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Vietnam and Scotland have become inextricably linked through the rise of human trafficking. Who would have thought that Scotland, a nation that rid itself of historical slavery, is fettered by modern slavery. We may well come to terms with our past in restitution by Glasgow institutions but that is only half the story.

Slavery is still a problem today in Scotland and the numbers are rising rapidly. It has been nearly a 75% increase in the last year. The only means available to determine numbers are through figures produced by the National Crime Agency.

It has shown that from 2018 to 2019 the numbers of Vietnamese victims of human trafficking have astonishingly tripled. It makes Scotland not just top in figures, in the domestic nations of the UK for this nationality, but also Europe.

Understandably, such an escalation has stretched the Scottish statutory agencies. A perfect storm wreaks havoc as marginalised, pressurised and persecuted youth of certain sectors of Vietnam opt for the deceptively dangerous journey to seek a better way of life in the UK. What a desperate choice, when unaware of the pitfalls, they are exposed and vulnerable to the cruel hands of serious organised crime groups who have the pretence to offer a helping hand promising a better life. All it is, is to have a firm criminal grip on their future. The sad reality for these young people is that their dreams are fuelled by lies and they only discover this until it is too late. We need only think of the tragic texts goodbye to their loved one of the 39 Vietnamese victims suffocating in the back of a lorry in 2019.

It is one thing to try and resolve the presenting problem in Scotland but more needs to be done at the country of origin where government funded agencies unscrupulously encourage mass immigration of its younger population to generate returning income. It is a shocking culmination of factors but the net result is that slavery is happening here in Scotland.

There may well be debate that surrounds immigration but that should not deflect from the sordid and dark underbelly of Scottish society where serious organised crime groups, numbering over 400 in Scotland, run amok on human trafficking victims.

We may feel disempowered and resigned to a new trend and phenomenon but that response is not a moral option. This is why, over the past 2 years, I’ve sought to train face to face, #unlockingfreedom in Scottish communities so we can spot the signs and know what to do.

Hope for Justice has invested resources for this to be achieved and charities working in Scottish communities have benefited from this funded training. The challenging part is that the numbers of victims have only increased. I know that might be accounted for by an increase in numbers of incidences but I also hold out for that thought, that we are also raising awareness.

If you have reached this point in my blog, then my ask is to reach out to me directly to arrange training, receive information or recommend our training to organisations in your community so we can be the eyes and ears and spot the signs. Why? So we are #changinglives and #endingslavery.