BBC Wales – All Things Considered
Sister Ann Teresa, Trustee and founding member of The Medaille Trust was Roy Jenkins guest on Sunday 21 February to talk about her work with The Medaille Trust and how it relates to her vocation.
Click Here to Read the Programme Notes
Click Here to Listen to the Interview – “All Things Considered” Tx. 21 Feb 2010 ©BBC Radio Wales
On Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings
The government ratified the Convention in December 2008 to be implemented in April 2009. The Convention covers all areas of trafficking, but the section to have the most impact on women we support, is the method of identification and access to support.
A National Referral Mechanism (NRM) has been devised and this is to make identification of victims easier and ensure they have access to appropriate support. When a woman is rescued or identified by some other means e.g. during health screening the police or healthcare professional can start the NRM process. The woman has to give consent to be in the NRM and this has to be completed in the timescale of 48hrs to 5 days. The woman is referred for support to the government funded project and if they are full or do not meet the criteria then referred to the Medaille Trust or other provider. We have accepted 13 referrals in the first 3 months following 1st April. The information obtained forms part of the information needed by the Competent Authority (CA) (this is the UK Human Trafficking Centre or UK Border Agency) to make a decision on if the woman is a victim of trafficking. The woman should be granted a 45 day reflection period; this is recovery time to see if she will give information to the police regarding the trafficking situation and during that time she will not be deported. Our experience has been that this is not long enough for the woman to feel safe enough to give information, also during the 45 day reflection period the CA are making a case to in order to make a conclusive decision that the woman is a victim of trafficking, so often more information is requested to make that decision. They are therefore not left alone to recover.
During the reflection period and while a case is being prepared to make a conclusive decision the police can apply for a temporary residency permit for the woman. If this is successful then the woman would gain the right to remain in this country for a minimum of one year. There are two reasons for gaining a residency permit; they have to be working with statutory authorities e.g. police or for personal reasons e.g. not able to travel due to ill health or at a certain stage in pregnancy. With a residency permit the woman can now access benefits and housing within the UK. We are waiting to see if any of our women gain residency in the UK, we continue to support our women through the asylum process if appropriate. There is no right to appeal the decision if they are not identified as a victim of trafficking during this process. We have concerns regarding this as the women are expected to give information for a decision to be made within 5 days of been rescued and in a highly traumatised state. They often blank out information and it takes time for the memory to return. The story can change as memories return and the woman start to feel safe.
The woman has rights under the Convention to
The Convention is a step in the right direction, but the implementation of the Convention is still in its early stages and we are monitoring closely how this is working especially for the woman we support.