Written question asked by Anthony Steen (Conservative) on Wednesday, 24 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 29 March 2010. It was answered by Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 March 2010 on behalf of the Home Office.

Human Trafficking

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the victims of human trafficking who were returned to their country of origin in each of the last five years were (a) EU nationals, (b) European non-EU nationals and (c) from a country other than Europe; and what the cost to the public purse was in each of those years.

Answer: [holding answer 29 March 2010]: Tracking victims of human trafficking beyond the National Referral Mechanism reflection and recovery period is limited if there is no longer a risk to their safety or health and they have the right to remain in the UK (UK and EEA victims in particular). This makes it difficult to confirm the numbers of voluntary returns in this category and what associated costs there have been. There is currently no record of any enforced return of individuals conclusively found to be victims of trafficking returned to their own country.

Secondary information