4 minute read
BORDER FORCE
Trafficking in humans is the second largest criminal trade. Jo Henwood talks to an airport chaplain – and tells you how to spot the signs.
You cram your 100ml bottles into a see through plastic bag, hope your carry on bag doesn’t tip the scales at check in and grab a coffee before boarding your plane.
No longer an illegal activity, holidaying abroad is back in the land of the legitimate and a trip to the airport can be the beginning of something fabulous – a summer holiday, a dream honeymoon, a gap year challenge or a long awaited trip home to see family.
But for some, it can mean the opposite – no dreams, no adventure, instead the beginning of a tortuous journey into a lifetime of servitude and exploitation.
George Lane is coordinating chaplain at Manchester Airport, which in a pre-pandemic world could see up to 30 million people travelling through its doors every day. According to him, trafficking in humans is the second largest criminal trade after drugs.
“For many, travel equals freedom but sadly this is not always the case,” says George,
who is the first port of call when there is any suspicion that someone’s freedom is being compromised by horrors including forced marriage, child abduction, human trafficking and modern slavery.
George says that he has ‘infinite respect’ for the Border Force agency which handles passport control at UK airports and its officers who have only seconds to make a judgement about a traveller’s safety.
His real life stories should stop you from ever complaining about queuing again.
George Lane, Coordinating Chaplain at Manchester Airport
THE HAPPY COUPLE
A young girl and her boyfriend are travelling from Hungary to the UK. She looks about 17, he is maybe a little older and they seem to be enjoying each other’s company.
The immigration officer checks their passports – hers is pristine, her first ever passport and his has been used extensively.
He speaks English, she does not. He has an address in this country but an initial check shows it is a possible brothel in Greater Manchester.
The immediate priority is now the safety of the 17 year old girl and it is time for George to step in.
She is a minor, vulnerable and in trouble. But as anyone who has ever met a 17 year old girl will know, she is now also very unhappy. She was travelling with a boy she thinks loves her – they even have the same tattoo – embarking on a new life together. Now she is being handled by police and refused entry to the country.
The authorities cross check with other agencies including Interpol and it is discovered that the girl’s mother has just reported her missing from home.
“It is complicated,” says George, now acting as the neutral and responsible adult.
“There doesn’t appear to have been any coercion or violence. She doesn’t only think everything is fine but that everything is going to be brilliant.”
She discovers that the officers have seen her tattoo before.
“Imagine telling a 17 year old girl that her boyfriend is a villain, that the tattoo they share is known to officers and means her boyfriend ‘owns’ her. It does not go down well.”
Victims of modern slavery can be men, women and children of any age. In George’s eight year experience at Manchester Airport he tells me horrific stories about an eight year old boy who has been ‘born to order’ for a British born paedophile and two sisters who were removed from primary school by their mother to be married in her country of birth. I hear about the younger woman in a same sex relationship alerting officers after concerns that she is being ‘coached’ by her lover about what to say to officials and another woman who was left at the side of the road after her ‘employers’ no longer needed her.
George added: “The lines are blurred – some victims are struggling to leave their situation because of threats, punishment, violence, coercion and deception, and others don’t even believe that they are in a situation of exploitation.”
Post pandemic, George’s first concern is that airports will need to rebuild their own workforce but beyond that his long term ambition is that everyone who works at Manchester Airport is trained to have the skills and the confidence to know what to do when they spot something that they feel is not quite right.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU SPOT THE SIGNS
If you suspect that someone is in slavery, DO NOT confront them or cause a scene as this will likely lead to increased harm for them. Instead, inform relevant authorities or organisations working in the field.
If you are in the UK and suspect someone might be in slavery:
• Call the Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700 or fill out an online form at: modernslaveryhelpline.org
• Contact the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority to report concerns about the mistreatement of workers on 0800 432 0804, or by email intelligence@glaa.gsi.gov.uk
• Contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
• Contact the police
• Contact Anti-Slavery International or other specialist anti-slavery organisations.
Source: antislavery.org
