Tougher human trafficking laws needed

JUST 10 convictions for human trafficking were secured in the last five years, despite campaign groups warning the problem is widespread.

In its 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report, the US State Department said Ireland had become “a transit and destination country for a significant number of trafficking victims from Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia”.

NGOs such as Ruhama, which helps women working in prostitution, say they have come across a growing number of trafficking victims. Ruhama says it knows of more than 200 women trafficked into Ireland, and that’s “only the tip of the iceberg”.

Despite this, just 10 convictions have been secured in the last five years.

The NGOs working in the area say the lack of specific legislation is the major reason for the low conviction rate.

The 10 convictions since 2001 were secured under section two of the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act, which makes it an offence for a person to help smuggle an illegal immigrant or asylum seeker into the State.

However, the NGOs say this legislation does not go far enough, and that specific laws to combat trafficking are required.

The US State Department report criticised the Government for not clearly defining trafficking in the law. This legislative failure, the report said, had complicated efforts to determine the extent of the problem here.

However, the Government plans on introducing specific legislation to deal with the problem later this year. Justice Minister Micheal McDowell expects to bring his legislative proposals to the Cabinet in the autumn, with a view to presenting them to the Oireachtas before the end of the year, a spokeswoman said.