Gordon Brown: Human Traffickers are thriving

Human traffickers are thriving in the knowledge they will get away with their crimes, according to the former prime minster, Gordon Brown.

Writing in the Guardian, Brown said every day, traffickers are pushing desperate men, women and children into the 'hell of modern slavery in the knowledge that their crime is almost cost-free'.

It's currently estimated that there are more than 50 million people living in modern slavery worldwide. But in 2022, a mere 15,159 traffickers were prosecuted and there were just 5,577 guilty verdicts returned.

That's one conviction for every 8,965 victims.

In the article, Brown said he'd written to Narendra Modi, prime minister of India ahead of the recent G20 leaders' summit, to ask that the 'abject failure of any government in any part of the world to close the slave traders' be put on the agenda.

Human trafficking brings profits of more than $150bn annually.

While the UK is seen as tougher on modern slavery, thanks in part of the Modern Slavery Act which CARE was involved with, prosecution rates here are also very low and decreasing.

Moreover, as Brown pointed out, the Illegal Migration Bill will 'soon contribute to an alarming rise in human slavery.' As CARE argued at the time publicly, the legislation doesn't require authorities to identify victims of modern slavery before their return to their country of origin.

To help raise awareness of these issues, another former prime minister, Theresa May is setting up a global commission on modern slavery that will make the case for getting more countries to put modern slavery laws in place.

Read Gordon Brown's full article.