Exclusive figures obtained by Belfast Live show that the number of people referred as potential victims of human trafficking in Northern Ireland has increased tenfold in just five years
Behind closed doors, across towns and cities in Northern Ireland, people are being forced into labour, sexual exploitation and criminal activity through human trafficking.
This week, as we mark Anti-Slavery Week, a special Belfast Live investigation will examine the statistics, stories, and systemic challenges that keep this hidden economy alive.
Exclusive figures obtained by Belfast Live show that the number of people referred as potential victims of human trafficking in Northern Ireland has increased tenfold in just five years, exposing a growing crisis hidden in plain sight.
A surge in referrals
Victim support services in Northern Ireland have seen referrals rise at an alarming pace. In 2019, 44 people were referred to the Department of Justice’s funded support services as potential victims of human trafficking. By 2024, that figure had soared to 492. As of 31 March this year, a further 251 new referrals had already been made.
The number of confirmed victims has grown too. Eighteen people were officially recognised as victims in 2019. Last year, 109 received that status. By the end of March 2025, 39 more had been confirmed.
This sharp increase has been mirrored in the money allocated to services. In 2016/17, just £135,000 was set aside for victim support. By 2024/25, that figure had jumped to £2.22 million. Officials argue this reflects both the scale of the crisis and a long-overdue recognition of the resources needed to help survivors rebuild their lives.
A complex picture across Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland’s health trusts are among of the key ‘first responder’ organisations in Northern Ireland who can submit an NRM referral. Each has reported widely differing figures. The Belfast Trust saw referrals to adult safeguarding services grow from a single case in 2018/19 to 22 in 2024/25. The Southern Trust recorded fewer than five in each of several years, while the South Eastern Trust has logged six cases over the past eight years. The Western Trust confirmed just three referrals since 2014. Meanwhile, the Northern Trust said it had made 16 referrals to the UK’s National Referral Mechanism since 2015.
Border Force refused to disclose how many NRM referrals they had made in Northern Ireland and how many suspected victims of human trafficking they had identified at points of entry in Northern Ireland over the last ten years, as they said retrieving the data would exceed the £600 limit set for Freedom of Information requests.
Following a request for an internal review of the decision, the Home Office disclosed that Border Force had identified just two victims of suspected human trafficking at border points in Northern Ireland in the last ten years – a Romanian female in 2019 and a 17-year-old boy from East Timor in 2022.
Police data: offences and victims
Between April 2015 and March 2025, the PSNI recorded 343 modern slavery offences. Most of the victims identified were women, though men make up a significant proportion, too. In 2024/25, 22 female victims were recorded compared with 12 males. Across the full ten-year period, 194 women and 132 men were identified.
Age is another key factor. Victims in their twenties dominate the data, but one of the starkest findings is the rise in child victims. No children were recorded as trafficking victims in 2015/16. By 2024/25, seven children had been identified.
Discrepancies in the data are also clear. While PSNI records point to 343 offences, the Department of Justice’s National Referral Mechanism data paints a far broader picture. Between 2019 and March this year, there were 1,925 referrals in Northern Ireland alone, of which 534 were confirmed victims. More than 1,200 of those referred were men.
Speaking exclusively to Belfast Live, Detective Chief Inspector Gail McCormick from the PSNI’s Organised Crime Branch said that the disparity between policing figures and NRM statistics comes down to whether the offence has occurred outside of the UK.
“Why there’s a difference in that is that largely if the offence has taken place outside of the United Kingdom, we won’t record it on our official statistics,” she said. “But it is captured on the NRM where we can assist colleagues in other law enforcement areas, and it’s safe to do so, we’ll assist them by taking statements, and gathering evidence from the victim, and forwarding that to them so that they can do the investigation.”
When it comes to a rise in the number of reported victims of human trafficking in Northern Ireland, DCI McCormick said that she puts that down to migration and increased awareness of the signs that someone is potentially being trafficked.
“We are putting that down to an increased awareness through the members of the public, but also within statutory and non-statutory agencies, and it’s an increased migration issue that we are seeing, or profile that we’re seeing throughout the world now, and that unfortunately brings offences against these people who are looking to build a new life,” she said.
What is the NRM?
Explaining the NRM, DCI McCormick said: “It’s a national referral mechanism, and this is a system that allows us to record and screen details from people who are potentially victims of modern slavery, human trafficking.
“It will also allow them to get necessary support while that process is ongoing. There may be a small, and when I say small, I do mean a very small, financial assistance provided to them, but they will be helped with accommodation.
“They will be helped with medical needs and potentially psychological help if required.
“So it is really important that people who are potentially really vulnerable are really supported, and that’s largely driven by our colleagues in the Department of Justice, and the people in Northern Ireland who deal with that for us are Lisburn and Belfast Women’s Aid. They’ll deal with women and children, families who are migrants and also Migrant Help will deal with any man.”
Who are the victims?
Trafficking in Northern Ireland is not confined to one group or community. The PSNI’s data shows victims of modern slavery offences from across the globe. While 55 were from Northern Ireland, others came from Romania (43), China (35), Bulgaria (26), Lithuania (23), Vietnam (18), Albania (12) and elsewhere in the UK (11).
The type of exploitation varies, too. Labour exploitation is the most common, with 1,130 cases since 2019. Another 487 involved a mix of labour and sexual exploitation, and 161 were categorised as sexual exploitation alone. Disturbingly, the data also includes 56 cases of domestic exploitation, 54 of criminal exploitation and one reported case of organ harvesting.
The hidden crime
Taken together, these figures reveal a bleak truth that human trafficking is no longer a marginal problem in Northern Ireland. It is entrenched, diverse and growing. Victims are men and women, adults and children, local and foreign.
The rise in funding and referrals shows progress in recognising the problem, but it also underlines the depth of the challenge. For every victim who is identified, others remain hidden in plain sight.
Over the coming days, this series will hear from frontline workers and investigators who are confronting this hidden crime. Their voices will shed light on the secret slave trade operating in our midst and the urgent work needed to end it.
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