Human Trafficking
The final item of business is a members' business debate on motion S3M-3293, in the name of Murdo Fraser, on combating human trafficking. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament recognises the need to develop appropriate strategies to combat the evil practice of trafficking people into Scotland; commends the important and continuing work of the International Justice Mission (IJM) to combat sex trafficking; notes that, in the 12 years since the organisation's founding, the IJM's investigations have resulted in freedom for hundreds of girls and women held by force in the commercial sex trade; also recognises that the IJM's founding principle is the defence and protection of individual human rights for all people by bringing the law to bear on their behalf and by prosecuting perpetrators who violate local and international laws; also notes the important contribution of local groups such as Cupar Justice and Peace Group on this issue, and further recognises the international and interdependent characteristics of human trafficking and the need for an internationally coordinated approach to bring about the end of such crimes here in Scotland and across the world.
I thank the members who have stayed behind for this debate and the members from all parties who signed my motion. I also acknowledge the interest that other members have in the subject. They include Gil Paterson, who led a members' business debate on the issue in March last year, and Christina McKelvie, who has a current motion on it. Indeed, Christina McKelvie and my colleague Margaret Mitchell attended a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference on the topic earlier this week.
Earlier today, I hosted an event that the International Justice Mission UK organised, which had contributions from Terry Tennens, the director of IJM UK, and Alasdair Henderson, a young Scottish lawyer who went out to Rwanda with the IJM to help stop human rights abuses in the field. I am pleased to say that Alasdair Henderson has joined us in the public gallery. Those people can describe far better than I the evils and sad consequences of human trafficking, as well as the action that needs to be taken to stop it.
We are debating one of the evil, cruel and immoral practices of which mankind is capable: trafficking other human beings as if they were a commodity and subjecting them to forced labour, the sex trade and domestic servitude. It is 21st century slavery and we must do everything possible to stop human trafficking into Scotland and to help combat it on the international stage. It is hard to express in words or even imagine the fear and torment that girls, boys, women and, indeed, men must feel who are subject to human trafficking and forced into another country as labour or into the sex trade.
I will try to outline the scale of the issue with some stark statistics. The International Labour Organization estimates that at least 2.4 million people across the world are in forced labour because of trafficking. The United States Department of State estimates that at least 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year for the sex trade alone. The total market value of illicit human trafficking is in excess of $32 billion annually, making human trafficking the world's third largest criminal enterprise, after drugs and weapons.
Unfortunately, there are few statistics on trafficking into Scotland. A United Nations Children's Fund report in 2006 suggested that there were, at any one time, 5,000 child sex workers in the United Kingdom, most of whom were trafficked here. In 2003, the UK Government estimated that there were 4,000 victims of trafficking for prostitution in the UK at any one time. The latest upper estimate of the number of woman and children trafficked into forced prostitution in the UK has now risen from 4,000 to 18,000.
The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland estimates that 13.5 per cent of human trafficking activity in the UK is carried on in Scotland, which means that we have a disproportionate share of the illegal activity. At this very moment—here in Edinburgh and in Glasgow, Dundee and elsewhere in Scotland—there are terrified and isolated individuals who have been illegally trafficked into the country and who are being forced into the sex trade and into servitude. Worryingly, as of 2008 there had not been a single prosecution in Scotland for human trafficking offences.
As my motion sets out, we need to take more action to combat human trafficking. I understand that it is an international and extremely complex issue and that there are no easy answers. I also understand that, due to the nature of human trafficking, it is incumbent on us to work closely with the UK Government, as well as with other Governments in the European Union and internationally. That is why I welcome partnerships such as that between the Scottish Government and the Home Office on the "UK Action Plan on Tackling Human Trafficking". Only yesterday, a debate was led in the House of Commons by my Conservative colleague Anthony Steen MP, who has done an enormous amount of work on the issue and is chairman of the Westminster all-party parliamentary group on trafficking of women and children. A lot of work is being done to raise awareness of the issue in Westminster and I hope that this members' business debate will go some way to help that process here in Scotland.
Just before Christmas last year, the UK Government finally ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. That is an extremely important step. The UK's ratification of the convention will mean that, for the first time, victims of trafficking have rights and will be entitled to a recovery period, specialist care, accommodation and other services. We must use the ratification of this important convention as a catalyst to work harder, because we need greater protection for victims of human trafficking. The Scottish Government must consider and discuss with the Home Office issues such as guaranteed residency permits for victims and protection against prosecution for victims who were forced into unlawful activities such as prostitution.
In advance of the retrospective action, would it not be better for the Scottish Government to co-operate with the Home Office and the Foreign Office to try to stop trafficked people coming into the country? To the best of my knowledge, we have no intelligence as to how they come in, what the most common routes are, or how many come in.
I entirely agree with Margo MacDonald's point; perhaps the minister could address it in his response. It makes perfect sense to prevent people from coming into the country, and, for that matter, to reduce demand in this country for the services of these unfortunate people.
We need specialist police in Scotland who are trained and able to understand human trafficking so that they can work with victims respectfully. We must ensure that Scottish charities and non-governmental organisations are fully involved in identifying and supporting the victims of trafficking. We also need to pursue fully the criminal traffickers. That is why the work of charities such as the IJM is so important.
The IJM sends law enforcement professionals to developing countries to conduct criminal investigations, collect evidence, help to rescue victims and bring perpetrators to justice. It has secured freedom from oppression for thousands of people using the courts and the laws of other countries through better law enforcement. That is exactly the sort of charity that we should encourage and support.
A great deal of work is already being done in Scotland by Scottish groups and charities, such as the Cupar justice and peace group from my area of Mid-Scotland and Fife, some of whose members join us in the gallery this evening. What we now need is greater political involvement and to assist where we can.
We can all agree that this is a global issue and one of the most immoral and evil practices of the modern world. Human trafficking is an international and complex crime, but progress against it is being made. The work that is being carried out by charities such as Amnesty International and the IJM is making a difference, and that must inspire us to do more. We must send a clear message: Scotland does not want human trafficking; we will hunt down the criminals behind it and we will help its unfortunate victims.
I congratulate Murdo Fraser on lodging the motion. The gravity of the subject makes it all the more appropriate that Parliament has this debate. I, too, place on record my congratulations to the International Justice Mission. I have not worked with it as closely as Murdo Fraser has, but I have met its representatives in the past. I apologise for being unable to attend the briefing that the IJM gave earlier today. It is right to praise and commend its work.
In Scotland, the UK, Europe and beyond, we rightly show contrition for our role in the slave trade of centuries past. It is rightly described as a stain on our collective history. Just as we show contrition, we commend the abolition of the slave trade and those who worked for its abolition, whether it be Robert Wedderburn in Scotland, William Wilberforce in the UK or Abraham Lincoln and his emancipation proclamation of 1863. For all that, we should not become lax in our attitude to slavery. Modern-day slavery exists in Scotland and beyond, but we just refer to it euphemistically as human trafficking.
I note that an Amnesty International briefing—I put my membership of Amnesty on the record—says that trafficking is the third most lucrative black-market trade in the world, not far behind drugs and arms. It is a serious problem. Just as the IJM undertakes good work in this area, so does Amnesty International. Last year, Amnesty International Scotland published "Scotland's Slaves", which reports that Scotland has 13.5 per cent of the UK's trade in trafficking. Trafficking cases were found in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dumfries and Galloway, Falkirk, Grangemouth, Stirling and Tayside, and they involved victims from across the world.
I have some reports with me. One from 2006 is about a 17-year-old African girl being rescued by the police in Dumfries during a major vice investigation. Another, from The Scotsman of July 2008, reports that 15 sex slaves from south-east Asia were found working in Scotland's sex industry. Another case was reported by the BBC in May last year: the Gangmasters Licensing Authority revoked the licence of a company that used forced labour. I welcome the fact that the licence was revoked but wonder whether a more severe punishment might have been appropriate on that occasion, and whenever this issue rears its head.
As Amnesty International's report noted, most attention is focused on trafficking for the sex trade. I place on the record my disgust for that so-called industry. We should prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who procure the services of a woman who has been forced into prostitution. However, we should also focus on the problem of the trafficking of people into Scotland for the purposes of forced domestic or agricultural labour. We need to publicise that issue and to prosecute people who use forced labour.
As always happens during members' business debates, time is running out. I will end by quoting article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which had its 60th anniversary in December last year. It says:
"No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms."
We have a long way to go to achieve that goal. I hope that we in Scotland can play our part in that process. I look forward to hearing what the minister has to say.
I, too, congratulate Murdo Fraser on securing a debate on an important and distressing issue. It is appalling to think that, in Scotland today, there are hundreds of trafficked women and children—the figure could be more than a thousand—working in the sex trade. The figure is disproportionately high compared with that for the rest of the UK.
The International Justice Mission is to be congratulated on its work in the area. It rescues victims of such abuses and raises awareness of the human impact of a horrifying global industry. Amnesty International showed the extent of the problem in our country through the publication of its report "Scotland's Slaves", which was launched at the Scottish Parliament last year. That report showed that, during operation pentameter 2, Scottish police forces raided more than 50 premises, 59 people were dealt with as victims of trafficking and 35 suspects were arrested. As Jamie Hepburn said, cases of trafficking were uncovered right across Scotland, and the victims included people from eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. As well as finding evidence of trafficking for the sex trade, the police operation found evidence of the trafficking of people into Scotland for domestic and agricultural labour.
Both Amnesty International and the International Justice Mission have highlighted a need for more support for the victims of trafficking in Scotland. Progress has been made—the UK ratified the European Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in December last year and has established the UK human trafficking centre in Sheffield. In addition, victims of trafficking are allowed a 45-day reflection period and might be entitled to a year's residence.
However, further progress needs to be made, which will require work at Westminster and by the Scottish Government. We should of course support the national and local groups in Scotland that work on the issue, which make the case that there is an urgent need for accommodation for victims of trafficking.
There is also the issue of successful prosecutions against those who are responsible for human trafficking. The International Justice Mission reports that, despite the success of operation pentameter, as of 2008, there had—as Murdo Fraser said—been no prosecutions in Scotland for human trafficking. Jamie Hepburn is right to say that we must ensure that such cases can be prosecuted correctly. There have been 48 such prosecutions in England and six in Wales. Through the Policing and Crime Bill, the UK Government is looking to create a new offence of paying for sex with someone who is controlled for another person's gain. The International Justice Mission argues that similar legislation should be considered here in Scotland. The case for that is persuasive, as I fear that the actions that Margo MacDonald mentioned will not be sufficient on their own.
During stage 1 consultation on the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, Victim Support Scotland and others raised the issue of sexual offences that relate to human trafficking. In its stage 1 report on the bill, the Justice Committee said that although trafficking is not a matter for that bill, the Scottish Government should consider it further. I would welcome the minister's thoughts on that suggestion.
We all agree that the victims of human trafficking need to be properly supported and helped through their horrific experiences, and that those who abuse people in that way must be brought to account. I hope that the Scottish Government will support further action on such matters. This has been a good debate.
I congratulate Murdo Fraser on securing a debate on this extremely important subject and, in so doing, on helping to raise awareness about trafficking.
Trafficking is a hugely complex issue that involves the movement of people by force, fraud or deception in order to exploit them for sexual purposes or forced labour. While it is frequently linked with criminal activity, especially smuggling, the drugs trade and sexual exploitation, it is also prevalent in the form of economic exploitation. It would therefore be a mistake to think of it as just a criminal justice issue. If it is to be tackled effectively, an holistic approach must be adopted, with interministerial involvement and third sector voluntary input to give prosecution services valuable information about what is happening on the ground.
When trafficking was discussed at the 53rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in India in 2007, it was described as a growth industry. That is no less true in these difficult economic times—the victims who are targeted by the traffickers are vulnerable and easily exploited; they often live in extreme poverty and desperately seek a better life.
Speakers at the CPA conference and at the one on migration and trafficking that is currently being held in London—to which Murdo Fraser referred—have emphasised that no country can deal adequately with this global problem in isolation and that it will require international co-operation. Crucially, that must include a concerted effort to identify the victims by ensuring that the correct data about the extent of trafficking activity are collected in the country of origin, the transit country and the receiving state. Traffickers move their victims to ensure that they are kept isolated, vulnerable and without any of the support that could come from forming relationships.
Although the motion calls for appropriate strategies to be developed to combat the evil practice of trafficking people into Scotland, it would be folly to assume that trafficking is purely an immigration issue that can be fixed by passing legislation. Proof of that comes from the startling statistic that Lithuania, which is now part of the European Union, is the second largest country of origin for trafficked women into the United Kingdom—and they are not illegal immigrants; the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service will not prosecute those who are genuinely trafficked.
I said at the outset that this is a complicated issue, but at the heart of any strategy to combat it must be the protection of victims. I therefore welcome Amnesty International's excellent briefing paper on the subject, which highlights the UK Government's ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. I hope that, through the convention and the access to services and rights that it bestows on trafficked people, coupled with better identification of the victims and the adoption of a holistic approach to the issue, an effective strategy can be found to end this evil practice.
Murdo Fraser has done well to secure the debate and to keep this important issue on the public radar and on the agenda. All the public bodies and voluntary sector organisations that are involved in combating the problem are to be congratulated.
During the festival of politics last summer, I was privileged to host an event at which Amnesty International's briefing paper "Scotland's Slaves" was presented for the first time. It was gratifying to hear the extent to which the body politic and civic Scotland are interested in keeping the matter alive. The number of known cases here may be relatively small, but they are no less important for that: one is too many.
We need to consider a number of things. Margaret Mitchell spoke about issues that arise because of countries' membership of the European Union. It can be a challenge to get people to admit that they have actually been trafficked. All too often, the problem for authorities as they try to identify, track down and then prosecute traffickers is victims' fear. Traffickers, or those who encourage people to come to this country, are often holding hostage—literally or figuratively—the families and extended families of the people who are being trafficked, which makes it difficult for anyone to confidently point a finger at a trafficker. We have to understand the consequences for the extended family. As Margaret Mitchell rightly said, we have to find a mechanism that will give people reassurance. That will entail dealing with the problem not only within the UK but within the countries in which the traffickers operate.
Gil Paterson and others have kept the subject on the agenda in the past. I want to conclude my contribution to this afternoon's debate as I concluded my contribution to the previous debate on the matter. In this Parliament, we talk about the subject in the abstract, but when one comes across it first hand it really comes home.
Back in 2001, I was privileged to be in Kosovo. At one stage, when we were going through a checkpoint, a truck in front of us was held up and inspected. The truck was only the size of an extended Ford Transit, but when its canvas sides were lifted, 45 females were found inside. All of them were dehydrated; we had to provide them with water. It transpired that they had come from all round the Balkans. They had been gathered up and were being smuggled through Kosovo to western Europe. We all know the numbers of people who were imported into Germany for the world cup, but it is quite a shock to see other human beings being treated in that way.
Richard Baker spoke about the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill. I will be interested in seeing how the bill progresses—I could make a good case for allowing traffickers to be prosecuted under that legislation. The Equal Opportunities Committee has considered that possibility in some detail.
I again congratulate Murdo Fraser. I hope that we will continue to have such debates and that the subject will remain on the agenda for as long as is necessary. We have to keep its profile high.
I join the chorus of congratulations for Murdo Fraser on securing the debate. It serves Parliament well that we are united across the chamber on this issue. I echo his commendation of the International Justice Mission in combating sex trafficking, and I pledge my support to that aim.
I commend the work of the justice and peace movement. A group from Cupar used very persuasive lobbying skills to encourage me to put together a motion that I have lodged on the issue. I also give particular mention to the group in Lanarkshire—the area that I represent—and I commend other groups Scotland-wide that have called on parliamentarians to raise awareness of the issue.
Murdo Fraser and Margaret Mitchell both mentioned the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference that Margaret and I attended at Westminster this week. International migration and human trafficking were on the agenda. One of the lovely things about the conference was that it brought together parliamentarians, speakers and academics from around the world to consider the causes and effects of human trafficking and to consider good practice in supporting trafficked individuals and in supporting Governments, organisations and law-enforcement agencies in combating the despicable trade in human beings.
One of the questions that were asked at the conference was very simple: what is human trafficking? It was right that the question was asked, because there seems to be some doubt about the answer—especially among those who would like to justify some of the human trafficking that goes on. Margaret Mitchell has already stated—it is worth repeating—that human trafficking is
"the movement of people by force, fraud or deception in order to exploit them for sexual purposes or forced labour."
An associated issue is the movement of children within and between countries, which also amounts to trafficking. We heard a powerful true story about a baby who was, because of an issue within that family, trafficked away from its family and never seen again.
There is legislation that makes it a statutory offence to traffic a person for the purposes of sexual exploitation but I am not sure, after attending the conference on migration and trafficking, whether it goes far enough. There is a lot of good practice in all the countries that were represented there, but we need to consider many questions.
One of the guest speakers at the conference was Dr Bridget Anderson, who is a senior researcher at COMPAS—the centre on migration, policy and society—at the University of Oxford. She said that as of December 2008, there had been 96 convictions of individuals for trafficking and exploiting vulnerable human beings. Of course, 96 is better than none, but I think we can do much better than that.
It was also asked at the conference why it matters. It matters in Scotland because this is a modern country in which trafficking, using and exploiting human beings should not be countenanced. The trafficking of human beings is a lucrative business, so we need to strengthen legislation to deal with it. I gather from the speeches that were made at the conference that it is a major plank of organised crime throughout the world, which we must target.
We heard at the conference that greed and profit are the driving forces. Scotland is a caring and egalitarian nation, so we need to ensure that the traffickers are put out of business. We need to get rid of the greed and the profit that drives that business. We need a two-pronged approach, which outlaws and convicts traffickers, and which also changes the attitudes of the people who create the demand. We heard a powerful contribution from the Swedish delegates about how they had managed to change a whole country's attitude to sexual trafficking and the business of sexual exploitation.
I commend to members the "Handbook for parliamentarians: The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings". I have had a quick look through it, and it is a really good piece of work. I congratulate the Scottish and UK Governments, which have both signed up to it. I also welcome the Scottish Government's tailored guidance, which fits in with UK guidance on Scottish legislation, practices and policies for best practice and with a partnership agreement between both Governments.
The Scottish human trafficking group is sharing good practice among law enforcement agencies, which is to be commended. An organisation in Glasgow called TARA—the trafficking awareness-raising alliance—is doing a great amount of work. It is a pilot project, and I ask the minister—I hope that he will not think that I am being too cheeky—to consider continuing it.
I have some fears about the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, which is currently going through the UK Parliament. The bill will criminalise people who do not have travel documents, which would immediately affect people who have been trafficked. We need to consider that, although we have been assured that prosecutors would perhaps not prosecute such people. We have a moral, political and personal responsibility to bring an end to the horrific practice of trafficking, and I lend my support to the motion.
I acknowledge the contribution of the Deputy Presiding Officer, Trish Godman, to ensuring that the subject has remained a political issue. I appreciate that she is not in a position just now to express her views, but her record is there to be recognised.
I congratulate Murdo Fraser on bringing the debate to the chamber. The importance of the motion lies in the fact that it not only describes something terrible but considers ways in which we can address the issues. When I read the motion and became aware of the issues, the capacity of some people for cruelty and the willingness to perpetrate that cruelty against other human beings took my breath away. The danger is that, in being appalled, we are also paralysed and fear that we can do nothing to address that level of cruelty. If we do not act, however, we give up on so many people who are facing problems. We have a responsibility to act. One reason why I welcome the debate is that it enables us to consider how we can support action to address the problem.
It is clear that the issue is not particularly about women, but it is disproportionately experienced by women. It is therefore important to make the connection with the abuse of women, male violence against women and the unequal status of women in this country and elsewhere. I believe that those factors play a part in ensuring that it is disproportionately women who suffer from being trafficked and abused by men.
It is critical that we support the organisations and groups that reach out to vulnerable people, who might be fearful of speaking out and do not know where to go. It is essential that we use the networks within communities to give people the confidence to speak out. That is true domestically just as it is true for those who are trafficked into the country.
We need to challenge the perpetrators—not just those who traffic, but those who use and abuse trafficked women. The Women's Support Project in Glasgow has done some significant research on the attitudes of men who use prostitutes. One of its stunning findings was that, although a significant number of the men suspected that women were there through no choice of their own, that they had been forced to be there and that they may have been trafficked, that bore no relationship to whether the men would use those women. The notion that prostitution is a fair transaction between men and women is exposed by that. The men knew that the women could have been victims of trafficking, but that made no difference to whether they chose to continue.
We heard about Germany. Why was there a demand for prostitutes there? Who would use them? I know that Trish Godman has made representations to Glasgow City Council about the Commonwealth games and the need to challenge attitudes there. It is critical that we put the matter in context and address the question of the perpetrators. As has been suggested, legislation might need to be developed on the Swedish model, but the Scottish Parliament passed relevant legislation before the 2007 election, and that legislation needs to be enforced, because it focuses on the perpetrators and puts the matter in that context.
I remind the minister that, although local authorities operate under financial constraints, there are soft budget lines, and those are the lines that should support groups that go out and support women. However, there is nobody to speak up for that in the hard battle of financial choices. I hope that the minister will address that problem.
We need education in our communities. We need to talk about what is happening and the connection with violence against women. We need to protect those who have been trafficked, and we need to ensure that the focus on perpetrators is not lost. People are appalled by the notion of trafficking. That is straightforward, but it is more difficult to consider what creates the demand. The minister will have the support of all members if he is willing to address that.
We should examine the legislative measures that are in place, consider how well they are working and encourage further enforcement of them, because they shift the balance from those who allegedly make the choice to go into prostitution to those who create the demand in the first place and continue to use prostitutes despite the evidence, which is visible to them, that some of the most vulnerable people have been placed there for abuse through no choice of their own.
I have long believed that one should use sparingly the imputation that any particular form of human conduct is evil, but I would say that human trafficking is truly evil. I am grateful to Murdo Fraser for giving us the opportunity to debate the matter, and I commend him for his informative and measured speech. The Scottish Government is wholly committed to working with others—principally the UK Government but also many other stakeholders—to ensure that this vile trade is eradicated in Scotland.
Jamie Hepburn was right to say that human trafficking is really a form of slavery and servitude and to mention those who campaigned to abolish slavery. Indeed, this is an appropriate time to debate the issue given that we are approaching the third anniversary of the ratification of the Palermo protocol. That protocol paved the way for the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, which the UK Government ratified on 17 December last year.
The Scottish Government worked closely with the UK Government to ensure that Scottish arrangements were in place to enable ratification. Given that the convention comes into effect three months after ratification, the whole of the UK will be bound by its terms from 1 April. That also illustrates the appropriateness of the timing of this debate—between now and 1 April, we will continue to work closely with our partners in Scotland and elsewhere to ensure that arrangements are in place and work well in a Scottish context.
We welcome the success of operation pentameter, which was mentioned by Richard Baker. The resulting improvements in intelligence and close partnership working have enabled more trafficked people, who might otherwise have remained unidentified, to be rescued from this despicable trade. During the second nationwide, police-led anti-trafficking operation in Scotland, 56 premises were visited, 15 adult victims were recovered and cash was seized.
As Hugh O'Donnell pointed out, the victims of this vile trade are in a state of fear that is probably unimaginable to those of us who, happily, have never been in such a position. They are terrified of saying anything to anyone, and I suspect that only 15 victims were recovered because a larger number decided to make themselves scarce. That fear factor must be borne in mind when we try to tackle the issue.
Christina McKelvie rightly highlighted the TARA project, which I understand is receiving support from Glasgow City Council and top-up funding from the Scottish Government.
Members also mentioned the way in which the criminal law deals with the matter. The Scottish Government is open to suggestions from all sides as, after all, there is really no place for a partisan approach to the issue. In response to Richard Baker, who highlighted one approach that the UK Government is taking, I therefore make it clear that our minds are open and that we are willing to consider any representation that he might care to make and, if he so wishes, to meet him.
I point out to Hugh O'Donnell that the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill will create a statutory offence of sexual coercion, which will enable police and prosecutors to target traffickers or pimps who knowingly force someone to engage in sexual activity. Moreover, the bill makes it clear that sex is unlawful when the victim agrees or submits to sex because of violence, threats of violence or intimidation. Those two proposed crimes will cover many if not all situations but, as I say, we are open to suggestions from other members.
As many members have pointed out, there are links between trafficking and other forms of organised crime. Trafficking is no respecter of national frontiers, and Christina McKelvie was right to emphasise that action can be effective only if it is undertaken internationally with countries working together. That is why the Scottish Government is represented on the UK interdepartmental ministerial group on human trafficking and why the "UK Action Plan on Tackling Human Trafficking", which provides a framework and strategies for moving forward, is published by both the Scottish Government and the Home Office.
That framework is flexible. Indeed, the updated version, which was co-signed last June by Jacqui Smith and Kenny MacAskill, takes the UK approach beyond what is required by the convention. For example, victims of trafficking have a 45-day period of reflection and recovery rather than the 30 days recommended in the convention and they are granted residence permits of one year rather than six months.
Margo MacDonald asked whether more should be done to prevent trafficked people from entering the UK. She hit on a key issue, which is dealt with at point 12 on page 40 of the action plan. Our efforts are increasing—additional staff are being trained at immigration entry points, for example—but, sadly, we recognise that, no matter how robust our efforts are, some people will get through. We must acknowledge and deal with that problem.
The UK is primarily a destination country for human trafficking, but the work that is done by organisations that conduct their own investigations and raise awareness, such as the International Justice Mission, is invaluable. Organisations such as the Cupar justice and peace group also make a substantial contribution.
The Scottish Government has contributed to Tearfund, which was designed to protect children and young people in Malawi from abuse. It helps them to access their rights, particularly those who live or beg on the streets. Funding of £208,000 has been provided to Tearfund; a supplement was provided recently.
It is clear from the joint Scottish Government and UK Government action plan that the international dimension to human trafficking has always been and remains firmly on the agenda. The nature of the crime is such that no one country acting on its own can be expected to succeed entirely in tackling it. The same applies at a domestic level—we want to work with, and are working with, all relevant agencies at a domestic level to eradicate the evil trade of trafficking.
The debate has been extremely useful and timely. I hope and expect that we will continue to work together to tackle human trafficking, which is the most evil of trades that we know.
Meeting closed at 17:47.