Today, I read
in BBC that UK MPs are wanting to back the Modern Slavery Bill published in November
and have it more protection for children, enhance legal support and
compensation for its victims. The BBC report said that MPs wanted Traffickers
and Slavemasters to face possible life sentences under the new law, and to
simplify criminal offences to help convict suspects faster.
Those
convicted of serious offences can get a maximum of 14 years life sentence.
The irony of
this is that it targets enforced prostitution, forced labour, domestic
servitude at home and forced criminal activity, yet immigration laws couldn’t
even provide justice for foreign domestic helpers, who are being physically and
psychologically abused by their UK employers, according to a Human Rights Watch
report.
They should
make it clear that all the offences, such as the slavery of children and
adults, child exploitation, exploitation, trafficking and facilitation of
modern slavery only applies to victims UK nationals. In any case, domestic
helpers have no access to justice, simply because their employers could
confiscate their personal information and have them imprisoned inside their
homes.
The committee
should call for the rights of immigrants as well. But that won’t be politically
pretty today, especially with the UK’s net migration targets.
