Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill

I support my noble friend’s Amendment No. 74. He has already mentioned the Poppy Accommodation and Support Service run by Eaves Housing for Women, which is funded by the Home Office for the time being. I am grateful to my noble friend for stating that the Home Office will continue this project, but the support it has been given is belated. I know that other organisations are also involved, and I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say about the timetable. It is as well to learn some of the history. During 2004 and 2005, the Poppy Project’s 25 places were full for several months. In 2004, they turned away more than 30 women who otherwise met the criteria. No other specialised accommodation is available to women—including, as the noble Baroness has just said, young women—trafficked into sexual exploitation, and no specialised services are available at all for men, women or children trafficked into labour exploitation. Procedures for providing trafficked people with long-term protection do not seem to be working effectively. I understand that at the end of 2004 none of the trafficked people assisted by the Poppy Project who had been given a final decision were granted refugee status or humanitarian protections on their initial application, but six of the 11 who have had final decisions obtained protection on appeal. There are also problems with the identification and referral system. For example, when a massage parlour was raided in Birmingham on 29 September last, the police arrested 19 women. Those with irregular status were sent to Yarl’s Wood but two were later identified as trafficked people and admitted to the Poppy Project. Others with EU passports were released but they did not have access to any specialised assistance or advice. Identification and referral mechanisms could be improved through training. I speak as a council member of Anti-Slavery International. ASI and the Police Academy in the Netherlands have developed a training manual for identification and assistance to trafficked persons. Does the Home Office have a copy of the ASI Protocol for Identification and Assistance to Trafficked Persons and Training Kit and does it think that it would be useful to circulate it in the UK as well? I conclude by supporting my noble friend, but I also ask the Government whether they intend to sign the Council of Europe convention, which has been around for some time. It provides minimum safeguards for the protection of trafficked people and, as my noble friend said, it is supported by 24 other European states, including Germany, Holland, Italy and Belgium.