After attending the recent North Wales Modern Slavery Forum, and two days before the UK Anti-Slavery Day, North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood spoke in the Assembly Chamber last week of modern slavery being “alive in business, agriculture, hospitality, crime and sexual exploitation across North Wales, and Wales's rural communities, towns and every single county’.
Mr Isherwood referred to the issues in North Wales when calling for a Welsh Government Statement on modern slavery in last week’s Business Statement.
He said:
“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 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, criminal activity and sexual exploitation across North Wales, in rural communities, towns and every single county.
“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 in Wales increased by 57 per cent, and the first six months of this year showed a multiple again of figures being reported, just in Wales.”
In her response, the Leader of the House said she would be “happy to schedule in a Statement in due course”.
Mr Isherwood added: “The North Wales Modern Slavery Forum brought together public sector, private business, third sector and community members who are active in addressing the issues of labour and sexual exploitation, forced criminal activity, county lines, grooming, etc..
“I look forward to pursuing this further with the Cabinet Secretary, where we need to know, for example, how the Welsh Government will engage with Kevin Hyland, the former UK Anti-Slavery Commissioner and leading world expert - who now advises bodies ranging from the UN to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, what interaction it has with Stena and Irish Ferries regarding Holyhead Port, and how it will encourage more businesses to sign up to Wales’ Code of Practice on Ethical Employment in Supply Chains.”