People Trafficking (Hansard, 16 January 2002)

§ Mr. Streeter
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the agencies(a) in the UK and (b) abroad involved in the interception and prosecution of people who traffic in human beings. [26906]

§ Mr. Bob Ainsworth
People trafficking is recognised worldwide as a heinous crime which requires concerted national, European and international effort. Project Reflex is the multi-agency response to organised immigration crime, including people trafficking. Led by the National Crime Squad, Reflex brings together all the key agencies involved in the interception and prosecution of people who traffic in human beings into the United Kingdom. The main agencies are the Immigration Service, the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the security and intelligence agencies, Europol, Customs and Excise and key police forces including the Metropolitan police, Kent and the British Transport police.
Under Reflex, the United Kingdom has co-operated with law enforcement agencies in several other European Union member states and countries further afield, such as the Balkans, Hong Kong and Australia, to intercept and prosecute traffickers. The UK law enforcement agencies have also worked with Europol on its Organised Crime Situation Report which makes reference to the problem of people trafficking across Europe.
We have established an international network of Immigration Liaison Officers (ILOs) in the key countries through which the traffickers transit en-route to the United Kingdom. Their purpose is to encourage and support action to disrupt the activities of criminal gangs and develop a joint intelligence structure.

§ Mr. Streeter
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what relationship his Department has with Interpol; and what discussions have taken place in the past three months about the trafficking of human beings. [26905]

§ Mr. Bob Ainsworth
The Home Office's relationship with the International Criminal Police Organisation—Interpol—is primarily through the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), which is home to the London bureau of Interpol. Interpol has its headquarters in Lyon, France and has 179 member countries, each with a bureau in the capital city. The London bureau is one of the362W world's busiest with approximately 65 staff handling over 12,000 new cases each year. NCIS Director General John Abbott also sits on the Interpol Executive Committee.
NCIS has been a major contributor to a far-reaching project managed by Interpol HQ in Lyon concerning the illegal trafficking of human beings. This is a multi-national, multi-agency project aimed at improving the collection and sharing of information on organised crime groups involved in illegal immigration and the trafficking of people.
As Director General of NCIS, John Abbott is also a member of Project Reflex, a multi-agency task force which co-ordinates anti-trafficking operations and develops the intelligence and strategic planning to support them.