SINN Fein’s Raymond McCartney has said that human trafficking and slavery are “horrific abuses of human rights”.
The Foyle MLA was peaking after his party submitted its response to the Department of Justice consultation on its Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Strategy 2018-2019.
Mr McCartney said: “Today we submitted our party’s response to the consultation on the Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Strategy 2018-2019.
“The purpose of the strategy is to raise awareness of modern slavery offences and to reduce the threat of modern slavery.
“Human Trafficking and slavery are horrific abuses of human rights.
“These are largely hidden crimes which makes it difficult to establish an accurate assessment of the problem.
“Sinn Féin agrees with the aims of the strategy, in particular, raising awareness and training to enable people to recognise and report signs of trafficking.
“It is disappointing that the prosecution and reporting of human trafficking and related crimes are still low.
“A robust strategy is required to address the underlying causes of human trafficking,” added the Foyle MLA.
