LOCAL TRAFFICKING ARREST SHOWS NEED FOR FURTHER EU COOPERATION

3.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 25th Oct 2007

The arrest of a man in Coventry yesterday on child trafficking charges shows that international cooperation on this subject is working, but more action is needed in order to stamp out this illegal trade, according to a local Liberal Democrat Euro MP.

Liz Lynne, MEP for the West Midlands region and a long time campaigner against human trafficking, expressed her horror at the discovery of the international trafficking ring involved, which apparently preyed on Nigerian children held in asylum-seeker holding centres.

Speaking today, Liz said:

"The arrests across Europe and the US highlight once again that this horrific trade is alive and well and that coordinated international efforts are needed to combat it.

"It is vital to bear in mind that the victims of trafficking, in this case children who have been subjected to voodoo, are extremely vulnerable and we need to ensure they are not treated as criminals but are protected and given time to recover."

"The UK government has admitted that there is a human trafficking problem in Britain, yet it must act with other countries in order to bring changes. EU members must implement Directive 2004/81 on residence permits for the victims of trafficking; the UK has still not opted into this."

"The only way this vile trade in human beings will be stamped out is if we have a common and integrated approach across Europe that establishes minimum standards for the treatment of trafficking victims.

"The earmarking of funding last month by the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee for a single European emergency hotline for the victims of trafficking demonstrates further that there is the will to act at a European level, but we must all do more.

"I urge everyone to join the campaign supported by my Liberal colleagues in the European Parliament to gather a million signatures, which will be delivered to the United Nations in February 2008. This will be used to encourage practical initiatives and attract financial commitments to a new fund to fight human trafficking."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

To sign the ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) and Stop the Traffik! petition, please go to: http://www.stopthetraffik.org/help/declaration.aspx. The aim is to deliver one million signatures to the United Nations Secretary General in Vienna in February 2008. The Stop the Traffik campaign are in negotiations with the United Nations about what they can commit to, but it is hoped that the petition will attract donations to a new global fund to combat human trafficking, from the UN, other international organisations and the private sector.

ALDE leaflet on human trafficking: http://www.alde.eu/fileadmin/webdocs/humantraffiking/Human_Trafficking_leaflet_final_en.pdf

ALDE information on human trafficking: http://www.alde.eu/index.php?id=humantrafficking

A long-time campaigner on the issue, Liz Lynne MEP presented a major new Policy Motion on human trafficking approved at the 2006 Liberal Democrat Conference last year which calls on the UK Government to sign and implement the Council of Europe's Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings, which guarantees a "recovery and reflection period" of at least 30 days for people who have been trafficked. The UK government was one of the last European countries to sign the convention and has so far done little to implement it.