Mark Isherwood AM:...My final call is for a statement
on modern slavery. Last Saturday, I attended the north Wales
modern slavery forum, ahead of modern slavery week this week, and
Anti-slavery Day across the UK on 18 October. It was organised by a
third sector organisation, Haven of Light, but we had
representatives from public, private, business sectors, we had the
Wales anti-slavery co-ordinator, Jeff Cuthbert as the anti-slavery
lead for the Police and Crime Commissioners, and...Request free trial
AM:...My final call
is for a statement on modern slavery. Last Saturday, I
attended the north Wales modern slavery forum, ahead of modern
slavery week this week, and Anti-slavery Day across the UK on 18
October. It was organised by a third sector organisation, Haven of
Light, but we had representatives from public, private, business
sectors, we had the Wales anti-slavery co-ordinator, as the anti-slavery lead for
the Police
and Crime Commissioners, and many more. We heard
that, now, the biggest affected population are actually Britons who
are trafficking victims. We heard that modern slavery was alive in
business, agriculture, hospitality, crime and sexual exploitation
across north Wales, and Wales's rural communities, towns and every
single county, and much more besides. Clearly, this is topical
because of the week, but clearly it's also an ongoing issue, where
the number of people reported last year of being trafficked
increased by 56 per cent, and the first six months of this year
showed a multiple again of figures being reported, just in
Wales...
(Leader of the
House): On modern slavery, I am very
pleased to say that we're the first nation, of course, to
have appointed the modern slavery champion and
co-ordinator, and he's been working very hard across Wales
to raise awareness and to ensure that people recognise it
when they see it. We're very pleased indeed with the number
of reports coming forward, which we see as recognition
rather than an indication of increasing numbers, and it's
obvious that the reporting is getting better with that
awareness. And he's been working very hard indeed on that.
I'm very happy to bring forward a statement about how we're
getting on, but I don't think it will be in the next few
weeks, because there are a number of things that he's doing
that I would like to report on. But, Llywydd, I'm very happy
to schedule in a statement in due course, when we've got to
the end of that particular programme of events. I think the
Member makes a very good point about the awareness raising
around that, and how important it is. And I was very pleased
to be able to raise the issue with MP, when I met with her
yesterday, in the context of very vulnerable people who have
come to the end of the asylum and refugee system, who then
disappear into the black market. We had a very constructive
conversation about what we can do, in combination with the
two Governments, to make sure that very vulnerable people
don't become the victims of modern slavery, in an unintended
consequence of two particular policies coming together. So, I
was very pleased with that discussion.
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