Amnesty International Northern Ireland has welcomed the first conviction for human trafficking offences to take place in Northern Ireland.

A businessman who forced Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights into prostitution after luring them to Belfast with the promise of “restaurant work” was convicted today of trafficking offences.

In the past, Amnesty had expressed concern at the worrying low rate of prosecutions in Northern Ireland for human trafficking. The lack of convictions, was a prominent concern in Wrong Kind of Victim, a report produced last year by the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group, of which Amnesty is a member. It is hoped that this conviction, as well as other convictions the PSNI have played a role in, including that of a man and a woman in Scotland in October 2011 for running brothels in Northern Ireland, will lead to further arrests and convictions in the future.

Amnesty Northern Ireland Campaigner, Grainne Teggart, said:

"We welcome the determination of the authorities to tackle the growing problem of human trafficking crime in Northern Ireland. Holding people to account for this heinous crime is incredibly important. High profile convictions must be part of attempts to prevent trafficking taking place, but there must also be other preventative measures undertaken.

“In the coming months we will be working with the Department of Justice and other relevant departments to explore different ways that we can improve measures to prevent trafficking. This is a bad day for traffickers and a good day for justice. Let’s hope it’s just the start.”

• Our information on trafficking in Northern Ireland

• Report from Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Groups: Wrong Kind of Victim? An analysis of UK measures to protect trafficked persons June 2010

Amnesty International NI media contact:Grainne Teggart - 028 90 643000