Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Asian men involved in sham marriages in Scotland with women trafficked into slavery

Criminal gangs are tricking East Europeans into sham Scottish marriages with Asian men - selling the women for sex, labour and passports – in an expose that campaigners say reveals the extent of human

slavery worldwide.


The cross-border story of how destitute women are lured from Romania and Slovakia with the promise of work in Western Europe, then sold in Scotland as slaves is told in a BBC television documentary to be aired on Wednesday.

Anti-slavery activists said the story was no surprise, with an estimated 46 million people living in some form of modern slavery around the globe.

"Sadly, the issue of sham marriage and sexual exploitation of vulnerable women and girls is not a new phenomenon," said Justine Currell, Executive Director at Unseen, an anti-slavery group.

"This story highlights the depths that these gangs will go to make a profit, regardless of the terrible consequences for the individual," she said.

"We must put a stop to this horrendous practice by locking up those responsible and protecting those most at risk of exploitation."

In the documentary - Humans for Sale - Europe's police agency Europol said Scotland was being targeted by non-European nationals, often men from Pakistan and India, who need to marry a European national to stay in Britain.

The expose showed how the women are sold to the men by East European criminal gangs, and can end up facing sexual abuse and domestic servitude.

"After the marriage, they (the women) are kept under control by the traffickers and are exploited as domestic service by the husband, but also raped and sexually exploited by fellow nationals of the traffickers," said Angelika Molnar, head of the agency's trafficking unit.

British government figures estimate between 10,000 and 13,000 people are living as slaves in Britain alone.

In 2015, it passed the Modern Slavery Act, introducing life sentences for traffickers and forcing companies to disclose efforts to make their supply chains free from slavery.

Worldwide, the estimate leaps to 45.8 million, according to the Global Slavery Index, which is an annual study of slavery around the world. Women and girls are especially vulnerable, and the documentary found one Slovakian girl who had been trafficked to Glasgow on three separate occasions.

The programme looked into dozens of suspicious marriages in Scotland and analysed how many of the couples were divorced after five years – the minimum time an applicant must live in the country before applying for permanent residency.

Of 70 suspicious marriages that were registered in one Glasgow district, 40 percent ended in divorce just after five years, according to the investigation.

The BBC team also visited Roma communities in Slovakia where poverty and desperate living conditions make women particularly vulnerable to trafficking gangs.

More For You

Fathers over 60 help 'reverse UK birthrate decline'

Photo for representation (Photo: iStock)

Fathers over 60 help 'reverse UK birthrate decline'

THE UK has recorded its first increase in births since 2021, with a notable rise in babies born to fathers over 60 helping to lift the numbers, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In 2024, there were 594,677 live births in England and Wales, up 0.6 per cent from the previous year. While this is a modest increase, it marks a change after several years of decline.

Keep ReadingShow less
Quad-leaders

The foreign ministers of the Quad — India, the US, Australia and Japan — met in Washington DC on Tuesday to outline priorities for the bloc’s annual summit to be held in India later this year. (Photo credit: X/@DrSJaishankar)

X/@DrSJaishankar

Quad condemns Pahalgam attack, flags China’s actions and Myanmar crisis

THE QUAD grouping has called for the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the Pahalgam terror attack to be brought to justice without delay. The group also urged all UN member states to cooperate in the process.

The foreign ministers of the Quad — India, the US, Australia and Japan — met in Washington DC on Tuesday to outline priorities for the bloc’s annual summit to be held in India later this year.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Preventable' grid failure caused Heathrow fire, says report

FILE PHOTO: Airplanes remain parked on the tarmac at Heathrow International. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

'Preventable' grid failure caused Heathrow fire, says report

A FIRE that shut London's Heathrow airport in March, stranding thousands of people, was caused by the UK power grid's failure to maintain an electricity substation, an official report said on Wednesday (2), prompting the energy watchdog to open a probe.

The closure of Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, cost airlines tens of millions of pounds. It also raised questions about the resilience of Britain's infrastructure.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tributes paid to Asian mum who died in Leicester attack

Leicestershire Police

Tributes paid to Asian mum who died in Leicester attack

TRIBUTES have poured in for a 'kind-hearted' mother who tragically lost her life last week after being attacked in Leicester.

Nila Patel, 56, a British Indian woman described as a "beautiful, vibrant soul," died in hospital two days after suffering a head injury during an assault on Aylestone Road.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pakistan IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington. (Photo: Reuters)

Reuters

Sri Lanka to receive USD 350 million as IMF completes fourth review

THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF) has completed the fourth review of Sri Lanka’s USD 2.9 billion bailout programme, allowing the country to access the next tranche of USD 350 million from the four-year facility.

The IMF had approved the nearly USD 3 billion bailout in March 2023 to support Sri Lanka’s efforts to restore macroeconomic stability, including fiscal and debt sustainability, during an unprecedented economic crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less