British lawmakers back anti-slavery law

British lawmakers gave their backing to a new anti-slavery law that forces businesses to be more transparent about their supply chains, the first piece of legislation of its kind in Europe.
Measures in the Modern Slavery Bill include increasing sentences for slavery offences to life imprisonment and creating a new anti-slavery commissioner to coordinate law enforcement.
There are thought to be around 13,000 enslaved people in Britain today in sectors such as the sex industry, domestic work, agriculture, hospitality and fishing.
Official figures show that the largest number of people referred to authorities as potential victims of human trafficking last year were from Albania, followed by Nigeria, Vietnam, Romania and Slovakia.
Campaigners said victims are often approached by someone in their home country offering them a job in Britain. Once they arrive in the country, they can find that they are forced to work in punishing conditions to pay off debts to criminal gangs.
Home Secretary Theresa May has called modern slavery "an appalling crime that has no place in today's society."
"It is an affront not just to the dignity and humanity of the people crushed by it but to every one of us," she said in a statement.
Campaigners have generally welcomed the bill but warn it does not go far enough in offering protection to victims of slavery.
Currently, immigrant domestic workers face losing their visas if they leave their job with an abusive employer, although lawmakers are debating an amendment which could change that.
The bill also requires companies to make an annual statement on steps they have taken to ensure slavery and human trafficking are not taking place in their supply chains.
Jakub Sobik, a spokesman for London-based watchdog Anti-Slavery International, said that was a "very small step in the right direction".
"It should go much further and make the companies liable for the products they produce," he added.
The bill had its final parliamentary reading in the House of Lords on Wednesday.
Lawmakers will consider a handful of additional amendments in the coming days before the bill goes for royal assent by Queen Elizabeth II, a move seen as a constitutional formality which is expected by the end of the month. It then becomes law.