September 11, 2011 19:30
A detective said that the men were found at soup kitchens and benefits offices and enticed to go to to the travellers' site with the promise of money and free board and housing.
Once they got to the site, their hair was cut, they were forced to stay in "horse boxes, dog kennels and old caravans," and they were forced to work for nothing.
British police reportedly raided a caravan site in Bedfordshire Sunday and found 24 men kept in slave-liked conditions for up to 15 years.
The police freed the men, who had been kept in "shockingly filthy and cramped" conditions, and arrested five people on suspicion of committing slavery offences.
The raid, which involved more than 200 officers, took place at the Greenacre travelers' site in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire.
"The men we found at the site were in a poor state of physical health and the conditions they were living in were shockingly filthy and cramped," said Detective Chief Inspector Sean O'Neil said.
"We believe that some of them had been living and working there in a state of virtual slavery, some for just a few weeks and others for up to 15 years."
The men were from England, Poland and Romania, the Guardian reports.
A detective said that the men were found at soup kitchens and benefits offices and enticed to go to to the travellers' site with the promise of money and free board and housing.
Once they got to the site, their hair was cut, they were forced to stay in "horse boxes, dog kennels and old caravans," and they were forced to work for nothing.
Britain outlawed slavery more than 200 years ago, but the practices of forced labor and forced prostitution still exist.
There are about 5,000 people in Britain who have been trafficked for forced labor or prostitution, according to anti-slavery activists.1853
NOW
2011
No comments:
Post a Comment