Ruadhán Jones
Homelessness charities believe human trafficking is becoming “more prevalent” and they are coming in contact with more victims, according to a new report from Christian NGO Depaul.
Depaul published An Overview of Homelessness and Human Trafficking in Dublin in conjunction with UK-based charity The Passage on Monday.
The report found most homelessness charities believe they are coming into contact with victims of trafficking, but warned they have insufficient knowledge and awareness to identify victims.
Depaul CEO David Carroll said human trafficking is becoming “more prevalent” in Ireland.
The research “highlights the need to not only to identify victims to be able to link these victims into crucial support services”, Mr Carroll said in a statement.
“This report signals an initial response to links between human trafficking and homelessness in Ireland and highlights that we can do more to support these individuals. Every gender and every nationality can be a victim of this destructive crime. No community is immune to it.”
Mr Carroll called for “an ecosystem that is robust enough to support victims of trafficking”, saying we don’t have that at present in Ireland.
“Much of the discussions to date focused on trafficking in the context of foreign nationals, and it is therefore not clear whether homelessness organisations are coming into contact with Irish nationals or people with residence in Ireland who have been trafficked,” he added.