Hundreds of people were feared to be the victims of modern slavery in West Yorkshire last year - including nearly 150 children thought to be being exploited by criminal gangs.
More potential victims were referred to the Home Office than ever before. West Yorkshire Police investigated 456 potential cases in 2021, up by a quarter from 365 investigations in 2020. This number includes 146 children who were mostly exploited by criminal gangs.
These children were commonly targeted by ‘county-lines’ drug-dealing gangs. Nationally, around half of potential child slavery victims were criminally exploited (49% or 2,689 children) and most of those youngsters (2,053) were exploited by county lines gangs.
Read More: What are County Lines? The meaning behind it, how to spot gangs and where to get help
The numbers have emerged through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), a system to identify possible victims of human trafficking, slavery, servitude or forced labour. According to the Home Office, 12,727 people went through the system last year in the UK.
This is an increase of 20% from 2020 figures of 10,601 and the highest number since the NRM began in 2009, and there were another 3,190 potential adult victims the government was made aware of through a separate ‘Duty to Notify’ system. This means the potential victim refused to enter the NRM process, and their details were not collected.
Expert Professor Alex Balch said: “Nearly 13,000 people referred as potential victims of modern slavery represent the urgency of the challenge we have at hand to address this issue in the UK.
“The increase follows a long-term trend of year-on-year increases since 2009 when the system was founded, apart from last year when referrals were flat due to pandemic-related disruptions. The nearly 50% increase in adults referred under the Duty to Notify process is very worrying.
“It means that over 3,000 people chose not to enter the NRM for Government support when they were identified as potential victims by authorities. We urgently need to know more about what deters people from entering the NRM and how we can improve the identification of victims.
“We need to make sure that people are not left without relevant support, especially considering the risk of further exploitation."
Professor Balch, who is director of research at the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre, also said the latest figures suggested a lack of resources within the NRM amid rising waiting times. As of January 7, 80% of referrals made in 2021 were still awaiting a “conclusive grounds decision” assessing whether the individual was definitely a victim of modern slavery.
More than three quarters of victims were male while 23% were female. The majority were also British with just under a third being UK nationals, while 20% were Albanian and 8% Vietnamese.
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “The UK has led the world in protecting victims of modern slavery and we will continue to identify and support those who have suffered intolerable abuse at the hands of criminals and traffickers.
“The support offered through the NRM is helping victims rebuild their lives. At the same time, the ground-breaking Modern Slavery Act has given law enforcement agencies the tools to target the perpetrators of this horrific crime.”
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