Home Secretary James Cleverley has announced a new strategy for combatting Serious and Organised Crime.
The new strategy builds on Government and Police work already underway, and aims to eliminate complex criminal networks from operating in the UK. The package announces a series of funds for tackling modern slavery and human trafficking offenses.
The government has announced an increase of £5 million for UK Police to step up their responses to organised immigration crime. This includes work by the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit.
The strategy also announces an allocation of a further £24 million to the Modern Slavery Fund. This money will build on efforts to tackle exploitation overseas. Since 2016, this fund has supported thousands of potential victims, and protected survivors from further harm.
Writing for Police Professional, Paul Jacques describes how these changes will impact many of Medaille's international partners:
"The funding will support programmes aimed at preventing exploitation, and protecting victims of modern slavery in Albania, Vietnam and Romania. This includes a project in Vietnam that provides training and employment opportunities to individuals in country who have previously been victims of modern slavery in the UK, or those vulnerable to exploitation by people traffickers."
"It will also support the Modern Slavery Innovation Fund, which is building the evidence base of what works to reduce vulnerability to exploitation and prevent forced labour in UK supply chains. This funding goes directly to non-governmental organisations in more than 12 countries."
For more information on the announcement, see the full article as reported by Police Professional.
