Moscow, India, others rally behind Afghanistan amidst Bagram airbase tussle
The 7th Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan has concluded in Russia with participants issuing a joint statement heavily hinting at a joint oppo...
Britain recorded 19,125 potential modern slavery victims in 2024, surpassing previous figures. Experts urge policy reforms as stricter immigration laws leave victims afraid to seek help.
The number of suspected modern slavery victims in Britain reached a record high last year, according to official figures released on Thursday, underscoring a growing crime that experts say demands urgent government policy reforms.
Home Office data revealed that 19,125 potential victims were referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) in 2024, surpassing the previous record of approximately 17,000 in 2023. The NRM is Britain’s system for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery.
Modern slavery—encompassing human trafficking, slavery, servitude, and forced labour—is on the rise globally, driven by factors such as poverty, conflict, and migration, affecting millions worldwide.
In Britain, the crime manifests in various forms, with men, women, and children forced into exploitative labour in sectors such as drug and sex trades, car washes, nail salons, private homes, and social care.
According to the human rights organisation Anti-Slavery International, the actual number of people living in modern slavery in Britain is estimated to be around 130,000.
British nationals accounted for approximately 23% of referrals to the NRM, making them the most commonly identified group, followed by Albanians at 13% and Vietnamese nationals at 11%. Children made up around 31% of all referrals, equating to nearly 6,000 cases.
Charities and lawmakers have called for Britain to rethink its approach to tackling modern slavery, advocating for stronger enforcement of labour laws and reforms to immigration policies, which have primarily focused on curbing illegal migration.
Stricter immigration policies are leaving thousands trapped in modern slavery, with many too afraid to seek help due to fears of deportation, Reuters reported last month.
The government has pledged to recruit dozens of additional caseworkers to process claims within the NRM, as more than 17,000 people were still awaiting a second-stage decision on their cases at the end of last year, official data showed.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
Escalating gang violence in Haiti has displaced 680,000 children, nearly twice as many as last year, as armed groups seize more territory and basic services collapse, UNICEF warned on Wednesday.
A 29-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a devastating wildfire that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes in Los Angeles earlier this year.
The 7th Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan has concluded in Russia with participants issuing a joint statement heavily hinting at a joint opposition to any foreign military infrastructure in Afghanistan.
Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to criminal charges, and his lawyer said he would file a barrage of legal challenges to the first prosecution by the Justice Department against one of President Donald Trump's political enemies.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to attend a ministerial meeting in Paris on Thursday with representatives of Europe, the Arab world and other nations to discuss Gaza's post-conflict transition, according to three diplomatic sources.
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