Hansard

I join others in thanking the Equal Opportunities Committee for its work on this matter. The report is substantial, has on-going aspirations and will be supplemented later this year by the report of the inquiry into the extent and incidence of trafficking in Scotland that is being conducted by Baroness Kennedy under the sponsorship of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

I have been struck by the personal anecdotes and experiences that committee members gathered from people during their inquiry, which they have highlighted today. One of the strengths of the Parliament is that members can learn from engagement with the public and are able to widen their experience and expertise. It is also important to note that the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Minister for Housing and Communities have been present for the debate; this issue goes wider than any one department and certainly wider than law enforcement. I take issue with Richard Baker’s emphasis on the changes in the law that he seeks. There might be some justification for that view, but we have to take an evidence-based approach not only to legislation but—much more important—to the administration and policy side.

I echo the point that Mary Scanlon and Christopher Harvie made about the importance of language—particularly of learning English. It is an issue of empowerment. As the committee suggests, we must do everything we can to remove barriers in the way of people who want to learn English, whether they be time, accessibility, geography or whatever.

Although I do not quite get the image of Christopher Harvie as an homogenised German, I can say with some certainty that his presence in Germany was a result of migration, not trafficking. Like Malcolm Chisholm, I want to concentrate on trafficking.

I think I was the first MSP to raise the possibility of the Glasgow Commonwealth games acting as a magnet in terms of people being trafficked. I believe that that has been the experience in relation to Commonwealth and Olympic games elsewhere and we would be making a big mistake if we did not see the possibility of its being the case with the Glasgow Commonwealth games. I was struck by the mismatch between the lack of prosecution in Scotland and the number of victims of trafficking who are being supported by TARA. There is something not quite right there. It would be helpful if the cabinet secretary or the minister—whichever winds up the debate—could give us an update on the work that is being done by the multi-agency group that has been established by Strathclyde Police to deal with this matter in the lead-up to the Commonwealth games.

The Amnesty International report suggests that Glasgow has something like 13.5 per cent of the people who are trafficked into and, just as important, within the UK. I confess that I find that an extremely precise figure, given that this is such a vague area. As Bill Kidd said, the issue involves not only sexual exploitation but labour exploitation. Aidan McQuade, the director of Anti-Slavery International, said:

“There is a fundamental misunderstanding that trafficking is an immigration crime when it is in fact a crime of exploitation and forced labour”.

The last point that I want to make in this short debate is that we have to have a focus not on the immigration status but on the trafficking aspect. That is important.

The background to this debate is a serious human tragedy that affects many people. We have to deal with it as effectively as we can, despite the different views that are held across the chamber. The committee’s report has made a substantial contribution that I am grateful to be able to welcome this afternoon.

17:09