Federal police warn human trafficking will surge as international borders open

After two years of closures, AFP warns criminals will be straight back to work under eased travel restrictions.

Detective Superintendent Jayne Crossling. Picture: David Caird

Reports of all types of human trafficking are expected to surge from Monday after Australia’s international border reopened.

Australian Federal Police expect criminals to exploit eased travel restrictions with cases of modern slavery — including forced marriage, forced labour and sexual servitude — set to increase after two years of border closures.

AFP Detective Superintendent Jayne Crossling said traffickers may have been disrupted during the pandemic due to travel restrictions, but victims continued to be exploited in Australia.

“We think there was a lag in reporting. We think the offending behaviour was still happening but it was harder for the victim to either self report, or it was harder for them to engage with somebody to act as an advocate,” she said.

It is not uncommon for women to be sexually exploited in Australia after they were promised a job in retail or hospitality, Superintendent Crossling said.

“When they get to Australia, they discover that perhaps they‘re actually working in a massage parlour. And then they‘re told perhaps, that they have a debt to pay that they were never told about before they left the country,” she said.

“So they‘re then told that in order to pay the debt off, they actually have to perform sexual acts on clients.

“You can imagine the spiralling down where none of this is what I thought it was going to be. For some of them they feel too potentially proud or embarrassed to let their family back in their country of origin know.”

There have been 189 reports of human trafficking between July 1, 2021 and February 9 this year — already a slight increase on the previous financial year, which saw a total of 224 human trafficking cases.

Forced marriage, domestic servitude

In this year alone, 47 victims of forced marriage have been reported to the AFP plus 23 cases of sexual servitude, 30 cases of forced labour, 34 cases of trafficking and 15 reports of domestic servitude.

It’s likely there are many more cases of modern slavery in Australia because for every victim who is known to police, the Australian Institute of Criminology has predicted there are an additional four who are not detected.

Organised criminal syndicates, small groups and individuals have all been found responsible for human trafficking and the AFP are also investigating some cases where social media and apps have been used to recruit employees.

The majority of people who are trafficked into Australia come from Asia, including Thailand, Korea, Philippines and Malaysia. Most enter through Sydney or Melbourne and are frequently shifted between states after they arrive.

It is common for people who are trafficked to also be victims of “the most heinous of crimes” like sexual and physical assault, the AFP said in a statement. Victims are deprived of their basic human rights, including access to food, because their freedom is controlled.

AFP Commander human exploitation Hilda Sirec said signs a person is at risk of being trafficked or is a victim include that they are reluctant to travel, their movements appear to be controlled by another person, and they don’t have access to their passport. Anyone concerned about human trafficking can report it by calling 131 237.