Question

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the announcement that India has ratified the United Nations protocol on human trafficking. [HL9242]

To ask Her Majesty's Government, following India's decision to ratify the United Nations protocol on human trafficking, whether they expect the protocol to be enforced effectively.[HL9243]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Howell of Guildford): We warmly welcome the recent announcement that the Government of India have ratified the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its three protocols, including the protocol on human trafficking. We hope that this will provide additional momentum to the Government of India's efforts to fight human trafficking and to ensure that the provisions of the protocol are enforced effectively.

We support co-operation between UK and Indian enforcement agencies in a range of areas and will continue to engage the Indian authorities on measures to combat human trafficking and illegal immigration, including offering UK experience and expertise where appropriate.

The UK Government are committed to working with international partners to address the problem of human trafficking. The issue was raised with the Government of India at the last EU-India Human Rights dialogue, held on 22 March 2011. The EU is currently funding three major anti-trafficking projects in India (and neighbouring countries) with local partners through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). Our high commission in New Delhi is involved in a pilot project to improve the exchange of information between agencies dealing with the prevention of trafficking and the rehabilitation of victims of commercial sexual exploitation in India. The Department for International Development is currently developing a new regional programme aiming to reduce human trafficking across the south Asia region, including in India.

Source: Commons Hansard 24 May 2011 Column WA415 & 25 May 2011 Column WA440