Government targets labour exploitation

Samuil Covaci, aged 23, from Charles Street, and Ioan Lacatus, aged 31, from Hanover Street, each faced 12 people trafficking and 12 forced labour charges. They had both also been charged with acting as a gangmaster without a licence, while Lacatus faced a further count of concealing property contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Both men denied the charges.

A third man, aged 27, was also arrested as part of the operation and had been released on police bail pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service.

Eradicate modern slavery ​

The news emerged as government announced it was stepping up its efforts to eradicate modern slavery with a new public awareness campaign, including forced labour in agriculture, under the strapline ‘Modern slavery is closer than you think’.

In the NI investigation, 20 Romanian nationals were rescued by the police from two locations in county Armagh as part of an operation led by the Police Service of Northern Ireland assisted by officers from the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA). The 14 men and six women ranged in age from 20 to 48 and had been working in a meat processing factory.

The GLA was called in as the workers had been supplied to the food processing industry.

Meanwhile, the government’s £2.3M publicity campaign on slavery has been welcomed by Stronger Together, an industry initiative set up to reduce slavery in agriculture and food supply chains.

Increased awareness​

David Camp, director of the Association of Labour Providers and programme coordinator for Stronger Together, said: “Increased awareness of the situation is needed. Incidences of modern slavery in the UK are being uncovered all the time.”​

There is no official figure for the number of victims trafficked into the UK each year, but the Human Trafficking Foundation estimates 20,000 people are working in slavery in the UK, and says that number is rising. In 2012, 29% of cases of trafficking for forced labour reported to the UK Human Trafficking Centre occurred within the food processing and agricultural sectors.