Most human trafficking victims are African

The greatest number of people believed to have been trafficked into Ireland for the sex trade or as unpaid workers originate from West Africa, figures show.

Alan Shatter, the justice minister, said 31% of the suspected victims of human trafficking this year came from the region.

In a written Dáil response to Ciara Conway (Lab), he said: “I have been informed by An Garda Síochána that persons, mostly from Africa, travelled to Ireland either via hub European airports or, alternatively, in a small number of cases, via the UK entering Ireland from Northern Ireland. There are no direct flights from Africa to Ireland.”