Albania Tops UK List as Modern Slavery Source

Albanians were the most numerous nationality to become victims of modern slavery in Britain from 2013 to 2016, UK data show.
Albania is the main supplier nation of potential victims of modern slavery in the United Kingdom, according to data from the National Referral Mechanism, NRM, the UK’s framework for referring and supporting victims.
Albania holds the highest number once the number of adult and children potential victims of modern slavery are combined, the NRM explained.
The term is used by UK institutions as an umbrella to cover diverse offences including human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour.
The latest NRM data, from July to September 2016 show a total of 147 cases in which a majority, 84, concerned cases of potential sexual exploitation.
The second quarter of 2016, from April to June, also put Albania in the top place among the nations when it come to this parameter, with 191 potential victims, followed by Vietnam, with 119.
Over the January to March 2016, the highest number of potential victims in the UK were also Albanians, numbering 183, of which 131 involved potential sexual exploitation, followed by 39 cases of labour exploitation.
Up to September 2016 there have been a total of 520 cases of Albanians reported as exploited in the UK. The total number for the whole year is expected to be higher once the October – December timeframe is included.
A report from the UK inter-departmental ministerial group on modern slavery said Albania had the highest number of cases for 2015 as well.
“In 2015, potential victims of modern slavery were reported to originate from 102 countries. The most common country of origin for adult potential victims was Albania (17 per cent) and for child potential victims it was Vietnam (25 per cent),” the report said.
Referring to NRM data in 2015 for Albania, 600 people were registered as potential victims of modern slavery in the UK, 414 females and 186 males.
Data show that over this year, 394 of the victims were adults while 206 were children. The overwhelming majority of cases in the UK, 584, were registered in England.
During 2014, Albanians also were the top nationality of origin of potential victims in the UK with 430 cases in England, 13 cases in Wales and two in Northern Ireland. The total number of potential victims was 445.
It was much the same in 2013, when 259 cases of Albanian potential victims of slavery were registered in England, and four more in Wales.
According to an article published first in Reporter.al hundreds of trafficked Albanian minors seek a better future in Britain only to end up as the victims of modern slavery.
Most of these children come from the poor northern part of Albania. Their parents support their migration to the UK, seeing no chances of them getting gainful employment at home.

Source: BIRN Tirana