Ministers were today accused of failing to do enough to stop criminal gangs trafficking people from Vietnam as the country’s slavery watchdog called for more police to be devoted to the problem.
Dame Sara Thornton, the independent anti-slavery commissioner, said that a report by her staff in 2017 on trafficking of Vietnamese citizens to this country had made 35 recommendations for improvements.
But she warned that “most” — including an increase in prosecutions and greater seizure of traffickers’ assets — had not been implemented and that “not enough” was being done by the Government to tackle the problem.
She also said that “we desperately need to put more officers into the specialist teams that investigate this” and that some of the 20,000 extra police promised nationwide by Prime Minister Boris Johnson should be devoted to catching traffickers.
Her comments follow last week’s Essex lorry tragedy in which many of the 39 victims are believed to be Vietnamese.
