Assembly must deliver on pledge to make Northern Ireland a hostile place for traffickers

Amnesty International will organise a panel discussion on human trafficking in St Mary’s College, Belfast, 4.30pm on Thursday 3rd February. The event will look at how MLAs have fulfilled their responsibility to turn the tables on traffickers, and provide victims with protection, support and a voice in the criminal justice system. 

 

A wealth of evidence suggests that people trafficking is taking place across Northern Ireland. In 2009/10 the PSNI identified 25 potential victims of human trafficking. 

 

Following on from the Anti Trafficking Monitoring Group’s launch in 2010 of “Wrong kind of victim?” which contained Northern Ireland specific information, context and recommendations, this event looks at what the Northern Ireland Assembly is, and should be, doing on the issue of human trafficking. 

 

The panel of experts includes Sue Ramsay MLA, Anna Lo MLA and Patricia Lyness of Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights’s Aid. The event will be chaired by Patricia Campbell, Amnesty International. 

 

Patricia Campbell, Amnesty International Northern Ireland Campaigner said: 

” Trafficking is a gross violation of human rights and a crime. Amnesty is calling on the Assembly and Executive to ensure that Northern Ireland meets its obligations under the Council of Europe Convention on action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. These include introducing measures to identify and support victims of trafficking, to bring traffickers to justice and to protect the victims of trafficking from prosecution. Tonight’s event will examine how  MLAs here can act to fulfill these obligations.”