---

People Trafficking

Answer

The UK has not yet taken the decision on whether or not to sign the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. There are certain provisions in the convention which present concerns for the UK and which remain under active consideration. We want to resolve these issues before taking a decision on signature. We support fully all of the aims of the convention and we too want to see widespread action to tackle this abhorrent trade at source, to protect and support the victims and bring those responsible to justice. During the UK's forthcoming presidency of the EU the, Government intend to treat combating trafficking in human beings as one of their Justice and Home Affairs priorities. We are committed to agreeing a wide-ranging EU action plan before the end of 2005 and will jointly host with Eurojust a conference focusing on investigating and prosecuting traffickers. We are considering other ways of highlighting this issue during our presidencies of the G8 and EU, both at ministerial and official levels. The Government are committed to tackling trafficking in human beings, domestically and internationally, and are determined that the measures we take bring the criminals responsible for it to justice, while protecting the victims of trafficking, but without undermining our ability to control our borders.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

457; 672 c163-4WA

Session

2005-06

Subjects

Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings