Baroness Jan Royall of Blaisdon, Shadow Leader of the House of Lords Speech in support of amendment (55A) at Report stage

of Immigration Bill, to introduce guardians for trafficked children 7th April 2014 My Lords, I am proud and pleased to be a signatory to amendments 55A and 62A and I am grateful for the excellent briefing that we received from many organisations working with children and young people and understand the need for child trafficking guardians. I also wish to thank the 17 organisations who were signatories to the supportive letter in The Guardian this morning. I pay tribute to the Noble Lord, Lord McColl, and the Noble and Learned Lady, Baroness Butler-Sloss, who have cogently and graphically outlined the case for our amendment. They have done a huge amount of work on this and related issue, especially Lord McColl who has been dogged in his determination to get justice for trafficked children. More than 450 children were identified as possible victims of trafficking in the past year alone. In February 2012 I said that I was certain that the Noble Lord would pursue these issues doggedly until he was satisfied and my certainty continues. My Lords, this is the third time that we have made the case at the Report Stage of different Bills and our determination is undimmed. From all that we have read and heard, including in this House, the need for a system child trafficking guardians is real and urgent, it is evidence based and it is recommended by national and international experts. Indeed, the report - commissioned by the Government when we first raised this issue during the passage of the Protection of Freedoms Act in February 2012 and entitled Still at Risk, identified that the care provided to trafficked children remains inconsistent and does not give adequate support or advocacy assistance. They recommended provision of an independent, trusted adult who would ensure that .... potential victims of trafficking are able to understand their rights, ensure that their voice is heard in decisions that affect them and are supported effectively through the different legal processes they are engaged in. The current inadequate level of protection for trafficked children being offered by professionals and agencies meant to be supporting them leads to untold suffering and to some of them simply disappearing from the system. Some charities estimate that a shocking two thirds of children who are rescued from traffickers then go missing again because the system to protect them isnt strong enough. Most of these children come from countries outside the EU, they dont understand the language, they dont know where they are and, even when people try to assist them, the processes and web of contacts with which they are confronted are complex and confusing, the fear must be intolerable. Sometimes the decisions taken do more harm than good, compounding the situation. The Childrens Society brought to our attention the case of Charlotte: An orphan, Charlotte worked as a house girl in her country of origin before being brought to England by a relative of that family at the age of 13. She was made to work for the family and their children nearly twenty hours a day, seven days a week and was extremely physically abused by the woman for whom she worked and eventually thrown out of the house.
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After sleeping rough she was spotted by a member of the public who took her to the local social services. The social services took Charlotte to the police station but she was terrified there. The family who exploited her had told Charlotte that if she told anyone, particularly the police, that she was a child, she would get into trouble. She therefore gave the police the name and age that had been given to her by the traffickers. Her fear was compounded when the Home Office and her solicitor said that they didnt believe her age and she remained frightened that she would be sent back to her country of origin. Initially treated as adult in the asylum system, a caseworker working with adult asylum seekers in the Home Office temporary accommodation believed Charlotte and she was referred to a charity for help.

Frankly I do not understand why, when, armed with the evidence of Still at Risk the Government did not accept a similar amendment in the Children and Families Bill. The Noble Baroness the Minister said then that We remain concerned that the introduction of guardians for trafficked children, alongside those persons who should already be working in the interests of the child, is not the most effective way to tackle the problems and said that there would be new regulations accompanied by new guidance. My Lords, that was not enough then and it is still not enough, despite the fact that the Home Office issued a new release on 28th January which stated that Child Victims of Slavery to be given personal support by a network of specialist independent advocates acting as a single point of contact throughout the care and immigration process. As the Noble and Learned Lady has said, there is very little detailed meat on the press released bone. Barnardos has welcomed this announcement of a pilot of specialist child trafficking advocates for trafficked children as a step in the right direction but believes that these advocates fall short of a legal guardian who would make decisions in the best interests of the child. Guardians would also have the legal power to hold agencies to account if they fail to support child victims of trafficking. Why, I wonder, were the proposed advocates not included in the draft Modern Slavery Bill which is now receiving pre-legislative scrutiny, but following our many debates, the research and the evidence were guardians not included in that Bill? Why water down the proposals? Most importantly, I wonder why, when the Government has a well drafted amendment that meets the concerns of all those involved, cannot it not simply adopt this amendment? And I would strongly, strongly urge them to do so. Anything less than legal guardians will frankly not been good enough. My Lords, I freely admit that I am political but this is not about politics, it is about humanity, and justice for some of the most vulnerable children who by foul means have been trafficked to our country and are suffering in ways that no individual, let alone a child, should have to suffer. These defenceless children have been subjected to horrific abuse including domestic slavery and sexual exploitation. The current system is failing these children. They need someone to speak up for them and to make sure that their best interests are at the heart of decisions made about them. We have a duty to act and to act now.
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