Photo credit: iNewspaper
The UK has launched an operation targeting human trafficking as part of efforts to cut down illegal migration and exploitation on British shores.
Universal.net reports that the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has revealed details of the project with Romanian authorities to crack down on trafficking gangs. Policymakers also believe the step could provide a model for tackling exploitative migration before it reaches the UK.
More than 1,000 Romanian healthcare professionals and social workers have been trained to identify and support modern slavery victims under the scheme, which began in 2022. Police from the country have been seconded to UK forces to assist investigations into Romanian gangs operating on British soil as part of the scheme, and supplied with technology for investigations into trafficking networks and victim identification.
Romanian police, border officials, and prosecutors have received specialist instruction on “engaging sensitively” with survivors.
The project has so far cost 1.7 million pounds, making it more than 400 times cheaper than the botched Rwanda deportation scheme, which also aimed to crock down on people smuggling into the UK.
The foreign office, which is leading the project, said its efforts are helping to smash the business model of smuggling networks and reduce trafficking attempts, a key political issue and one fueling the rise of Reform UK.
Minister for Europe, Stephen Doughty, said the project would help prevent exploitation and “tackle this deadly trade in human lives”.
Safeguarding minister, Jeff Phillips, said collaboration with Romania was “saving lives and disrupting crime at its source”.
The UK is one of the main destination countries for Romanian victims trafficked abroad, according to reports by the Council of Europe.
The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) said that Romanians had historically accounted for the highest number of potential victims of labour exploitation across many sectors including car wash, construction and food processing.
But in the past year, policymakers have seen a marked drop in the number of Romanians being referred to the UK’s modern slavery support system, and say they believe the project has contributed.
In the first three quarters of 2025, there was a 18 per cent drop in referrals of Romanians to the modern slavery referral scheme compared to the same window in 2024.
After a three-year joint investigation between Romanian and British authorities, a criminal network suspected of trafficking vulnerable women for sexual exploitation was dismantled this month.
However, Dr Peter Wash, senior researcher at the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory, said it was too early to draw any conclusion about the efficacy of the project from the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) stats alone, warning that the number can fluctuate for a number of reasons.
In 2021, nearly a quarter of the potential victims of slavery, servitude and forced labour encountered by the GLAA were Romanian.
Criminals frequently use social media sites to search for victims, a UK government report on trafficking from Romania found.
Female victims are usually transported to the UK via budget airlines, posing as a friend or partner of their trafficker, while larger male groups are often transported by car, coach or minibus, it found.
In november, a car wash owner was jailed for trafficking and exploiting eight Romanians – including a 15-year-old boy – after a five-year investigation by the Met Police.
The UK is home to a large community of Romanians with the legal right to live there. Romanians received the highest number of grants o settled status – allowing them to permanently reside and work in the UK -of any European country in the year ending.
