Executive must move to combat human trafficking

10.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 26th Sep 2007

Alliance Youth has used the Freshers' Fayre at Queen's to demand Executive action on the issue of human trafficking in Northern Ireland.

Incoming Chair of Queen's Alliance Society Michael Bower stated: "We have called on the Executive and the PSNI to investigate and take action on the issue of human trafficking over the coming weeks. It has been ignored too long.

"The influx of foreign nationals to work in Northern Ireland over the past two years or so has been a welcome sign of growing prosperity. A cosmopolitan Northern Ireland will be more attractive to investment and tourism. However, this has been accompanied by a growth in human trafficking which can no longer be left to London to deal with.

"Our authorities have to be open about the true scale of this issue in Northern Ireland, and put forward proposals to tackle it urgently."

Commenting on plans to establish Fianna Fáil in Northern Ireland, Alliance Youth Chair Ian James Parsley stated: "Fianna Fáil is welcome to join the political debate north of the border, and will no doubt present a formidable challenge to the SDLP. None of this distracts from our task. Young people in Northern Ireland know that Alliance Youth is the only political organization for those seeking a truly liberal, progressive and cross-community alternative to the old politics of Unionism and Nationalism. Those seeking clarity in opposition to Executive inaction and sectarian politics know there is an alternative, and that alternative is Alliance Youth."

ENDS