Written question asked by Peter Bone (Conservative) on Tuesday, 13 March 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 15 March 2007. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Monday, 16 April 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Human Trafficking: Wales

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of people trafficked into Wales in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: We are not fully aware of the extent and nature of trafficking into the United Kingdom.Home Office research suggests that in 2003 in the United Kingdom there were approximately 4,000 women who were victims of human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation. There are no available regionalised figures, however the initial findings from Operation Pentameter suggest that the problem is not confined solely to England as the recent case at Cardiff Crown indicates.As stated in the UK’s Action Plan on tackling Human Trafficking, copies of which I have placed in the Library of the House, we intend to carry out further research to establish the scale and extent of the problem within our borders in relation to trafficking both for sexual and non-sexual purposes.

Secondary information