Modern slavery and human trafficking offences 'up by 50%'
Modern slavery and human trafficking offences have risen by almost 50% in the first six months of 2018.
Last year, 36 potential victims were identified by the PSNI's MSHT unit, with that figure set at 29 in the first six months of this year.
Some of that can be attributed to the fact that the more awareness raised around the unit's work, the more referrals they are likely to see.
Among those identified last year, there were a number of nationalities including:
- 9 Romanian
- 6 Lithuanian
- 4 Chinese
- 3 Vietnamese
- 2 Zimbabwean
- 2 Somalian
- Other nationalities included: Angolan, Sudanese, Hungarian, Afghan, East Timorian, Albanian, Northern Irish, Nigerian, Malawian and Slovakian.
The cases involved 14 related to sexual exploitation, 20 related to labour exploitation, 1 related to domestic servitude and 1 case of exploitation unknown.
DCI Mark Bell, who leads the PSNI's Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit, said there had been a dramatic increase in their workload.
"We are seeing at least one new phone call or enquiry every day coming into our team asking for assistance with a human trafficking incident," he said.
"It really is down to the information we receive on a day-to-day basis where we go with our investigations.
"We have a number of pro-active investigations and also reactive ones."
The impact of Brexit will also be felt keenly in this policing area, with the border likely to become a target for traffickers as whatever the outcome is of Brexit plays out.
"The EU exit may affect how human trafficking does manifest itself in Northern Ireland," said DCI Bell.
"Regardless of the outcome, it is possible Northern Ireland's border will be seen as a weak spot within the UK's infrastructure.
"What we have seen in the past is a lot of victims come in on cheap airlines to Dublin Airport.
"They're then transported through various means up into Northern Ireland.
"So regardless of how the border is maintained, I have no doubt that will continue."
Initiatives like Operation Outrun,l run in conjunction with Garda and Border Force counterparts, are aiming to make it more difficult for traffickers to abuse airports and ferry ports.
The Chief Constable George Hamilton has already written to the government requesting finance to employ 400 extra officers to police the border.
The work of the MSHT unit shows the human cost that could be associated with under-manning the department.