Scotland and Northern Ireland will be at the conference as well as those from Greece, the Netherlands, Argentina and other states.



The initiative was unveiled by Theresa May, in a speech at the United Nations general assembly last year. The prime minister promised: “The UK will double its aid spending on modern slavery to £150m, enabling more work in collaboration with source and transit countries.”



The conference will look at how victims are helped through the criminal justice system. “We need to do more to protect the victims and help them give evidence [against those who exploit them],” Saunders said.

“We are not just picking off the people who receive them in this country and are making [their work] arrangements. We are trying to get the people in the source country. That’s why international cooperation is so important.”

Anti-trafficking powers have even been used by the CPS within Britain where prosecutions have been brought against men who transported underage teenage girls around the country so that they could be plied with alcohol and sexually abused.



With the approach of Brexit, Saunders said, one of the issues under discussion at the conference “will be ensuring that [cross-border] cooperation continues”. If stricter immigration controls were imposed it may deter some arrivals but could also make illegal trafficking more lucrative.



The DPP added: “Trafficking and modern-day slavery are increasing, as well as our awareness of it. People need to look out for it in car washes, nail bars and even in [farm] fields. It’s about people making money by exploiting vulnerable victims.”