Dalit Freedom Network UK welcomes Lord Alton’s comments made on Friday 5 March in the House of Lords, highlighting the issue of trafficking in relation to India’s Dalits. Lord Alton was speaking in support of a Bill proposing an Anti-Slavery Day.

In his speech last Friday, Lord Alton spoke about the caste system leading to people trafficking, specifically highlighting the issue of Dalit trafficking.

Lord Alton’s detailed description of the scale and injustice of India’s trafficking problem climaxed in his reference to the DFN founder, Joseph D’souza, a tireless campaigner for the Dalit people and an internationally recognised voice in support of their rights.

He said, “In my study at home in Lancashire, I have a small terracotta pot given to me by Dr Joseph D'souza, president of the International Dalit Freedom Network. Such pots must be broken once a Dalit has drunk out of them so as not to pollute or contaminate other castes. This is the 21st century. It is not the pots which need to be broken, not the people, but the system which ensnares them. Dr D'souza rightly says: ‘If we are not intentional about bringing change and transformation in lives and society it will not happen. To love people is to act on behalf of them’.”

The Anti-Slavery Day Bill has already been passed through the House of Commons driven by Conservative MP Anthony Sheen and supported by both the Immigration Minister, Phil Woolas and the shadow Immigration Minister, Damian Green and now has to be approved by the House of Lords.

DFN UK’s priority is taking action to prevent the trafficking of Dalits so we welcome this move to establish an Anti Slavery Day.

The Anti-Slavery Day is intended to acknowledge ‘that millions of men, women and children continue to be victims of slavery, depriving them of basic human dignity and freedom’. It is also intended as an opportunity to ‘raise awareness amongst young people and others of the dangers and consequences of slavery, human trafficking and exploitation and encourage them to be proactive in the fight against it’.

Gary Sloan, Chairman of the DFN UK Board, said, “DFN UK sees this as a welcome opportunity to raise awareness among the British public of the millions of Dalits in modern slavery – half of all those trafficked around the world – and to call for action to be taken to bring this to an end. Lord Alton’s speech to the House of Lords is a huge step forward in raising British and international awareness of this issue and we hope it is the start of greater pressure from our Government and country.”

The Lords debate took place on 5 March, and the bill now goes to the Lords committee for detailed consideration, scheduled for 22 March.