LANDLORDS are being recruited to fight the war on human trafficking.
As new UK legislation raises the spectre of life sentences for modern-day slavers, a major initiative is looking to identify where smuggled people are staying.
Police and the Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC), which helps firms protect themselves from criminality, have urged both landlords and letting agents to take more responsibility for those living under their roofs.
They know trafficked individuals are often housed in rented accommodation while forced in to jobs they cannot leave - sometimes in underworld occupations like cannabis growing or prostitution.
SBRC director Mandy Haeburn-Little, said: “The sad fact is that all the individuals trafficked into Scotland must live somewhere.
“It can be a particularly difficult problem to monitor, as any application for tenancy will only mention a few names, whereas in reality, properties can be overcrowded with trafficked workers.
“A landlord’s suspicions can arise from anywhere and information passed on could help police with the final piece in a jigsaw on a suspect residing in that property.
“It is of course in the best interests of the landlord that this is tackled, both ethically and for the future use of the property.
“There are also many business implications with trafficking, firms operating illegally automatically place pressure on honest competitors who pay a fair wage and tax."
The warning comes after similar appeals to householders to be vigilant for cannabis farms and brothels - any premises where more than one person sells sex.
But trafficking, which affects UK and foreign nationals, can involve exploitative labour that may be harder to spot than sex work or drugs.
Last week Shamsul Arefin, who trafficked four men from Bangladesh to Argyll, Scotland and entrapped them as modern day slaves, was jailed for three years.
His was the fourth conviction for human trafficking this year. Another 12 cases are pending.
Detective Chief Inspector Ruth Gilfillan, of Police Scotland’s Human Trafficking Unit, said: “Trafficked people are forced to work in a number of ways including in hotels, as we saw recently, in cannabis cultivations, in nail-bars or in prostitution.
"Often they are hidden from view of the general public. They are vulnerable and they are at risk of harm. Many of our recent investigations involve people forced into sex work, most of which now takes place off street in flats and houses, the majority of which are rented.
"A significant amount of work has been undertaken, both nationally and locally, to improve understanding of trafficking within Scotland and in relation to the ‘journey’ of a victim, it is clear to us that privately rented flats feature consistently, either as a place victims are placed or worse, exploited.
“It is important that businesses involved in letting out flats are aware that not only is human trafficking prevalent within Scotland but is significantly aligned to organised crime gangs where people are exploited for profit and power."
Both Police Scotland and the SBRC are part of the Scottish Government-led Serious and Organised Crime Task Force.
The UK Government is currently looking at life sentences for human traffickers with the Scottish Government also considering new legislation to crack down on the crime.
Ms Gilfillan added: “It is a difficult and challenging crime but one we are determined to tackle. Many victims of trafficking do not even recognise that they are just that – victims. For those that do, they often cannot escape the situation they have found themselves in through fear, debt or threats."
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