Human trafficking higher than official statistics, report finds

Professor Michael Breen said victims of human trafficking are 'hidden in plain sight'. Picture: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire

The number of people trafficked into Ireland over a six-year period is at least 38% higher in the Republic and 20% higher in the North than official figures show, a new report has found.

Data collated for the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Project on the Island of Ireland, led by Mary Immaculate College (MIC), found between 2014 and 2019, there were an additional 132 victims of human trafficking in the Republic, on top of the official count of 346 victims.