Human trafficking victims on small boats crossing Channel not breaking regulation, minister suggests

The Home Office has insisted crossing the Channel in a small boat is unlawful after a minister advised folks on board who’ve been victims of trafficking will not be breaking the regulation.

Speaking to Sky News, safety minister Tom Tugendhat was requested repeatedly if it was unlawful to make the journey by small boat to Britain.

He mentioned that it’s “wrong to subsidise or support in any way” organised crime teams which transport folks.

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Asked once more, Mr Tugendhat informed Kay Burley: “It’s not unlawful to be a sufferer of human trafficking.

“But it is illegal to transport people in a criminal way. And that’s what we’re seeing.”

Following the interview, a Home Office supply mentioned that, underneath the Nationality And Borders Act handed final yr, crossing the Channel on small boats is unlawful.

The supply mentioned Mr Tugendhat was “answering a different question” when he acknowledged individuals who have been victims of human trafficking will not be breaking the regulation.

Human trafficking and fashionable slavery victims are protected by particular legal guidelines, however the house secretary has advised a few of those that make claims are “gaming” the system.

The Illegal Migration Bill going by parliament in the intervening time would scale back protections out there to them, authorized consultants say.

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According to the Crown Prosecution Service, there isn’t a “definitive” definition of a sufferer of human trafficking.

The Modern Slavery Act states: “A person commits an offence if the person arranges or facilitates the travel of another person – V – with a view to V being exploited.”

It provides that it’s “irrelevant” if V consents to the journey.

Despite passing the Nationality And Borders Act when Boris Johnson was prime minister, Rishi Sunak’s authorities is introducing the Illegal Migration Bill in an additional try to scale back the variety of folks getting into the UK in small boats.

Some 45,755 folks made the journey final yr, and greater than 6,000 have already crossed in 2023, based on authorities figures.

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Mr Tugendhat highlighted his need to deal with unlawful migration, saying: “It is absolutely horrific to see what is done to some individuals.

“All they’re doing is trying to find a greater life.

“But what they’re doing, what happens to them, is they get sold into slavery, sold into human trafficking.

“And lots of them, sadly, are murdered successfully within the Sahara, within the Mediterranean.”