Quarter of human trafficking victims in Scotland last year were children

A total of 256 referrals to the authorities with potential victims of exploitation were children in Scotland in 2024, stats show.

More than a quarter of human trafficking victims recovered in Scotland last year were children.

Leading charity, Survivors of Human Trafficking in Scotland (SOHTIS), say they are identifying an alarming number of minors who have been put in so-called 'asylum hotels' across the country.

The latest UK Government statistics reporting there were a total of 920 referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) reporting exploitation in Scotland between October 2023 and September 2024.

Of those, 256 were children, accounting for 28% of victims. The picture across the UK is even more concerning, with 58% of referrals reporting they were exploited into slavery as children.

Demonstrating the heartbreaking impact of the issue, SOHTIS revealed that in one recent case, they recovered a teenage girl called Nina* from an an adult hostel in Scotland "hunched over and shivering" and untrusting of anyone getting close.

A project officer gained the girl's trust and she slowly began to tell her story. She was only 15-years-old and had already spent years being transported as a victim of sexual and other forms of exploitation.

Nina had fled from her traffickers in a desperate search for safety, but was trapped at the hostel as traffickers prowled outside.

SOHTIS advocated for the Nina as an age-disputed young person, and she was eventually confirmed as a child by authorities. This meant the charity was able access social care support as a minor and she was placed in safe accommodation.

Another recently-rescued child is heavily pregnant. The charity has also been identifying vulnerable children who have been exploited into criminal activities by organised crime networks. Many have come from Sudan, Spain, and Vietnam.

Joy Gillespie, CEO of SOHTIS, said: "We know there are many trafficked children across Scotland and we have recovered a number of minors. We are finding many, unaccompanied, in asylum hotels.

"We often hear stories of people standing outside these hotels just waiting for them to come out. In Nina's case, men were waiting outside her door every day. There is a constant ongoing risk.

"The children have experienced labour exploitation, as well as sexual and criminal. Most have suffered all three, because traffickers see them as a commodity, so they will be used for as much purpose as they can.

"It is only in the last eight months that we have expanded our work to include the identification and recovery of children. With our very limited resources, we have already recovered 14 unaccompanied children since January. This is with only one staff member working on the ground.

"I suspect there have been many trafficked children going unidentified in the past — it's difficult to know how many. The lack of data is one of the things that makes it very difficult for us to secure funding for our work."

Human trafficking is on the rise in the UK. Overall, the NRM received 19,125 referrals of potential victims of modern slavery in 2024, which represents a 13% increase in referrals compared to the previous year.

"The only illegal industry that generates more revenue than trafficking is the drug trade, and it's going to overtake that," Joy said. "There are three times more people trafficked now than there were in the transatlantic slave trade.

"We've got large gaps in staffing in low-paid industries here, so there is demand. We have big issues with poverty, unstable accommodation, and access to mental health services. We need to see solutions from the Scottish Government on these if we're going to stop modern slavery taking place here."

The Scottish Government, National Crime Agency and Police Scotland were contacted for comment by the Record.