Police in Kent have arrested five people following intelligence and accusation of trafficking and exploitation of Romanian fruit pickers imported to work. Officers from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate announced on Thursday that they had raided a property last Friday in Chatham and that four men, aged 19 to 39, and one woman, aged 41, were arrested. All were later released from custody whilst further police inquiries continue.
As reported by KentOnline, a number of suspected victims of slavery have been taken to various places of safety. The Detective Sergeant working on the case is Stacey Chapman and she has said : “victims of modern slavery and human trafficking offences are often made to work long hours for very little reward, brought to this country on the promise of a better life but forced to endure terrible living conditions and threatened with violence or deportation if they dare to challenge those responsible”.
It is understood that modern-day slavery has been on the rise. One example of this was that in 2017, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said that that modern slavery was drastically increasing in the UK and was “far more prevalent than previously thought”. The NCA did give the European Union’s regime of Freedom of Movement as a factor. The NCA director Will Kerr said that it was “definitely a factor”, and that : “Where you can move more freely… there will be gangs who will look to get involved in that process.”
[give_form id=”1772″ show_title=”false” show_goal=”false” show_content=”below” display_style=”modal”]
Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
[sibwp_form id=4]
